Chapter II: Ethiopian Branch

The African populations which we class with the Brown Race have a resemblance in the formation of the body to those of the White Race, but their skin is darker in colour, being intermediate between that of the Negro and that of the White. The natives constituting this branch have never attained to any appreciable degree of civilization, and there is a complete void of positive notions as to their origin or migrations, while even the different languages in use among them, are partly unknown to us. We shall distinguish in the Ethiopian branch, two great families, the _Abyssinian_ and the _Fellan_.

ABYSSINIAN FAMILY.

That portion of Eastern Africa which bears the name of Abyssinia, contains several tribes, speaking different languages. These tribes are ranked by many ethnologists as belonging to the White Race, and their complexion, though darker invariably than that of the European, is fairer than that of the negro. Their hair, which is generally frizzled, their lips usually thick, and their nose less flat than that of the Negro, are so many characteristics which assign to them a place intervening between the Black and the White races. These tribes doubtless spring from a union of black inhabitants, aborigines of the country, with the Orientals who conquered them.

We shall instance among the principal groups belonging to this family, the _Abyssinians_, the _Barabras_, the _Tibbous_, and the _Gallas_, about any of whom, with the exception of the first named, little is as yet known.

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_Abyssinians._--Most authors place this people in the White Race and the Semitic family. There is, in fact, reason to believe that Abyssinia was many times overrun, and perhaps civilized, by the nations of Western Asia; but the colour of their skin, which is very much darker than that of the Arameans, is a proof that the conquerors intermarried with the conquered, and that from this union the present Abyssinian race has sprung.

According to Dr. Rüppel, there are two predominant types existing among the people of this country, the more widely spread approaching to that of the Arabs, while the second approximates closely to the Negro.

The Abyssinians forming the first group, are finely formed, showing resemblance to the Bedouins in feature and expression of countenance. Their peculiar characteristics are, an oval face, a long, thin, finely cut nose, a well proportioned mouth with lips of moderate thickness, lively eyes, regular teeth, slightly crisp or smooth hair, and a middle stature. Most of the people dwelling on the high mountains of Samen, and the plains surrounding Lake Tzana, belong to this branch, which also includes the _Falæshas_, or Jews, the _Garnants_, who are idolators, and the _Agows_.

The second type is chiefly distinguishable by a shorter and broader nose, slightly flattened; thick lips; long eyes, with little animation in them; and very curly and almost woolly hair, which is so close, that it stands straight out from the head. A portion of the population along the coast, in the province of Hamasen and other neighbouring districts, belongs to this second group.

The results of Baron Larrey’s comparison of the Abyssinian with the Negro, are, that the eyes of the former are larger and of a more agreeable look, and have the inner angle slightly more inclined. In the Abyssinian the cheek-bones and the zygomatic arches are more prominent than in the Negro; the cheeks form a more regular triangle with the angle of the mouth and the corner of the jaw; the lips are thick without being turned out like a Negro’s; the teeth are handsome, well set and less projecting; and the alveolar ridges are not so prominent. The complexion of the Abyssinian is not so black as that of the Negro in the interior of Africa. Baron Larrey adds, that the features which he has described above, belonged to the genuine Egyptians of olden times, and that they are to be found in the heads of Egyptian statues, and above all in that of the Sphinx.

In the account which he published in 1865, of his journey through Abyssinia two years previously, M. Guillaume Lejean has given considerable information as to this part of Africa and its inhabitants, and the victorious enterprise undertaken by England in 1866, afforded an opportunity of establishing the accuracy of the French traveller’s statements.

