I have several times, in the body of this work, represented these people as being the mixed descendants of the Dankalli and Shankalli people, and although this descent has been modified in some situations by contiguity to nations differing very considerably, both physically and morally, from each other, still all the numerous tribes that stretch on the eastern side of the table land of Abyssinia, from the neighbourhood of Massoah to an unknown distance in the south, speak one language, and practise nearly similar customs. The first disputed question respecting the Gallas is their origin, which is generally supposed to be foreign to the continent they now occupy, and from the name Calla resembling a Hebrew word signifying milk, it has been presumed that they were a white people of that nation, who have become changed in colour by a long residence in their present inter-tropical possessions. Modern travellers continue in supporting this supposition, but in recording my dissent I ask no one to adopt my opinion, I owe it to my readers to state my ideas upon a subject I have studied a little, and upon which I presume they require information. It is not, therefore, to attract attention by opposing received opinion, which I would much rather avoid, but for the sake of exciting discussion among abler men than myself, that I here throw out suggestions respecting the Gallas, as on other subjects I have done before.
The origin of the name Galla, from the Arian word calla, black, appears easy and natural, and I have therefore adopted it, but shall feel greatly indebted to any learned ethnologist who will correct me if I am in error. The country their presumed parents occupied, is that in which, from its situation, no other complexioned people could reside, whilst that law of nature continues to exist which has imposed a black skin upon men living in a very hot country.
We find, however, these so-called blacks in geographical situations, quite at variance with that betokened by the dark colour of their skin, and more particularly upon the elevated plateau of Abyssinia, the natural country of the pale yellow Gonga, where their appearance presents an apparent anomaly, which, fortunately, history enables us to explain. The first intrusion of the Amhara I have in another place endeavoured to show was in the time of the Egyptian king, Psammeticus, and to trace their history, in connexion with the changes consequent upon their colonization of the left banks of the Abi and the Abiah, would be most easy and interesting; for the present generation possess sufficient documentary evidence, to supply the necessary materials; but until some indefatigable scholar takes upon himself this task, I have no hope of seeing that obscurity dispelled which hangs over the earlier history of mankind, and which is intimately connected with the earlier history of Abyssinia. With this part of my subject, however, at present we have nothing to do, and must call attention to the fact, that the first recorded appearance of the Galla in Abyssinia, as hostile invaders, was in 1537, during the reign of the Emperor David, otherwise called Onag Segued. By this must be understood that it was at that time they first found themselves able to assert their independence. A more favourable opportunity could not have been afforded them than that offered, when the Mahomedan King of Adal, Mahomed Grahne, conquered and overran considerable portions of the ancient empire. To the distractions and misfortunes that then harassed the Christian Court the Gallas contributed, led on by sheer destiny, I believe, for they quietly took possession with their herds of the countries that had been devastated during the long civil sectarian war which, at the time of Grahne, had assumed a national character from the divisions of the Christian and Mahomedan Amhara, being then under two distinct monarchial governments. These two kindred people mutually destroying each other, were unable to offer any resistance to the lawless and barbarous intruders who were alone benefited by the struggle for supremacy between the professors of these two faiths.
The Adal conquerors, however, lost a great deal more by the war than the defeated Christians of the table land; for occupying a country of much less elevation than Abyssinia, the Gallas naturally located themselves first upon the lands so much more suited to their habits and constitutions, and accordingly, the Dankalli, closing from the north, whilst the Shankalli came up from the south, their progeny soon swept from the face of the country their Amhara predecessors; and the red man of America retreats no faster before civilization, than on this coast of Africa, the latter has been extinguished by the advance of the barbarian Gallas. Only one town remains of the once mighty kingdom of Adal, the city of Hurrah, the former capital of Mahomed Grahne, before whose time Christianity was here at least tolerated and professed by numbers of its inhabitants. Within the last century another lingering remnant of this population of Adal has been entirely driven out. Owssa, now exclusively Mahomedan Dankalli, was formerly the capital of Amhara kings of Adal, and the traditions of the present occupiers record the late residence in that country of a Christian population. After the death of Mahomed Grahne and the expulsion of the Jesuits from Abyssinia, the attention of its princes was first directed to the increasing evil of Galla intrusion, and they then endeavoured unsuccessfully, to recover those portions of the table-land upon which they had established themselves.
