Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/492

 402 SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA. gacred character. The forefathers of the tribe are invoked, and in their honour is immolated a spotless steer ; the boku imbues his sceptre with the blood, and the priests, coiling the entrails round their neck and arms, traverse the land, proclaim- ing to all the jjeople the resolutions taken by the national assembly. At other times special functionaries are despatched along the caravan routes, in order to gather from foreign traders tidings of the outer world. Nothing escapes the ears of these public agents which may in any way interest the members of their community. Like the old Greek euu-enoi, they are also required to represent the citizens with all strangers, to introduce them into the villages and offer them the bowl of milk, symbol of hospitality. One of the elders is also required, by way of blessing, to expectorate after the Masai fashion three times on the clothes of the stranger. Being partly annexed to the kingdom of Shoa, the eastern Gallas differ from those of the Ethiopian highlands more in their religious than in their political relations. Most of the western Gallas are still pagans, worshipping trees, moun- tains, and flowers, while numerous tribes have also become members of the Abyssinian Christian Church ; amongst these highland populations the Moham- medans are thus everywhere in a minority. But in the region of the eastern slopes and plains the contrary is the case. The Roman Catholic missions estab- lished in Ilarrar and its vicinity have hitherto made but few converts, whereas the preudiors of Islam have already penetrated a long way into the southern regions, fur beyond the Webi, and here nearly the whole of the On^mo populations have accepted the teachings of the Koran. Under the influence of the new religion the national usages have been modi- fied. The young Gnlli ^lohammedans no longer decorate their face, arms, and body with elaborate tattooings ; they now shave their heads instead of smearing their long tresses with clay and butter. Circumcision, which was never customary amongst the pagan Gallas of these regions, is henceforth universally practised on the youths between their tenth and fifteenth years. The children also receive Mussulman names, which disadvantageously replace such pleasant names as "Joy," "Hope," "Welcome," and so forth, which were current in pre- Mohammedan times. These worshippers of Allah no longer eat raw flesh, like their kindred in the Ethiopian highlands. The marriage rites are performed in the Arab fashion, and the young men no longer carry off their brides by a sort of make-believe abduction. Nevertheless certain customs of the highland Ilm-Ormas still survive amongst the Moslem lowlanders. Such is the numerical excess of female births, that, not- withstanding the institution of polygamj', a large number of young women remain without husbands. In this case Paulitschke tells us that they have the privilege of chtwsing temporary husbands till the birth of a child. It is also customary for families without posterity to adopt a son and heir. When the elders of the village have given their consent, the child is taken to the forest, where he is sup- posed by a kind of legal fiction to be found by his new parents ; then a bull is killed, and his body smeared with the animal's blood and fat, after which ceremony