Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/257

 to climb over the enclosure round the house of the man of their choice. Sho stops at his door till morning, and if he does not succeed in driving her away by insults, she has conquered, and "as required by the laws of their ancestors," the young man is obliged to marry her, whether he desire it or not. When a Galla falls seriously ill and there is no hope of saving his life, to prevent him suffering useless pain, his friends stifle him by filling his mouth with clotted milk kept in place by a cloth. In some tribes the children and relations also kill their aged parents, even when not ill. The funeral ceremonies are regulated according to custom. A trophy of branches is placed on the tomb, indicating the wealth, position, and entire history of the deceased. The hair of women floating over the grave

expresses grief and puts the evil spirits to flight. The elder brother inherits the wife and children; but if the deceased had no issue, his brother or relations must adopt or purchase an heir, who takes the dead man's name, and thus carries on the family. Children are frequently adopted by the Gallas; the wife gives the child suck, the husband gives it his thumb to bite, and the ties of relationship are henceforth inviolable.

The Galla communities, tribes or fractions of tribes, which bear a distinct name, differing according to their political surroundings and their upland or lowland place of habitation, may be reckoned by the hundred. Some of the clans have become Abyssinians by marriage and mode of life. Such are principally the Mechas of Gojam, the Jaggadas of Beghemeder, all nominally Christians; the Wollo