Abessinia and the neighbouring Countries. 267 



into Abessinia beyond Tigre, have ordinarily occasion to be- 

 come familiar. But the Agau, in its various dialects, is the 

 language of the people ; in some provinces almost exclusively, 

 and in others, where it has been superseded by the language 

 of the dominant race, it still exists among the lowest classes ; 

 some of which, such as the Zalans, Kamaunts, Waitos, &c., 

 may, from their entire separation from the other races, be 

 looked on in the light of castes. 



From the affinity of the Geez, Amharic, and cognate dia- 

 lects, to the Arabic, it is reasonable to consider that they were 

 introduced by conquerors or settlers from the opposite shores 

 of the Red Sea. The traditions of the country are decidedly 

 in favour of such an origin. 



XVIII. The Agau Languages. The remarks made on the 

 preceding class, render any additional ones unnecessary here. 



XIX. The Galla Class of Languages. These are spoken by 

 other intrusive people from the south, who have surrounded, 

 and in part overrun Abessinia at a comparatively recent period. 

 Their advance, which has been great and is still going on, 

 is not so apparent as it might be, owing to the fact that, in 

 many cases, the Gallas have adopted the language of the 

 people whose place they have usurped. The Galla element 

 is, however, fast becoming the predominant one in Abessinia. 

 At the present day almost every principal ruler throughout 

 the empire is, in the male line, of Galla extraction. 



XX. The Gonga Class of Languages. To the languages and 

 dialects of this class already furnished by myself,* one or two 

 will probably have to be added from the vocabularies which 

 M. d'Abbadie informs us he has collected. It is, however, 

 expedient to defer the consideration of these additions, till 

 after Dr Latham's list has been gone through. 



XXI. The Shdnkala Language. Dr Latham identifies the 

 language of Dabanja of the Mithridates with my Shdnkala 

 of Agaumider. The chief place of the province of Agaumi- 

 der is Bdndja,^ which name is apparently identical with 

 Dabanja ( = Dar-Bdndja). The inhabitants of this province 

 say that it was foraierly inhabited by the Shdnkalas, whom 



* Proceedings of the Pkilolorjical Society, vol. ii., pp. 97-107. 

 t See Journal of the Royal Oeograjihical Society, vol. xiv. p. 7. 



