Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/143

 their Negro neighbours. Nearly all travellers regard them as of Galla stock, and their language appears to belong to the same family as that of the Ilm-Orma. Their high foreheads, large eyes, straight and shapely nose, thick but not pouting lips, leave little doubt as to their origin. Other populations living more to the east, towards the Sobat, especially the Arboreh, belong to the same family; but the Akkara and Irenga speak different languages. The character of the Latuka differs greatly from that of the neighbouring Negroes; they are merrier, franker, and so brave that slavedealers have never succeeded in capturing them. If their tribes were united, instead of continually fighting one against. the other, they would assuredly be one of the most powerful African nations. Although these Galla immigrants have to a great extent preserved their original speech, physical traits, and character, the Latuka have become a half-caste race, and have adopted many customs of the Nilotic Negro peoples. Like the Bari and Shilluk, they would seem to be ashamed to wear clothes; but they take great pride in dressing the hair in elegant styles, mostly affecting the form of a helmet. The completion of these elaborate headdresses is a work of eight or ten years. The hair, bound with bark strips, is made into a sort of thick felt, ornamented with glass and china beads; a copper plate glitters above the forehead, and nodding tufts of feathers and plumes crown the superstructure. The women, less elegantly formed than the men, and possessing unusual strength, have no right to all this finery, and confine themselves to a few tattooings; they wear a queue like a horsetail, and like most other women of this region, extract the four lower incisors. The Latuka huts resemble those of the neighbouring tribes; they are shaped like a bell or extinguisher, the only opening being a low door, which is entered on all-fours. Near each village is a

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