Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/565

 FLORA, FAUNA, AND LVHABITANTS OF AIE. 401 mane, like the variety still surviving in Western India. The leopard, althoogh loss common, is more feared by the natives. Hyenas are very nrv, while the jackal prowls in numerous iwcks niund al! the campin^-f^rounds. The wild boar has its lair in the thickets, and monkeys boldly venture uraid the clumps of trees in close proximity to the human habitations. Various species of antelojies, some indi^^^nous in Northern Sahara, some originally from Sudan, roam over the surrounding plains, and ixjnetrRto into the mountain gorges. The feathered tribe is represt'uted only by a small number of 8|x;cic8, but each species by myriads of individuals. Of the species the most common are the turtle-dove and guinea-fowl. Although relatively to the rest of the Sahara, the Air uplands may bo said to abound in animal life, they might be almost described as a lifeless region conipare<l with the s<juthern wme of steppes bordering on the Sudan, and separated from Asben by the bare and arid Almdarjen plateau. These steppes, says Barth, are the true home of the giraffe, and of the beautiful long-horned leucoryx antelope ; here the ostrich is met in large flocks, and the ground is burrowed in long galleries by the earth-hog {onjcleropm (ri/tiopicH*)^ an animal which never leaves its hole in the daytime, and is consequently rarely seen by the natives. Like its flora and fauna, the native population of Air gives evidence of the constant struggle and crossing of species between the Sahara and Sudan. In thin debatable laud between the two regions, the Berber and ^«egro races have long contended for the supremacy. The ancient Goberawa, who are traditionally said to have been its former masters, would appear to have been black Berbers, constituting one of the aristocralic families of the Negro Haussa nation. These seem to have been followefl by other coiKjuerors of Berber origin, descending from the northern highlands. Such were the Kel-Gheres, that is to say, " People of Gheres," and the Itissan, who arc classed by Ibn-Khaldun amongst the tribes of the {wwerful Sanheja confederation. But all these former invaders are now ninked amongst the vanquisluxl. Driven from the Air highlands during the first half of the present century, they withdrt>w in the direction of the western and south-western plains, here occupying a territory ceded to them by the Awellimiden confederacy. The Kel-Ghen^s and Itissan tribes are distinguished amongst the Berber jx>oples especially for their strength, beauty, and graceful carriages The complexion is comparatively s{)eaking fair, and they pride themselves on the purity of their blood. They have also a great reputation for courage, and although far less numerous than the present occupants of the Asben uplands, they enjoy the advantage of being nea.-ly all horsemen, whereas their hereditary foes mostly employ camels in the batth-tield. "Warriors mounted on horses have naturally much greater freedom of action, and can mau<ruTe far more rapidly than those using the clumsy •' ship of the desert," The present rulers of Air, or Asben, calletl Asbenava (Asbenawa) by the Sudanese peoples, give themselves the designation of Kel-Owi^ that is, " Men of Owi," from a place supposed to be the cradle of their race, but the site of which has not yet been determined by the historian. They are undoubtedly of Berber origin.