374 



THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



say no prayers over the dead. 

 Corpses are often buried in a 

 sitting position under stone cairns. 

 There are two main divisions: 

 the Haslya, comprising the 

 Mijertins, Habr Gahr-IIaji, Hahr 

 Awal, Gadabursi, Isa, Habr Juui, 

 and others; and the Haivija, of 

 which the chief members are the 

 Habr Jaleh, Habr Gader, Bad- 

 badan, and Eer-Dollol. One of 

 the best known are the Isa, whom 

 Burton describes as '"'childish 

 and docile, cunning and deficient 

 in judgment, kind and fickle, 

 good-humoured and irascible, 

 warm-hearted and infamous for 

 cruelty and treachery. ' Traitorous 

 as an Isa ' is a proverb at Zayla, 

 where these Bedouins are said to 

 offer a bowl of milk with the left 

 hand and stab with the right." 



The Gadabursi are allies and 

 neighbours of the Isa Somali, 

 living between Zayla and Harar, 

 to the south-east of the Isa 

 country. They were said by 

 Burton to be as turbulent as the 

 Isa, but less bloodthirsty, and of 

 a more handsome type. The Habr Gahr-Haji, who live to the south of Berbera, claim direct 

 descent from Sheikh Ishak. They have a blood-feud with the Habr Awal, but unite with them 

 against their common enemy the Isa. 



THE ABYSSINIANS. 



The kingdom of Ethiopia (Abyssinia) is traditionally named after Ethiops, one of the mythical 

 twelve children of Gush, a grandson of Ham and great-grandson of Noah, who is supposed to 

 have migrated after the Elood from Arabia to Abyssinia. He settled at what is now the sacred 

 city of Axum, where his son Ethiops was born. This tradition probably has a certain basis of 

 truth; for the nucleus of the Abyssinian people are Semites who crossed from Southern Arabia 

 and settled in the highland plateau of Abyssinia. There they acquired such influence that they 

 welded the various tribes of that region into a powerful confederation. The mixture of races in 

 the Abyssinian people is illustrated by their name, which comes from Habesli, an Arabic word 

 meaning "mixed." No name could be more appropriate; for the Abyssinians are partly Semitic, 

 partly Ilamitic, and partly Negro. The dominant race has usually been Semitic. Since the 

 death of King John in 1888 the headship has been held by a Hamito-Semitic people. On 

 the western slopes of Abyssinia are some Negro tribes, such as the Shangallas; in the plains 

 to the north of Abyssinia are the Beni-Amer, a mixture of the Abyssinian Tigrians and the 

 Nubian Beja; in the maritime plain around Massowa dwell the Shoho, who are Hamites and 

 speak a Danakil dialect; in Central Abyssinia dwell the Falashas, who are said to be Jewish in 

 race, as they certainly are in religion; finally, in the forests to the south are a dwarf tribe, the 

 Doko, who may be Negrilloes. The Arabs rightly named the Abyssinians the "mixed." 



The kingdom of Abyssinia was founded at a very early date. According to the national 



yrelli & Zuinbra\ 



SOMALI CHILDREN. 



[London. 



