FOOTNOTES:
[177] Prichard, vol. ii. p. 278.
[179] Aliquando, apud hanc nationem, nympharum protuberantia enormis—minime vero apud onmes—occurrit.
[180] Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. i. No. 4.
D.
NILOTIC ATLANTIDÆ.
This is a far less simple group than the last, and one which may, probably, require the value of some of its divisions to be raised. Besides which, it probably comprizes, if classed according to the strict rules of ethnology, the eastern Negroes of our first division. Again, it passes into the Kaffre, Coptic, and Semitic groups by imperceptible gradations. At the same time, as far as it goes, it is ethnological, i.e. it embraces populations actually affiliated to each other rather than populations exhibiting the common effects of common social or climatological conditions.
NILOTIC NATIONS AND TRIBES.
Physical conformation.—Modified Negro, in certain cases approaching the Arab conformation.
Area.—The water system of the Upper and Middle Nile.
Chief divisions.—1. Gallas. 2. Agows. 3. Nubians. 4. Bisharis(?).
As it is the southern portion of the Nilotic area, which is conterminous with the northern Kaffre, the southern populations will be noticed first.
THE GALLAS.
Area.—Preeminently encroaching. From 4° to (there or thereabouts) 16° north latitude. Irregular.
Chief divisions.—1. Galla Proper, or Ilmorma—south and east of Abyssinia.
2. Somauli—The parts between the Sea of Bab-el-Mandeb, the Indian Ocean, and (there or thereabouts) 45° east latitude.
3. The Danakil, or Afer—The coast of the Red Sea from Adel to Suakin.
Religion.—Paganism, Mahometanism. According to Dr. Beke, fragmentary Christianity among the Gallas.
Habits.—Chiefly pastoral. Partially mercantile.
Physical appearance.—Colour varying from a deep black to a brownish-yellow. Stature, tall; bodies, spare, wiry, and muscular; frontal profile vaulted; nose, often straight or even arched; lips, moderate; hair, often hanging over the neck in long twisted plaits.
It is the wilder tribes of the Ilmorma Gallas that have broken up the kingdom, and disturbed the ethnology of Abyssinia, both in respect to its Semitic populations, and the earlier and more aboriginal—
AGOWS.
Divisions and localities.—1. Agows of Damot.
2. Agows of Lasta; Troglodyte Pagans.
3. Falasha—a. Lowlanders of Dembea. b. Highlanders of Samien. c. Christianized Falashas (Kimmont) of the hill country, north-east of Gondar.—Bruce from Prichard, vol. ii. p. 135.
The fact that both the Galla and Agow languages pass through the Amharic into the more typical Semitic tongues, and that the former (over and above many undeniable points of affinity with the Coptic) is quite as sub-Semitic as the Berber, is one of the many phænomena which break down the broad line of demarcation that is so often drawn between the Semitic and the African nations.
Again, the extent to which the Falashas exhibit a variety of customs common to themselves and the Jews has long been recognized. It by no means, however, follows that they are a result of Jewish influence. The criticism that applied to the Ghás applies here. Many of the so-called Jewish peculiarities are African as well—irrespective of intercourse, and independent of imitation.
THE NUBIANS.
Locality.—Valley of the Nile, Nubia, and Dongola.
Dialects.—a. North Nubian, or Kensi. b. Middle Nubian, or Nub. c. Dongolawi of Dongola.
Synonym.—Barabbra, or Berber.
Antiquities.—Monuments of a. an Ægyptian, in the Lower, b. an Æthiopian type in the Upper Nubia.
Political relations.—Subject to Ægypt.
Intermixture.—Arab. Negro from slaves.
Religion.—Paganism and Mahometanism.
Habits.—Agricultural and trading.
Physical appearance.—Eyes, deep set and sparkling; nose, pointed; nostrils, large; mouth, wide; lips, moderate; hair and beard, thin; body, slender; colour, shining jet black.—Denon.[181]
Hair, long, slightly crisp, not woolly. Colour, intermediate between the ebon-black of Sennaar Negroes, and the brown of Ægyptians.[181]—Costaz.
