Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/566

 466 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. and their home lies somewhere to the north of Air. They even form part of the famous Auraghen nation, and might almost claim to be " Africans " in a pre- eminent sense, if it be true, as many learned authorities suppose, that the name of the continent has been taken from these Auraghen, or Aiu'ighas.* But, however this be, the Auraghen are not of pure Berber stock. According to the local tradition, the Kel-Owi undertook at the time of the conquest, about the year 1740, to spare the lives of the black natives ; an alliance was even contracted with them, the Berber chief engaging for himself and his posterity that the head of the new dynasty should always marry a black wife. Most of his followers did the same, and at present the Kel-Owi, while remaining Awellimiden, or " veiled,'* like the other Tuaregs, have for the most part a very dark complexion. In their features also, as well as in their moral qualities, they betray a marked resemblance to the Haussa Negroes of Sudan. Like them they are of a bright cheerful dis- position, kind and friendly to strangers. The race of slaves has mingled with that of freemen, say the Tuaregs, who have preserved the purity of their blood, and who give to the Kel-Owi the opprobrious name of Ikelan, or " Slaves." The Auraghiye, or old Berber language, spoken by them, has also been corrupted by a mixture of Ilaussa words and expressions, and most of the Kel-Owi even speak both languages. Some amongst these Berbers have even forgotten altogether their mother-tongue. Such are the people of Agades, in the region south-west from Air, who are comprised within the zone of Songhai (Sonhrai) speech, the Negro language current in Timbuktu. On the other hand, the old matriarchal customs have been preserved amongst the Kel-Owi Berbers. In Asben the husband does not lead the bride to his home, but follows her to that of her parents. Property also and power are transmitted not from father to son, but in the female line from the uncle to the sister's son. Analogous customs are retained amongst some other Berber tribes, as well as amongst the Negro populations of Sudan. Topography of Air. Selufiat and Tintaghoda, the two northern villages of Air, inhabited by marabuts, are mere collections of hovels covered with the foKage of the dum-palm, which has here its northern limit. Although the residence of a secondary amanokal, Tintellust is little better in appearance. It lies at an altitude of 1,920 feet on a wed by which the Timge mountains are completely separated from the southern Boundai group. In the neighbourhood dwell the noblest families of the Kel-Owi nation. The Tintellust valley is described by Barth as a broad sandy channel, bare of herbage and only lined with bushes along its border. At the time' of his visit it was the residence of the powerful chief Annur, and a little farther south stands the sandhill selected as the camping- ground of the English expedition. Doubtless this sandhill will ever be memorable in the annals of the AsbenaMW. as the " English Hill," or the " Hill of the Christians." t t BantB. " Travels," i. p. 31.
 * Carette, " Origine et Mijrration des principalea tribus de I'Afrique.'*