Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/570

 466 APPENDIX IL Dongolawi. . Province Dongola, from Wady-Halfa to Jebcl Dera, near Meroe, where the Shey- gyeh Arab terrilory begins. Danagele. . . Recent Nubian immigrants into Kordofan and Dar-Fur ; chiefly from Dongola, whence the name Danagele. Most of them now speak Arabic (Munziger). IV. SEMITIC GROUP. Of this division of the Caucasic stock two branches are represented in North-East Africa : 1. The Yoktauides, or Iliinyarites, from prehistoric times, mainly in the Abys- sinian highlands beyond the Egyptian frontier — Tigre, Amhara, Bogos,* and others speaking more or less corrupt dialects of the Gheez or old Himyaritic language of South Arabia. 2. The Ismaelites, or Arabs proper, a few probably from prehistoric times, especially in Senaar ; but the great majority since the Mohammedan invasion in the seventh century, chiefly in the steppe-lands west of the Nile from the Sobat confluence northwards to Dongola. Some of the early arrivals, such as the Jowabere and El Gharbiye, appear to have settled in the Nile Valley south of Egypt, -where they became assimilated in speech to the surrounding Nubian population. Many others moved west- wards through Kordofan and Dur-Fur to Wadai and the Tsad basin, and, speaking generally, no part of North and North-East Africa, except the Abyssinian uplands, can be said to be entirely free from the Arab element. Unfortunately this is also the disturbing element, but for the presence of which there would be no fanaticism, no slave-dealers, no Mahdis, no " Egyptian question," to con- found the councils of European statesmanship. Proud, ignorant, bigoted, and insolent, these Arab tribes " are for the most part nomads or wanderers, each within certain well-known limits. All are large owners of cattle, camels, horses, and slaves. These last, along with the Arab women generally, cultivate some fields of durra, or corn, suffi- cient for the wants of the tribe. The Arab himself would consider it a di.sgrace to practise any manual labour. He is essentially a hunter, a robber, and a warrior, and, after caring for his cattle, devotes all his energies to slave-hunting and war." f Some of these Arab tribes are very numerous and powerful. They command great influence amongst the surrounding populations, and are often in a position to defy the supreme authority, or compel it to accept their conditions in the administration of Eastern Sudan. The most important are the Sheygyeh, Eobabat, Jalin, and Kaba- bish, between Dongola and Khartum ; the Baqqara," thence southwards nearly to the Sobat confluence; the Homran, Eekhabin, and Alawin of Senaar; the Hamr, El-Homr, Mahumid, and Habanieh of Kordofan and Dar-Fur. In general, the Semitic type is fairly well preserved, although the Sheygyeh and some others are distinguished by a dark, almost black, complexion. Traces of intermixture with the Negroes are also evident in many districts, while complete fusion of the two elements seems to have taken place in parts of Senaar and Nubia. In religion all alike are zealous Mohamme- dans, to whom some system of domestic slavery seems almost indispensable. Hence even were the export of slaves to Egypt and Arabia suppressed, the institution would still survive in a mitigated form in the interior of the country. (ff) HlMYARTTIC OB ABYSSINIAN BkAXCH.J Dahalaki. . . Great Dahalak Island, near Massawa. Mastuai,. . The mixed population of Massawa, of Tigre speech. • The position of the Bogos or Bilin, who occupy a debatable tract at the north-east comer oi Abyssinia on the Egyptian frontier, is somewhat doubtful. Leo Reiiiisch regaids their sp^ch as a Gheez dialect (" Die Bilin Sprache," Vienna, 1882) ; yet he classes them subsequently with the neigh- bouring Hamite peoples, as will be seen farther on. t Lieut. Colonel Stewart's " Report on Ihe Sud&n for 1883," p. 8. X The •* Ethiopian " of some, the •' Agazi " of other writers, the latter term denoting ptK)ple8 of Geez speech. *' Alle diese Vblker haben einen innem Zusammcnhang ; sie sind Abyssinier, alto Christen,