ORIGIN OF THE FULANI 379 gypsies and Fulani to an Indian origin. There are legends quoted by Barth and by M. Berenger Feraud to the effect that the Fulani entered the Soudan originally by way of Morocco, and these, though offered in opposition to the Indian theory, might, with very little straining, be made to support it, for Strabo, after describing a populous and flourishing African nation dwelling to the far west of Africa in the country opposite to Spain, adds the remark, "Some say that they are Indians who accompanied Hercules hither." The legend of Strabo, added to those quoted by modern writers, might therefore account for an Indian origin, even in Fulani who had entered the Soudan by way of Southern Morocco. It has also been sought to connect the Fulani with the Berbers, but this theory is rejected by philologists. It will, however, be remembered that among the nomad tribes of the desert, mentioned in an earlier chapter, allusion was made to one tribe not to be confused with those of Berber race. These were the Zingari or gypsies, who were believed to be of Indian descent. In assuming a Berber origin for the Fulani, it is again not improbable that the opponents of the Indian theory may unconsciously be supporting it by a confusion between one nomadic race of the desert and another.

That the Fulani may have owed their origin to the downfall of the dynasty of the Hyksos, or Shepherd Kings, who were driven from Egypt about the year 1630 B.C., is finally a theory which would seem to reconcile many conflicting arguments. M. Delafosse, whose studies in West African languages give special weight to his opinions, and who is one of the latest writers upon the subject, is inclined to espouse this view. He thus countenances the opinion of those who contend that the Fulani entered the Soudan by way of Egypt, but at the same time he emphatically rejects the theory of Egyptian origin, and carries the question of origin one step further back to that of the origin and race of the Hyksos themselves.

This he would find in India, "probably on the southern