THE GALLAS. 



195 



in the vicinity of the equator as well as the Orômos of Abyssinia, speak languages 

 so closely related that they can easily understand each other. The various dialects 

 may be reduced to five, all bearing remote resemblance to the Semitic tongues, not 

 in their vocabulary but in their phraseology, indicating a similar mental constitu- 

 tion. D'Abbadie has called attention to a certain coincidence between a large 

 number of roots and grammatical features in the Basque and Galla tongues. The 

 Gallas are said by Bleek to possess clicks like those of the Hottentots, but the 

 statement has not been confirmed by other observers. Ignorant of writino- the 

 Orômos have no books except the Bible, introduced by the missionaries, and which 

 with a few dictionaries and a grammar by Tuschek, constitute the entire Galla 



Fig. 62.— Routes op the Chief Explorers in South Abyssinia. 

 Scale 1 : 6,000.000. 



Boutes of Antoine d' Abbadie. 

 120 Miles. 



literature. The Ilm-Orma country is also occupied by peoples of different stock 

 speaking another dialect as yet not reduced to writing by the missionaries. They 

 are evidently the remains of conquered peoples forming isolated ethnological 

 groups amid the invading hordes of the Galla nation. In the open Oromo country 

 still exist a few groups of Amharinians who have preserved the Abyssinian 

 language. 



The Gallas are usually of middle height, or about 5 feet 4 inches, although men 

 are found amongst them as tall as the Scandinavians. They are broad-shouldered 

 and slender- waisted, the young men having chests which would delight a sculptor; 

 the legs are shapely, the feet small and always weU arched. Strong, active, and 



