Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/195

 are mostly artisans, smiths, masons, carpenters, potters, and weavers; some also are farmers and cattle-breeders, but all unanimously reject the mercantile profession as contrary to the laws of Moses. Their interpretation of the holy books does not correspond to that of the rabbis of Europe and Asia ; besides, however zealous they are to obey the precepts of the " law," many of their practices are intermingle<l with numerous ceremonies borrowed from the native Christians. They are zealous in the strict observance of the Sabbath, in the sacrificial offerings on the holy stone of the temple, and adhering to the traditional rites in purifying themselves by frequent ablutions. Each family possesses a hut outside the village, where all sick persons must be removed for a stated term, a practice often causing the death of the aged, who are thus deprived of the services of their relations. But these religious customs will soon probably be but a memory of the past, as the Abyssinian Government considers that the subject should profess the same religion as the king. According to the reports of late travellers, a royal manifesto compelling the Felashas to become Christians was about to be issued.

The caste of the Kamants, believed to be of Agau origin, are found in small communities in the mountains surrounding Gondar, in the kwallas of the north- western slope of Abyssinia, as well as in Shoa. They speak the same language as the Felashas, whom they resemble in physical appearance; their traditions are the same, and like them they claim descent from the prophet Moses. If they do not celebrate the Sabbath, they at least abstain from work upon that day; some are also said to do no work on Christian feast-days. However, they are considered as pagans by Jews and Christians alike, and are said to practise certain ceremonies in the recesses of the mountains. At the beginning of his reign Theodore intended to forcibly convert them to Christianity; but he was advised that it would not be proper to treat as equals before God these despised people, the hewers of wood and drawers of water to the families of Gondar. The Kamants are far more industrious than the Abyssinians, who consider themselves their sui)eriors, and Gondar and the surrounding towns are dependent for their daily supplies on the labour of this tribe. Like the Orejones of the New World, and like the Wa-Kwafi of the Kilima N'jaro district and many other Bantu tribes, the Kamunt women distend the lobe of the ears with wooden discs, causing the outer curtilage to reach the shoulders.

The Woito, on the banks of Lake Tana, hippopotamus hunters and fishermen, who till recently still spoke the Agau dialect, belong also to the aboriginal populations. They do not circumcise their children, and oat the flesh of animals clean or unclean. The Tsellans, in the same region, are wandering shepherds. The Mensa, and Bogos, or Bilens, who occupy the northern slope of the Abyssinian mountains in the Senhit (Sennaheit or "beautiful") country, which separates the Sahel from the Barka Valley, are also said to be of Agau origin, although d'Abbadie connects them with the ancient Blemmyes. The Bogos, or