Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/335

 I THE KABABISU AND BAOOARA TRIBES. 866 pureuitfl. The goat and the camel flourish iu the generally arid northern plains, while homed cattle can obt-ain sufficient water only in the southern steppes. All the '* Bcilouins " of Kordofdn claim to bo of Arab origin, and do in fact speak the language of the Prophet ; but, as Munzinger remarks, " speech is merely of secondary iinixjrtanee in ethnology, it is the manner in which it is spoken which makes it characteristic." Now of all the " Arabs " of the Nilotic regions, the IJaggara, and after them the Eababish, are those whose pronunciation differs the most from that of the true Arabs. A largo number of the usual sounds in the classical tongue are unknown and replaced by other sounds, possibly inherited from a now extinct language. The Kababish, who are more civilised, thanks to their geographical position, have other occupations besides goat and camel-breeding ; they also cultivate the soil in the lowlands which fringe the Nile, and found permanent villages there, and as they are careful purveyors, they accompany the caravans from El-Obeid to the stations on the Nile. Some of the Kababish tribes wear enormous hats, similar to those worn by the Kabyles of Tunis and Algeria. The employments of the Bagg&ra consist of grazing their cattle, hunting the elephant, the buffalo, and other large game, and even occasionally man. Directly the pasturages no longer offer sufficient nourishment for their herds, or when the gadfly attacks the cattle, they strike their firgan or tents, load the oxen with the mats which form them, and, followed by a band of their ferocious little dogs, they migrate to another part of the steppe. Carlo Piaggia met one of these caravans of BaggeLra nomads which extended for a distance of two miles ; including men and animals, it com- prised at least fifty thousand individuals, whilst birds, as if drawn there by the column of air displaced by the caravan, wheeled in thousands round the animals, destroying the parasites with which they were infested. Most of the Baggira have a red skin like that of the American Indians, and in bodily beauty, athletic form of the chest and shoidders, elegance of their hands and feet, they have but few rivals in the world. Their costume is similar to that of the Kordof&n villagers, their garment consisting of a kiud of white shirt striped with red, which leaves the right arm uncovered ; they adorn them- selves with glass trinkets, rings, and articles of ivory and horn. The women still dress their hair in the ancient fashion represented on the Egyptian monu- ments, and their tresses, which fall half-way down the forehead and on both sides down to the shoulders, are plastered with butter and aromatic pomades. The gilded ring which many women pass through the nostrils is often connected with a chain hung behind their hair. The men carry the lance, in the use of which they are very skilful, and the European weapons, Solingen swords and Liege rifles, have already become generally adopted by them. Few Arabs are so warlike, or 80 scrupulous in observing the duties of the vendetta, as the Bagg&ra. The Baggftra are amongst the most fervent of the faithful, and, under the direction of the Mahdi, they have eagerly thrown themselves into the holy war ; they have many times crossed the Bahr-el-Arab to attack the Negro populations of the zeriba region, and towards the end of 1884, the date of the last news