Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/395

 THE WASWAHELI. «15. remarkable skill in carving and sharpening swords made of ebony. Their territory, a hilly j)lateau considerably over G,000 feet above sea-levol, is a rugged bleuk region swept by biting winds. The Wagogos (Wa-Gogo), who occupy the section of the plateau stretching as far us the watershed towards T'nyamezi, were formerly much dreaded as fierce nuuuuders. When the first Arab caravan made its appearance in their territory, Burton tells us that they were so surprised at the corpulence of the leader, that they took him for a god, and called upon him to bring down rain from heaven ; but their prayers not being immediately answered, they were about to murder the strange deity when an opportune shower intervened to save his life. Yet the Wagogos are now said to be the least superstitious of all the East African popula- tions. They have very few magicians amongst them, and even these have fallen into great discredit. Most explorers who have visited those communities have bfen struck by the small size of the skull compared with the broad features and the prominent ears, which are likened by Burton to the handles attached to two sides of a jug or pitcher. The lobe is pierced and distended as amongst their Wasagara neighbours. In this part of Africa ears enlarged in this way are a mark of freedom, slaves being forbidden cither to pierce the lobe or attach any ornament to this organ. Nearly all the Wagogos are amply clothed, even the children wearing a large robe. Their language is much harsher than that of the neigh- bouring tribes. It is generally spoken in a loud, aggressive voice, sometimes even with a certain brutality, the Wagogos being very proud of their numbers, and long accustomed to bully the timid traders visiting their country. The Waswaheli. But however powerful they may be, all the nations of the interior have alike yielded to the influence of the language spoken by these despised dealers. The Xi-Swaheli, thatis the language of the Waswaheli (Wa-Swaheli) or "Coast People," is daily becoming more widely diffused amongst all the native peoples in this part of the continent. Yet the tribes by whom this idiom is being propaguted far and v;ide are neither stronger nor more numerous than the others. On the contrary, they cannot be said even to constitute a distinct ethnical group at all, for the Waswa- heli are of most diverse origin, and have become intermingled with immigrants from all the neighbouring regions. What gives them a certain national unity apart from most other Bantu populations is the Mohammedan religion, which they have adopted and profess with more or less zeal. The Arab element also has greatly contributed to modify their usages, and transform the agricultural communities into groups of active traders. Ki-Swaheli is spoken in its greatest purity in the districts north of Mombaz and Malindi, where the dialect known by the name of Ki-Ngozi has preserved its archaic forms, and is consequently used by poets in preference to all others. As it gradually spread southwards along the coastlands and adjacent islands as far as Mozajnbique, the current speech became more and more affected by Indian,