Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/255

 colour thnt the Jesuits derived their usual name from the Greek word gala, that is to say, "milk." The men and women are gracefully attired in the Abyssinian toga, and the hero who has distinguished hiniself by some famous exploit proudly plants an ostrich plume in his hair. The Gallas are armed with a lance, the two-edged knife, and a shield of buffalo or rhinoceros hide. Their dwellings, which resemble those of the Abyssinians, are circles of rough stones conically roofed with grass or reeds. They are nearly all built under the shade of large trees, and the traveller traverses many villages which he scarcely perceives through the dense forest vegetation.

The northern Ilm-Ormas, like their Abyssinian neighbours, are far more intelligent than those of the west, and acquire languages with remarkable facility. Like the civilised Abyssinians, they till the land and breed stock. They possess numerous varieties of cereals, good horses, the best mules to be found in Central Africa, and two varieties of oxen, the zebu and the sanka, with long horns which when sprouting are trained to grow in the shape of a lyre. In many districts all the villages are occupied with bee-farming. However, the Gallas have not all the peaceful virtues of the agriculturalist, and their warlike instinct is often aroused. The country is wasted by continual feuds, and in some tribes the able men have been reduced by more than two- thirds. Even in the family itself, endless vendettas are carried on, unless blood-money has been accepted. But if the Gallas are with good reason feared by most of their neighbours, they are in their turn frequently threatened in the north by the Abyssinians of Gojam and Shoa, and to the east by the Somalis, whilst the slave-hunters often make successful razzias into their forests. The children, especially, have reason to dread these marauders, because the adult Galla will often starve himself rather than submit to slavery, whereas if taken young they can soon be trained for a life of bondage. In nearly all the petty Galla states the trade in these children is carried on to the profit of the chiefs themselves, some of whom impose a direct "child-tax" on each family, whilst others accept human flesh in payment of imposts.

Some Galla tribes are grouped into republican federations, but the bulk of them, engaged in interminable wars, have elected heyu or chiefs, who alone of all the Gallas practise polygamy. Amongst the southern Ilm-Ormas, these chiefs are always chosen from some noble family, and are invested with power merely for a term of years.

Most of the Ilm-Ormas were converted to Abyssinian Christianity before the invasion of Mohammed Granheh, or the "Left-handed," who overthrew the power of the ancient Ethiopian kings. From this period they have preserved the names of a few saints, the celebration of Sunday or "the Great Sabbath," and some other feasts of Christian origin. At present the increasing influence of the Abyssinian sovereigns has compelled several Galla tribes to re-embrace the monophysitic religion; some of the natives also have accepted the tenets of the Protestant and Catholic missionaries. The native priests, originally slaves purchased in their youth by the Capuchin friars from the parents or slave-dealers, and brought up in the French seminaries, do not appear to enjoy much influence with their fellow-