Extract from Rüppell[181] as to the Dongolawi.—"An attentive inquiry will enable us to distinguish amongst the old national physiognomies, which their forefathers have marked upon colossal statues, and the bas-reliefs of temples and sepulchres, a long oval countenance, beautifully-curved nose, somewhat rounded towards the top, proportionately thick lips, but not protruding excessively, a retreating chin, scanty beard, lively eyes, strongly frizzled but never woolly hair, and remarkably beautiful figure, generally of middle size, and a bronze colour, as the characteristics of the genuine Dongolawi."
Descent.—From the ancient Nobatæ.
The relation between the Nubian of Nubia, and the Koldagi language of Kordofan, was first indicated by Rüppell, and has been generally admitted.
On the other hand, the relations of the Koldagi not only to the Furians of Darfúr, but to the more truly Negro Shilluks, &c., are equally manifest.
From the Ægyptian, therefore, to the Eastern Negro, the transition is through the Nubian.
BISHARI (BEJAS).
Area.—The high country, and table-land between the Nile and the Red Sea.
Divisions.—1. Northern Bishari or Ababde, from the latitude of Kosseir, north; to Deir, south.
2. Southern Bishari (=the Hadendoa, Hammadab, and other tribes) from the Danakil, Æthiopic and portions of the Shankala area to the Ababdes.
Language.—With definite affinities with both the Nubian and Coptic.
Descent.—Probably from the ancient Blemmyes.
Physical appearance.—Nearly that of Nubians.
Habits.—Pastoral and wandering.
What are the M'Kuafi? This was asked in p. [493]. The M'Kuafi west of Mombaz, are conterminous with the Southern Gallas, and with the Kaffre Wanika, &c.
From these last, however, the only known vocabulary of their language disconnects them.
Hence they are at present unplaced; since they may be Kaffre, Gallas, Gongas, or, finally, the representatives of a separate class altogether. The only description is the following one of Pickering's:—
"The information respecting them was derived from young persons seen at Zanzibar, where, according to the Arabs, slaves of this class were formerly cheap, and much esteemed, but now bring high prices.
"A M'Kuafi girl stated, that she had been captured by the Mussai; who killed her father and mother, and who sold her to the Chaga. She was twenty-five days in reaching the coast. Formerly, her nation was powerful above others, so that one woman with a stick would stop a thousand persons from passing through the country unless a present was first made; but her people are broken, and at present they would not fight the M'Sigua.
"Her people do not cultivate the ground, and they eat only milk and meat. Children, when hungry, help themselves by direct application to the cow. Cattle are killed by piercing the spine; numbers of them every day, until each family is supplied. The M'Kuafi have not fixed meal times, but they eat whenever they feel inclined, inviting their neighbours of the same village to partake with them. Each family has its own cattle, which all go to pasture together, and outside the town is a place to receive them at night. The men marry as many women as they please; and each wife has a separate house. These habitations are tents of bullock-skin, supported by poles set around. The men decorate themselves with large beads, and their dress is made of skin, and consists of a painted cincture full of openings and hanging strips, and of a long cloak worn over one shoulder. Cloth, however, now is brought by traders. The women, by way of ornament, coil brass wire about the arm as far as the elbow. The beads and brass wire are procured at Pemba, by selling ivory, obtained from elephants, some of which are found dead, while others are purposely killed.
"The M'Kuafi do not bury, but they put their dead in the bush, for the wild beasts to eat. The friends afterwards cry from ten to twenty days, and then kill three bullocks and make a feast. The M'Kuafi have neither prayers nor religion, but they eat and sleep. The name of their deity is Angayai; and on some big days they take feathers and dance. They have cows, goats, donkeys, sheep, and dogs; but neither cats, nor horses. They take off the fleece of the sheep, and spin yarn, with which they sew the skins together. They have gourd shells for holding water, which are bought of the Chaga. They go out to fight with the Mussai, frequently, sometimes every day; and they take cattle; they fight, also, with the Wampugo, and the Wataita, but not with the Chaga. The country of the M'Kuafi, consists of mountains and plains, and produces some trees which supply tent-poles, but there are no fruits. Persons while sleeping, are sometimes eaten by leopards.
