ABYSSINIA AND ARABIA. 359 



colour of the hyeena, while his limbs and head took the 

 shape of that animal. When the change was complete 

 he grinned and laughed at them, and then retired into 

 the neighbouring thickets. They had remained, as it 

 were, rooted to the place from sheer fright, but the mo- 

 ment the hideous creature withdrew, they made the best 

 of their way home. ." . . . Few people will venture to 

 offend a blacksmith, fearing the effects of his resentment.'' 



Burton says : ' It has been observed that the black- 

 smith has ever been looked upon with awe by barbarians, 

 on the "same principle that made Vulcan a deity. In 

 Abyssinia all artisans are Budah, sorcerers, especially the 

 blacksmith, and he is a social outcast as among the 

 Somal ; even in El Hejaz, a land, unlike Yemen, opposed 

 to distinctions amongst Moslem.s, the Khalawigah, who 

 work in metal, are considered vile. Throughout the rest 

 of El Islam the blacksmith is respected as treading in the 

 path of David, the father of the craft.' ^ 



Barth writes : ' All over the Tawarek country, the 

 " enhad " (smith) is much respected, and the confraternity 

 is most numerous. An "enhad" is generally the prime 

 minister of every little chief. The Arabs in Timbuktu 

 call these blacksmiths " mallem," which may give an idea 

 of their high rank and respected character.' ^ 



With the Arabs, farriers are held in great esteem, and 

 enjoy extensive and invaluable privileges, in consequence 

 of the benefits 'their art confers on the indispensable 

 complernent of the Arab — his horse. The smith lives 



' Mansfield Parky ns. Life in Abyssinia, vol. ii. p. 144. 

 ' First Footsteps in East Africa, p. 33. 

 3 Travels in Africa. 



