Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/247

 Qojam. The object of d'Abbadie's visit to these countries, which was to completely survey the course of the southern Abyssinian river, has not yet been accomplished. It is not known whether, after describing the large curve east of Kaffa, the watercourse which forms a continuation of the Gugsa and receives the Gojeb trends westwards to the Nile or is deflected towards the Indian Ocean, but it probably fulls eastwards as the upper course of the Juba. In any case it is not the Nile, as d'Abbadie supposed. In the triangular space comprised between the Abyssinian range, the Red Sea, and the course of the Awash, the bulk of the people, whether nomad or settled, constitute the Afar, or Afer, that is to say the " wanderers," more commonly called Danakils by the Abyssinians. In the vicinity of the Awash they are known as Adel, or Adail, after the Ad-Ali, one of their most powerful tribes ; but the various clans differ little in customs, dialects, and usages. The Dunukils themselves claim to be Arabs, like so many other peoples of eastern Africa, and this pretension may be explained both by local crossings as well as by their nominal conversion to Islam. But there can be no doubt that the main body of the nation is connected with the Gallas of the west, the Shohos of the north, and the Somalis of the south. Their language is also of Hamitic origin, and their physical appearance is of an analogous type. They are still mainly addicted to fetish practices, in the sterile region of Lake Alalbed worshipping a solitary tree, the caesalpinia, with splendid pink flowers, and elsewhere presenting their offerings to the sycamore. The men are usually handsome, extremely active and graceful dancers; while the women, who go unveiled, are distinguished during their brief youth by exquisite forms. . But their beauty is soon blighted by their laborious life in this country of lava and sand, under the hottest climate in the world. More scantily clothed than the Abyssinians or Gallas, the Danakils merely wear a waistcloth of a many-coloured material, with a toga or shamma, often replaced by a skin thrown negligently over the shoulders. The men stick a porcupine-quill in their deftly arranged coiffure, and, like the Gallas, are extremely proud when they can ornament it with an ostrich feather, emblem of an enemy slain in battle. In the northern region, the huts of the Afars are very tastefully ornamented, the floor being covered with yellow mats, embroidered with red and violet designs.

The Afars are an independent nation, divided into two'main groups, the Asahian (Asaïmara) and the Adohian (Adoïmara), and into upwards of one hundred and fifty Kabilet (Kabail) or sub- tribes, banded together or divided according to their several interests. They recognise hereditary chiefs, called sultans or ras, according to the importance of the tribe. These chiefs, however, are by no means absolute masters, but merely the executors of the will of the people, expressed by a majority of votes in the general assemblies. All combine against the common enemy, and fight desperately in defence of their liberty. The most powerful sept are the Modaïtos, occupying the whole of the region of the lower Awash, Lake Aussa, and the inland pasturages between Edd and Raheita. No European traverses their