It is admitted that the Gallas entered Abyssinia, through the natural breach in its surrounding rampart on the east, where the denuding operation of the Hawash has constructed a favourable high road for the journeyings of a nation. Had a similar facility existed to the south, such as would be afforded, for example, by the débouché, of a river from the table land in that situation, we may be assured that the national integrity of the Gonga people, who, in the north, were unable to contend against the intruding Amhara, would have found it very difficult to contend with the more warlike Galla; yet who, it will be found, have made less impression there than in any other situation upon the whole table land.
It appears that Fatagar, Efat, Shoa, then Damot, (which at that period extended to the south of the river Abi,) were successively taken possession of, a succession of conquests which prove that the course of the Hawash, was the principal natural direction this people took in their wanderings.
In Shoa and Efat they appear to have been early civilized. One of the most characteristic traits of the Galla people is, the facility with which they appear to adopt the religious creeds of their neighbours; and the adjoining kingdom of Amhara, the central stronghold of the Christian religion, afforded numerous opportunities of conversion, and perhaps other favourable circumstances then existed of which we are now ignorant; but the result has been a closer amalgamation of the Gallas with the Amhara people in Shoa than, I believe, any other country of Abyssinia presents. Whilst, therefore, an exceedingly corrupt dialect of the Amharic language is there spoken, the dark colour of their skin attests their close consanguinity with the Galla invaders, coming from the low hot country immediately at the foot of the Abyssinian scarp in this situation.
The Galla, physically speaking, are a fine race of men, tall, muscular, and well formed. In the colour of their skin they vary considerably, as may be supposed, from the differences of situation and of neighbourhood in which they have located themselves. The Edjow Gallas, to the north of Angotcha, are, I understand, of a lighter colour than the real Amhara or red man, but it is probable that some mistake exists as regards this statement. The Gallas of Limmoo are very dark-coloured, but they live in a country considerably more elevated than that of the Edjow Gallas. The Shoans themselves, who are considerably more Galla than Amhara, are a very dark brown, although several light red individuals, not born in Shoa, but more to the north, as I was told by Sheik Tigh, are to be found among them.
In the expression of the Galla countenance there is that which reminds the observer more of their Shankalli than of their Dankalli origin. The form of their heads is long, the sides being flat, with very contracted but not receding foreheads. The lower parts of their faces have the full negro-form development of the lips and jaws, although the teeth are regular and well set, without the inclination forwards I have observed in several negro skulls. Their hair is coarse and frizzly. It is generally worn in long narrow plaits, that hang directly down upon the neck and shoulders. In Shoa it is customary to dress it with considerable care, and it is then sometimes arranged in most fantastic forms, the head being adorned all over with numerous small collected tufts, and at others, three monstrous heaps of hair on the sides and top make the head and face look like a huge ace of clubs. Their natural dispositions are very good, and their courage is undoubted.
It is very interesting to remark how readily the Galla appear to adapt their national habits to the circumstances in which they are placed. This seems to be a kind of instinct in man, or perhaps is an element of that moral development which seems to determine those occasionally mysterious inroads of a new people, who seem to have sprung up at once to exert the most extensive changes in the history of nations, and which then subsides again for another term of ages. Such was the appearance of the Mongols in Asia, and of the Goths in Europe; such was the appearance of the Arabians after Mahomed; and such are the Gallas of the present day, who are gradually appropriating to themselves the whole of the Abyssinian empire. This moral principle, however, whatever it may be, seems to promise an abundant harvest of converts to the zealous and intelligent missionary, who shall first appear as the professed apostle of Christianity among them.