THE APAES. 191 



Goiam. The object of d'Abbadie's visit to these countries, which was to completely 

 survey the course of the southern Abyssinian river, has not yet been accomplished. 

 It is not known whether, after describing the large curve east of Kaffa, the water- 

 course which forms a continuation of the Gugsa and receives the Gojeb trends 

 westwards to the Nile or is deflected towards the Indian Ocean, but it probably falls 

 eastwards as the upper course of the Juba. In any case it is not the Nile, as 

 d'Abbadie supposed. 



The Afars. 



In the triangular space comprised between the Abyssinian range, the Red Sea, 

 and the course of the Awash, the bulk of the people, whether nomad or settled, 

 constitute the Afar, or Afer, that is to say the " wanderers," more commonly called 

 Danakils by the Abyssinians. In the vicinity of the Awash they are known as Adel, 

 or Adail, after the Ad-Ali, one of their most powerful tribes ; but the various clans 

 differ little in customs, dialects, and usages. The Danakils themselves claim to be 

 Arabs, like so many other peoples of eastern Africa, and this pretension may be 

 explained both by local crossings as well as by their nominal conversion to Islam. 

 But there can be no doubt that the main body of the nation is connected with the 

 Gallas of the west, the Shohos of the north, and the Somalis of the south. Their 

 lano-uage is also of Hamitic origin, and their physical appearance is of an analogous 

 type. They are still mainly addicted to fetish practices, in the sterile region of Lake 

 Alalbed worshipping a solitary tree, the caesalpinia, with splendid pink flowers, and 

 elsewhere presenting their offerings to the sycamore. The men are usually 

 handsome, extremely active and graceful dancers; while the women, who go unveiled, 

 are distinguished during their brief youth by exquisite forms. But their beauty is 

 soon blighted by their laborious life in this country of lava and sand, under the 

 hottest climate in the world. More scantily clothed than the Abyssinians or Gallas, 

 the Danakils merely wear a waistcloth of a many-coloured material, with a toga or 

 shamma, often replaced by a skin thrown negligently over the shoulders. The men 

 stick a porcupine- quill in their deftly arranged coiffure, and, like the Gallas, are 

 extremely proud when they can ornament it with an ostrich feather, emblem of an 

 enemy slain in battle. In the northern region, the huts of the Afars are very 

 tastefully ornamented, the floor being covered with yellow mats, embroidered with 

 red and violet designs. 



The Afars are an independent nation, divided into two main groups, the Asahian 

 (Asairaara) and the Adohian (Adoimara), and into upwards of one hundred and 

 fifty Kabilet (Kabail) or sub- tribes, banded together or divided according to their 

 several interests. They recognise hereditary chiefs, called sultans or ras, according 

 to the importance of the tribe. These chiefs, however, are by no means absolute 

 masters, but merely the executors of the will of the people, expressed by a majority 

 of votes in the general assemblies. All combine against the common enemy, and 

 fight desperately in defence of their liberty. The most powerful sept are the 

 Modaitos, occupying the whole of the region of the lower Awash, Lake Aussa, and 

 the inland pasturages between Edd and Raheïta. No European traverses their 



