THE PEOPLES OF THE SAHARA AND SOUDAN 391 



Bellate from his allegiance: when taken prisoners, they escape back to their bondage at the 

 first opportunity. 



The Tuareg religion is Islam modified by fetishism. The Tuaregs are very superstitious, 

 believe in demons and spirits, and never speak of the dead except as those who have disappeared. 

 They regard the cross as a eacred symbol. 



THE FULAH. 



The physical characters of the Fulah race show that they are not Negroes, and they have 

 even been regarded as Malays, and some striking coincidences with Malayan culture exist in the 

 West Soudan. But the Fulah are probably a Ilamitio race of Berber affinities, and possibly 

 are allied to the Tuaregs. 



Photo by Richard Buc/tta. 



TWO NUHIAX DAXCING-UIKLS. 



They present an interesting combination of physical features. The colour, as implied 

 by the name Fulah, is reddish, varying from reddish brown to a light chestnut. The face is 

 oval, the nose is straight and often aquiline, the lips are thin and delicate, and the hair is 

 straight or grows in loose ringlets. 



In mental characters they differ no less markedly from the Negroes. Earth calls them the 

 most intelligent of African races. All were formerly pastoral, but many have now settled down 

 to agricultural and industrial pursuits, in which they succeed by their shrewdness, pertinacity, 

 and diplomacy. As soldiers they are brave and disciplined, although Lieutenant Hourst tells 

 us that the Fulah of Fafa on the Niger, like the rest of the sedentary peoples whom he met, 

 live in abject fear of the Tuaregs. But their courage and discipline are demonstrated by 

 the fact that, though they are a minority of the population in Sokoto, they are politically 

 supreme. Their army is large, disciplined, and well equipped. 



The Fulah language is described by Keane as "of distinctly Negro type." It uses 



