Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/334

 264 NORTH EAST AFRICA. are much more appreciated than the Nubas, and unfortunately the occasion has often been had of comparing them from this point of view, because they are considered as the personal property of the king. This potentate is regarded as a sort of deity, whom they approach only by crawling on the stomach and scratching the ground with the left hand. No one marries without the permission of the king, and no one can remain free if it pleases the king to sell him as a slave. The father has also the legal right to get rid of his children, and in times of famine the slave-hunters go on purchasing expeditions from village to village. The Mohammedan religion, which has recently been adopted by the country, has not yet triumphed over the ancient customs. The Tagalas valiantly resisted the Egyptians, who would never have succeeded in taking the natural stronghold occupied by these movmtaineers had not disputes as to the succession to the throne opened a way to the invaders. On the plateau of the Tagala here and there rise steep hills, each bearing on its crest a small village surrounded by walls and thorny shrubs. These villages form the acropolis of the commune ; subterranean routes, excavated in the rock and communicating with the outside by concealed passages, receive the provisions, and occasionally serve as places of refuge to the inhabitants. In order to give an idea of the large number of fortified villages inhabited by the Tagalas, their country is said to possess no less than nine hundred and ninety mountains, whilst one thousand are attributed to the more extensive country of the Nubas. The Tagala district might under a settled government become the richest in Kordofan ; its soil is fertile and relatively well- watered ; its inhabitants are skilful, and almost the only people in Kordofan who have succeeded in cultivating the steep slopes by means of terraces sustained by walls of loose stones. The low mountain range of Wadelka, to the south-east of the Tagala hills, is also sur- rounded by regular terraces, like the advanced spurs of the Alps, above the plain of Lombardy. The Tagalas, extremely skilful smiths, import iron to manufacture arms and implements ; but the deposits of copper which exist in their mountains are still less worked than the auriferous sands of the country of the Nubas. The gold of Kordofan is not so much appreciated as that of Fazogl, on account of its colour. The Kababish and Baggara Tribes. The cultivated regions of Kordofan are everywhere surrounded by nomad populations, known under the general name of Bedouins, and divided into two .main groups of tribes, to the north the Kababish or " Goatherds," to the south the Baggdra or " Cowherds." These names, which merely indicate the pursuits and the mode of life of the tribes, do not imply any difference of race, and perhaps both the Kababish and Baggara belong to one and the same ethnical stock ; according to Brun-Bollet, the Baggar&s give themselves the name of Gema. The differences in soil and climate have had much to do with the difference in their