At the moment when the British expedition was directed against him, the army of the Abyssinian potentate, the Negus Theodorus, numbered about 40,000 men. The infantry carry a spear, shield, and long curved sabre, and they attack their enemy impetuously at close quarters. The light cavalry is excellent. The horsemen, when charging, let go their bridles, fight with both hands, and guiding and urging their horses with leg and knee only, make them perform the most prodigious feats. Each man has a sword and two lances; the latter always hit the mark, and their wound is deadly. They are used like javelins, and are about two yards long. Every horseman is followed by an attendant retainer, whose duty it is to dash among the enemy, sword in hand, in order to recover his master’s weapon, and bring it back to him. These horsemen charge headlong against an infantry square, making their horses bound into its midst over the heads of the soldiers, and then backing them in order to break its formation.

The skirmishers are Tigré mountaineers, of cool, resolute courage, and their aim is remarkably good.

The Emperor Theodorus seldom occupied his palace. His real capital was his camp, which he kept incessantly moving from one end of his dominions to the other. He maintained strict discipline in his household and on his staff, among the members of which the bastinado was often liberally used.

Two fifths of the Abyssinian population are in the service of the wealthier classes, and probably there is no country in the world where servitude is more widely spread. A person possessed of an income equal to £160 a year, keeps at least eight dependants. M. Lejean had no fewer than seventeen attendants during his journey, and his travelling companion, an Englishman, as many as seventy.

The religion of this country forms a rare exception in Africa, as the inhabitants are Christians. The head of the Abyssinian church is styled the “Abouna,” and his theocratic powers are almost boundless. King and pontiff entertain a mutual hatred of one another, each dreading his rival and keeping close watch upon his movements. Whichever of the two possesses greater courage and energy gains the upper hand.

Monks and priests are common in Abyssinia.

The natives take a decoction of _kousso_ once a month as a cure for the tapeworm. The fact is, that in consequence of some local circumstances, the meat used in the country is full of cysts, which, getting into the stomach along with the food, generate in the intestines this troublesome guest that must be got rid of from time to time. This remedy for tapeworm has been recently introduced into Europe.

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_Barabras._--The Barabras are the natives of Nubia. They occupy that part of the valley comprised between the southern frontier of Egypt and Sennaar, that is to say, Nubia.

This race differs widely from the Arabs, and all adjoining nations. They dwell on the banks of the Nile, and, wherever the soil is found favourable, plant date trees, sink wells for irrigation, and sow various kinds of leguminous plants.

Blumenbach was forcibly struck with the resemblance of the Barabras to the figures and paintings to be met with on the different monuments of ancient Egypt. This people, like the Egyptians, have a reddish black skin, but of a much darker tint. The characteristic features of the pure Barabras are oval and somewhat long faces, with aquiline noses, very well formed and slightly rounded towards the point, lips thick without being protruding, a receding chin, thin beard, animated eyes, very curly but never frizzled hair, a body perfectly in proportion and usually of the middle height, and lastly a bronze-coloured skin.

The Barabras are classed in three groups, each of which has a dialect of its own, namely, the _Noubas_ or _Nubians_, the _Kenous_, and the _Dongoulahs_; all of whom inhabit the Nile valley.

According to Burckhardt the Noubas differ in many respects from the Negroes, especially in the softness of their skin, which is very smooth and flexible, while the palm of a genuine Negro’s hand is rough and as hard as wood. Their noses, too, are less flat, their lips less thick, and their cheek-bones less prominent than those of a Negro. Pritchard’s opinion is that the Barabras probably migrated from Kordofan.

A description of this race is also to be found in the “Voyage en Egypte,” by MM. Henri Cammas and André Lefèvre, by whom the country was explored in 1860, and from its pages we take the following extract:--

“We are in Nubia, and Arabic is no longer spoken. The inhabitants, though usually inoffensive, have nevertheless a warlike gait; the dagger hanging by a strap to their arm, their ironwood bow and their buckler of crocodile hide are the tokens and protectors of their liberty. Their rulers obtain nothing from them except by force.

“The moment the river recedes, these vigorous husbandmen dispute with it for the fertilizing slime which suffices for a fourfold harvest.

“Do not imagine that they labour: it is enough for them when they have sown pinches of corn in shallow holes, for nature does all the rest.

