Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/392

 314 SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA. The Wazeguhas are almost the only people in this region of East Africa who do not recognise the principle of inheritance in the transmission of the supreme authority. The succession deiMjnds rather on personal qualities, strength, courage, or wealth, and the consequence is that incessant warfare is carried on by the rival candidates for the position of tribal chief. Occasionally their neighbours become involved ia tho^e intertribal feuds, which at times lead to the extermination of whole communities. Thus the Wadoes (Wa-Doe), one of the local clans, has almost entirely disappeared during the ceaseless broils by which the land has been wasted, and fugitive members of this group have been scatteretl northwards as far as the neighbourhood of the equator. Their territory was generally avoided by travellers, because the Wadoes were -known to be cannibals. IJoth sexes disfigured themselves by two broad red scars, traced from near the temples down to the point of the chin. The two upper incisors were also extracted, and the national costume consisted of skins dyed yellow. At the death of a free man two slaves were buried alive in the same grave, a woman in order to prop his head during his last sleep, a man furnished with an axe in order to supply him with fuel in the cold, dark earth. The village chiefs try to make thoniselvos look more terrible by cutting their nails in the form of lions' claws, and avoid meeting each other on the highway, pretending that their glance must prove fatal to a rival in authority. Hence when they have to deliberate on matters of common interest, the meeting takes place in a hut divided into two or more compartments, one for each chief, and the discussion is then carried on over the partitions. The Wasagaras and "Wagogos. Tlie highland district lying between the seaboartl and the inland plateau is inhabited by the various Wasagara (Wa-Sagara) clans, some still as barbarous as the Wakhutu peoples, others already more or less civilized through their continuous intercourse with the Swaheli, the Arabs, and the European explorers. Their language, divided into several dialects, is one of the most widely diffused in the interior, being current in some communities as far as the neighbourhood of jSIombaz. The "Wasagaras are generally distinguished by a fuller growth of beard from all the surrounding populations. Some of their chief branches are the Wahehes (AVa-IIehe), in the southern basin of the Ruaha, and farther north, towards the frontiers of Masailand, the AVamegis (Wa-Megi), the Wakagurus (Wa-Kaguru). and the Wagejas (AVa-Geja). The distinctive sign of all these groups is the lower lobe of the ear, which, by the insertion of ornaments such iis wooden, metal, or horn discs, continually increasing in size, is gradually distended until at last it touches the shoulder. The cavity thus produced is often utilized for holding little bo^es, tobacco pouches, instruments, and other nicknacks. "While most of the tribes are bearded, the Wahehes, whose language closely resembles the Ki-Swaheli, have absolutely hairless faces. *'They have enslaved the Wabenas (Wa-13ena), a peaceful nation who have become famous for their