150 NORTH-EAST AFEICA. 



exclusively. They marry the women of the Bogos and other mountain tribes, but 

 are too proud to give their daughters in marriage to the Abyssinians. In these 

 regions of transition, as well as in the slave-markets surrounding the plateaux, 

 strikingly different types are met, such as the broad faces and high cheekbones 

 of the Agau, and the high forehead, hollow cheeks, delicate nose, and savage 

 eye of the Arabs, or of those assimilated to the Arabs, such as the Hadendoas and 

 Shaikiehs. 



The Sahos. 



The Sahos or Shohos, occupying the slope of the Hamassen plateau west of 

 Massawah, live by cattle-breeding and acting as guides between the seaport and 

 the highlands. Some authors look upon them as true Abyssinians, but most 

 explorers connect them with the Afars, or even with the Gallas. Their dialects, 

 of Afar origin, resemble those spoken throughout the southern region as far as the 

 Awash River, Although very frugal, they have full features with a fresh and 

 healthy complexion. Like all the other peoples of the coast, they are mostly 

 Mohammedans ; nevertheless, near the plateau there are some who intermingle 

 Christian traditions with their Mussulman faith, whilst a few villages, where the 

 missionaries reside, have become Catholic. 



Although nominally subject to the " King of Kings," the Shohos are really 

 independent, even the chiefs possessing merely a nominal authority over their 

 subjects. All the members of the tribe have an equal voice in the assemblies, and 

 anyone trying to dictate to another would be excluded or put to death. The 

 observance of their hereditary customs and the respect of public opinion, unite the 

 Shoho tribes in a compact nationality. The law of blood for blood is rigidly observed ; 

 a murderer must either die or pay the price fixed for a life, and if the assassin has 

 no relations to answer for him, his tribe draw lots for a substitute. In some 

 instances, however, the family of the murderer consents to his execution, and in 

 this case his parents and friends assist in putting him to death, so as to share in the 

 responsibility of his punishment. 



The Shangallas. 



West of the Abyssinian plateaux, on the spurs facing the Atbara, the Rahad, 

 the Dender, the Blue River and its affluent the Tumat, the Abyssinian peoples no 

 longer intermingle with the Arabs and Afars, but with Negro elements. The 

 name of Shangaila, or Shankalla, by which these natives occupying the western 

 slope of the mountains are known, is indiscriminately applied to numerous tribes, 

 differing in appearance, language, and origin, their only resemblance lying in their 

 almost black skins, relatively barbarous condition, warlike and slave-hunting pro- 

 pensities. From time immemorial it has been and still continues to be the custom 

 of the Abyssinian barons living near the Shangallas to descend into the forests with 

 their marauding hordes, plundering and killing those who dare to defend themselves, 



