JAPETIC STOCK. 251 



near Souakin ; another, the Bishari Proper, occupies the country from 

 the north of Abyssinia along the course of the river Mareb, which flows 

 through the northern forests of the Shangalla, to the Belad-el-Taka 

 and Atbara, where dwell the Hadendoa and the Hammandab, powerful 

 Bisharine tribes: other tribes extend northward, as far as Gebel-el- 

 Ottaby ; others occupy the hilly country from Sennaar to Dar Berker 

 and to the Red Sea, the territory of the ancient Blemmyes ; and a tribe, 

 called Ababdeh,* occupies the country to the northward of the Bishari, 

 from the parallel of Deir to the frontiers of Egypt, extending into the 

 eastern desert as far north as Kossier, on the Red Sea. 



These tribes are all nomadic, fierce, and inhospitable ; they speak 

 different dialects of one language,, and have the same physical charac- 

 ters. Hamilton describes the Bishari as shrewd and intelligent, of small 

 stature, but active, and with a prepossessing countenance, some with 

 a cast of the Negro, others with a very fine profile. Their complexion is 

 nearly black. Riippell observes that the physical character of the Bishari 

 closely resembles that of Barabra ; and Burckhardt describes them as a 

 bold and handsome race of people, who go constantly armed, and are sel- 

 dom free from quarrels. The females are even beautiful, of a dark brown 

 complexion, with fine eyes and teeth, and of slender and elegant sym- 

 metry. The portrait on the succeeding page (fig. 197) represents a 

 Suakiny, or Hadharebe, tribe of the Bisharene family. 



Sennaar, which intervenes between Ethiopia and Abyssinia, is in- 

 habited by true Negroes the Shangalla, the Doba, the Shilukh, the 

 Faungi and also by nomadic Arabs; but, in Abyssinia, the mass of 

 the population is not referable to the Negro stock. Tribes of the Shan- 

 galla inhabit the low forest lands, especially on the borders of the 

 country ; but the elevated levels of Tigre and Amhara, and the platform 

 of Baharnegash, are tenanted by the Habesh, or Abyssins, divisible into 

 several distinct tribes, speaking different languages, but intermarrying 

 and agreeing with each other in general physical characters. The prin- 

 cipal tribes of Abyssinia are the Tigrani, or Abyssins of Tigre, the Am- 

 haras, the Agows, the Falasha, the Gafats, and the Gongas and Enareans ; 

 while the Gallas occupy the southern border, the Danakil the east, the 

 Somauli the maritime borders of the Gulf of Aden: along the borders 



* M. du Bois-Ayme thus describes the Ababdeh: "Les Ababdeh different entierement par leur 

 raceurs, leur language, leur costume, leur constitution physique, des tribus Arabes qui, comme eux, 

 occupent les deserts qui environnent 1'Egypte. Les Arabes sont Wanes, se rasent la tete ; sont vetus ; 

 les Ababdeh sont noirs, mais leurs traits ont beaucoup de ressemblance avec ceux des Europeens. 

 Us ont les cheveux naturellement boucles, mais point laineux. Us les portent longs, et ne se couvrent 

 jamais la tete. Us n'ont pour tout vetement qu'un morceau de toile, qu'ils attachent au-dessus des 

 hanches, et qui ne passe pas le milieu du corps. Us enduissent tout le corps de graisse." Belzoni 

 says, that these people are of small stature, but have fine eyes, and that many of the women wear their 

 hair in long curls, matted with grease. Their complexions are dark chocolate. ; 



