232 AFRICAN WANDERINGS.

Towards the east, among the hills, running up to Habcsch, dwell savage tribes and robbers ; they speak an aggem of their own, are Maguss (heathens), dress in skins, or go perfectly naked. Their irt'eapons are the lance and a small shield of buffalo-hide. The men ornament themselves with coral, are powerful, incredibly agile, and wonderful runners. They are an abomination- to the Mussulmen, as they neither pray, have any kitab (book or Koran), nol* any Faki. They have neither camels nor horses, but only cattle, goats and sheep, and live on milk and flesh. They grow 'little durra, as their ground is ill adapted to it, and only eat of it every tenth or twelfth day. Their towns or villages are situated on the highest hill-tops, are fenced in with thorns and stone walls, and they are said to have sixty such fortresses. They are of various shades of colour,—brown, black, red, and almost white. The fairer females of bright complexion are highly valued. They plunder from each other, principally stealing women and cattle, and make forays into Habesch and Taka ; they know not the duties of hospitality ; the stranger Avho enters their country, even though a female, is robbed and murdered. The father will demand the guest from the son, even though he has eaten and drunk with him, and only with the view of sacrificing him to their inhospitable usages. This makes them deeply hated by the Arabs, with whom a guest (Diffahn), Avith certain exceptions, is sacred. They sell their own offspring, even their daughters, as victims to Turkish lust. They tattoo body and limbs very neatly. Whence these hill-tribes, whom the Arabs, in contempt, call Naas-el-Gebl saket, spring, no one knows; probably, however, they are the original inhabitants of the land, driven back into the hills by the conquering races of Abyssinians and Arabs : further, the different hill-tribes have different languages, Avith some Arab Avords mixed in them, as in Faszogl.

On the Gohr-el-Gash, tAvo days' journey from here to the eastward, commence the extensive and highly populous mountains of Basa. The tAvo principal cities of that land are Bada and Deriba. These nations also murder their guests, and arc Kaffers or Maguss (heathens). Here, too, plundering is the main pursuit, with little agriculture, but much cattle-breeding. Tlie whole labours are those of the chase, especially elephant-hunting,