THE GAI.LAS. 197 



colour that the Jesuits derived their usual name from the Greek word gala, that is 

 to say, " milk." The men and women are gracefully attired in the Ahyssinian 

 toga, and the hero who has distinguished himself by some famous exploit proudly 

 plants an ostrich plume in his hair. The Gallas are armed with a lance, the two- 

 edo-ed knife, and a shield of buifalo or rhinoceros hide. Their dwellings, which 

 resemble those of the Abyssinians, are circles of rough stones conically roofed with 

 grass or reeds. They are nearly all built under the shade of large trees, and the 

 traveller traverses many villages which he scarcely perceives through the dense 

 forest vegetation. 



The northern Ilm-Orraas, like their Abyssinian neighbours, are far more intel- 

 ligent than those of the west, and acquire languages with remarkable facility. 

 Like the civilised Abyssinians, they till the land and breed stock. They possess 

 numerous varieties of cereals, good horses, the best mules to be found in Central 

 Africa, and two varieties of oxen, the zebu and the sanka, with long horns which 

 when sprouting are trained to grow in the shape of a lyre. In many districts all 

 the villages are occupied with bee-farming. However, the Gallas have not all 

 the peaceful virtues of the agriculturalist, and their warlike instinct is often 

 aroused. The country is wasted by continual feuds, and in some tribes the able 

 men have been reduced by more than two-thirds. Even in the family itself, end- 

 less vendettas are carried on, unless blood-money has been accepted. But if the 

 Gallas are with good reason feared by most of their neighbours, they are in their 

 turn frequently threatened in the north by the Abyssinians of Gojam and Shoa, 

 and to the east by the Somalis, whilst the slave-hunters often make successful 

 razzias into their forests. The children, especially, have reason to dread these 

 marauders, because the adult Galla will often starve himself rather than submit to 

 slavery, whereas if taken young they can soon be trained for a life of bondage. 

 In nearly all the petty Galla states the trade in these children is carried on to the 

 profit of the chiefs themselves, some of whom impose a direct " child-tax " on each 

 family, whilst others accept human flesh in payment of imposts. 



Some Galla tribes are grouped into republican federations, but the bulk of them, 

 engaged in interminable wars, have elected heyu or chiefs, who alone of all the 

 Gallas practise polygamy. Amongst the southern Ilm-Ormas, these chiefs are 

 always chosen from some noble family, and are invested with power merely for a 

 term of years. 



Most of the Ilm-Ormas were converted to Abyssinian Christianity before the 

 invasion of Mohammed Granheh, or the "Left-handed," who overthrew the power 

 of the ancient Ethiopian kings. From this period they have preserved the names 

 of a few saints, the celebration of Sunday or " the Great Sabbath," and some other 

 feasts of Christian origin. At present the increasing influence of the Abyssinian 

 sovereigns has compelled several Galla tribes to re-embrace the monophysitic 

 religion ; some of the natives also have accepted the tenets of the Protestant and 

 Catholic missionaries. The native priests, originally slaves purchased in their 

 youth by the Capuchin friars from the parents or slave- dealers, and brought up 

 in the French seminaries, do not appear to enjoy much influence with their fellow- 