“So favoured a climate, as may well be imagined, does not impose on the Nubian the inconvenience of having to wear clothing. The majority carry nothing more upon them than a few weapons and their dusky skins. The women’s costumes are oddly fashioned. They stain their lips and twist their hair into numberless tiny plaits, which are not re-made every day. Egyptian females would look on them as indecent, for allowing the lower part of the face to be seen; and more than that even, the girls, up to the time of their marriage, wear no covering beyond a narrow girdle. The villages are rather near each other, and seldom consist of more than fifteen or twenty earthen huts, having flat roofs thatched with palm branches. In front of the cabins are ranged, as at Dolce for instance, large jars, in which the corn is kept stored.

“Ruins belonging to all ages and every ancient divinity are to be found in Nubia.”

The inhabitants of Eastern Nubia are merely wandering tribes who traverse the country included between the Nile and the Red Sea; the dwellers in the northern part are known as the _Ababdehs_.

The _Bicharyehs_ spread themselves as far as the Abyssinian frontiers, and the _Hadharebs_ are still more to the south, reaching to Souakin on the Red Sea. The _Souakins_ belong to the last-named race.

The Bicharyehs are savage and inhospitable, and it is asserted that they drink the still warm blood of living animals. They are chiefly nomadic, and maintain themselves on the flesh or the milk of their flocks. All travellers agree in representing them as fine men with regular features, large, expressive eyes, light, elegant frames, and a dark chocolate-coloured complexion. Their method of wearing the hair is very curious. Those who possess it in sufficient length to reach below the ear, allow it to hang in straight, tangled locks, each of which terminates in a curl. This headgear is impregnated with grease, and is so much matted that there would be a difficulty in getting a comb through it. They refrain, besides, from touching it, and in order not to spoil its arrangement are always provided with a bit of pointed stick, like a large needle, which they put into requisition whenever scratching becomes necessary.

The head-dress of the Souakins is equally extraordinary, and the scratching pin is also an obligatory accompaniment of their toilet.

The Ababdehs have hair from two and a half to three inches long; their lips are slightly thick, their noses rather long, and in complexion they are almost black. They are nomadic, and live in the same way as the Bedouins.

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_Tibbous._--The Tibbous, who wander over the country to the east of the Sahara, have been looked upon as belonging to the Berber family, but their complexion is darker and they do not speak the Arab tongue. Their noses are aquiline, their lips but slightly thick, they have intelligent faces, and are of slender build. Their activity is very great and they are addicted to robbing caravans.

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_Gallas._--The Gallas are strangers to civilization, the majority scattered over the plains which extend to the south of Abyssinia, leading a pastoral and nomadic life. They are divided into a great many independent tribes, being kept united, however, by origin and language. They are warlike, cruel, and given to plunder. Their colour is very handsome and their hair usually curly or woolly; they have coarse, short features and large lips. Islamism has been embraced by a few tribes, but the greater number remain attached to the old African Paganism.

FELLAN FAMILY.

The _Fellans_, who are also called Fellatahs, Pouls, or Peuhls, have not been long known except by some tribes who inhabit Senegambia and who sometimes penetrated the Soudan. Their skin is extremely dark, inclining sometimes to a reddish, and sometimes to a copper colour, but being never really black; they have rather long hair, smooth and silky; their nose is not flattened; the shape of their face is oval; their stature tall and slight; the extremities of the limbs delicate and small; their step light and commanding.

We class among the Fellan family the people dwelling in the western part of Africa, such as the inhabitants of Nigritia and Bambara.

The capital of Nigritia, Sego or Segou, is a tolerably large town situated on the Niger.

Probably many other nations of Western Africa ought to be placed side by side with the Fellans and a comparison should also be established between them and the people of Madagascar, the _Owas_.

All these races differ from the Negroes, although dwelling on the confines of the country belonging to the latter branch, with which some authors erroneously confound them, but the physical characteristics that mark them as distinct are well-established.