"On another occasion, the same girl brought two of her companions, and they sang together some simple and plaintive airs, such as are used 'in getting children to sleep.' Their dancing was not graceful, but was somewhat violent and not altogether decent. Their language was soft, and I heard terminal vowels only, the two syllables 'goonga,' frequently recurring. I read to them some translations in the Galla; but this proved to be a different language, and they did not recognise a word. On being questioned on the subject, the first girl said, 'she did not wish to return home, for her relations were all dead;' and some tears followed the allusion to the subject. Beads being offered, she preferred the red to the blue, according to the general taste in this part of Africa. Of the other girls, one came from Kaputa, and the third from Aseta.
"A fourth girl, whom I interrogated, was too young to give much information, and she, besides, had not yet learned the Soahili language. It appeared that she 'had been stolen by some Chaga;' that she came from the vicinity of the Kilmungaro mountain (which is visible from the sea), and that she understood the language of the other girls when they were brought together.
"A highly intelligent lad, who had the lobe of one ear perforated, stated, that the size of this opening, among the M'Kuafi, 'indicates the rank of the individual, the king having one of very remarkable dimensions.' With regard to his own history he stated, that, 'on the occasion of an attack by some foreign tribe,' he, with other children, hid themselves; but the circumstance had been observed at some distance by some Wampugo, who came to the spot and carried them away. The towns of the M'Kuafi are not fixed; but when the grass fails, a new one is made in another place. The M'Kuafi ride donkeys; they eat beef and sheep, and drink water and milk. It is customary, when a man kills a bullock, to send a piece to the king, to give another on account of circumcision, and then to call his friends to eat the remainder. There are camelopards in the country; and poor people, who have no bullocks, kill them for food, taking them in pitfalls, or sometimes with poison.
"The mode of circumcising differs from that prevailing among the Moslim. The government likewise differs; and if one man kills another, the price of blood is from ten to twenty bullocks.
"The M'Kuafi put on a cap of ostrich feathers when they go out to fight. On a former occasion they beat the M'Sigua, taking all the cattle, which they sold at Zanzibar. They fight with the Wakamba towards sunrise; and they are so warlike that they would fight even with their nearest relations. They sometimes go to the Monomoisy country to fight and take property; but not into the country of the Chaga, with whom they do not fight, unless meeting by accident. They fight, however, with the Lupalaconga, who live on a mountain, and speak the same language with the Chaga; and who, according to his description, must be a Negro tribe.
"His people once went towards sunrise to fight with the Sikir-washi, who are the nation called Galla at Zanzibar. They saw a large river which 'came dry,' and men carrying large spears, who spoke a different language from their own. They took all the cattle and donkeys, and the fat-tailed sheep; but they disdained taking the horses, an animal they had never before seen. The king of the Sikir-washi wears a large beard, while the rest of the people shave: using for the purpose a sort of small iron chisel; and these practices prevail equally with the M'Kuafi.
"When the lad was asked about the Mussai, he rejoined with some emotion,—'They who break my country: he knew them well; they dwell farther inland than the M'Kuafi.'
"He did not know how old he was, and asked, 'if any one could tell him.' His people have no prayers: he could not speak lies. He did not wish to return to his native-country—he had got no bullocks; he was now a slave: no matter, he should soon die. He did not know where he should go to after death. He had heard that God had made him, that was all."
MUSSAI(?).
Locality.—West of the M'Kuafi; to which tribes they are allied. Probably M'Kuafi.
CHAGA(?).
Locality.—South-west of the Wanika, on the upper part of the Pungany River.
Habits.—Circumcision. Probably M'Kuafi.
WAMPAGO(?).
Locality.—On the Ruvu, a feeder of the Pungany, within half a day's journey of the M'Kuafi country. Probably M'Kuafi.
M'KINDO(?).
Locality.—Two days west of Quiloa. Probably M'Kuafi,
M'HIAO.
Locality.—Uncertain. Most likely to the west of the M'Kindo. Probably M'Kuafi.
The M'Hiao markings "vary in different individuals, but often consist of raised sears or welts crossing each other, like stars. Many of the females have the upper lip perforated."—Pickering.