2o8 THE EXPLORATION OF THE NIGER Eddain, who founded a new tribe, that of the present Kel es Suk, by giving his daughters in marriage to Arabs, sheriffs of the tribe of El Abaker, descendants of the Ansars, or first companions of the Prophet.

This was how it came about that the Kel es Suk supplied the so-called Tuareg marabouts, and explains the fact that these marabouts have abandoned many of the characteristic customs of the true Tuaregs in favour of the strict observance of the Mussulman law.

Then came the invasion from Morocco, when the Armas, or Romas, as the soldiers of the Sultan of Fez were called, thanks to their firearms, destroyed the armies and broke the power of the Songhay ; but these Armas were not numerous enough to hold what they had taken, and in the course of a few generations they became merged in the nro race, and completely lost all their warlike qualities.