Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/488

 400 SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA. wars which almost everywhere else are incessantly carried on between the SomaU and Galla |>opulation8. The Easteun Gallas. The Gallas, who give themselves the general designations of Oromo, that is " Men," or " IJrave," and Ilm-Onnn, that is, "Sons of Men," are more commonly known to tlicir S<}niali enemies by the appellation of Durr, that is, "vile," or "abj<ct." But although thus closi)ised by the neighbouring Somali people, the Gallas greatly surpass them in intelligence, love of industry, peaceful habits, and trustworthiness. They are also far more numerous, thanks to the fertility of their plains, whose li;,'ht reddish soil they diligently cultivate. According to the Egyptian officers, who till recently held command in the city of Ilarrar, there was a population of several millions in the province of the Upper Webi annexed to the Khedival possessions. Paulitsehke, however, while confirm- inn- the rejMirts regarding the extremely dense population of this region, reduces to about 1,."50,000 the probable number of north-eastern Gallas concentrated in the Upper Webi basin. The southern districts, that is, the valleys watered by the streams flowing to the Juba and the Tana, are also very thickly peopled. The Gallas who dwell beyond the limits of Ethiojjiu, ])roperly so called, that is, on the slopes draining to the Indian Ocean, cannot in any case be estimated at less than three millions. On the other hand, the whole of the Somali territory contains a population of scarcely one million, of whom about 100,000 belong to the great Mi- jortin nation. The Somali rct-upying the coastlunds along the Gulf of Aden between the Jrbel Karoma and the Gan Libash, are estimated by jI. Revoil at scarcely more than -^0,000 altogether. Nevertheless in these incessant border feuds, the aggressors are invariably the numerically iiif^Tior Somali tribes. These fierce nomads, who go about constantly armed and reuJy for the fight, and who are alwa3'S lying in ambush to fall unawares on the foe, have naturally a great advantage over the sedentary Gallas, occupied chicHy with the cultivation of their durrah fields. But on the verge of the desert stretching north of the Ilarrar Mountains some of these Galla tribes have, as nomad pastors, adopted the habits and customs of their hereditary enemies. In order to resist the aggressors, who are attracted chiefly by the love of pillage and the ho])e of plunder, the Oromo have in many places been obliged to abandon tlu'ir fertile plains and settled habitations, or else sink to the position of serfs, mere '♦ hewers of wood and drawers of water " to the rapacious Somali marauders. In the extreme southern regions they have already ceased to defend the territory comprised between the rivers Juba and Tana. But in the northern districts they still show a bold front to the enemy, and here the river Errer, a main branch of the ebi or Ilarrar, has not yet been crossed by their adversaries. Strict watch is constantly kept against the raiders by the Enniya tribe all along the frontiers of the conterriiinous domains. In any case the Gallas certainly vindicate their claim to the national* desig-