THE GALLAS. 



199 



to climb over the enclosure round the house of the man of their choice. She stops 

 at his door till morning, and if he does not succeed in driving her away by insults, 

 she has conquered, and " as required by the laws of their ancestors," the young man 

 is obliged to marry her, whether he desire it or not. When a Galla falls seriously 

 ill and there is no hope of saving his life, to prevent him suffering useless pain, 

 his friends stifle him by filling his mouth with clotted milk kept in place by a 

 cloth. In some tribes the children and relations also kill their aged parents, even 

 when not ill. The funeral ceremonies are regulated according to custom. A 

 trophy of branches is placed on the tomb, indicating the wealth, position, and 

 entire history of the deceased. The hair of women floating over the grave 



Fig. 64. — Populations of South Abyssinia. 

 Scale 1 : 6,000,000. 



120 Miles. 



expresses grief and puts the evil spirits to flight. The elder brother inherits the 

 wife and children ; but if the deceased had no issue, his brother or relations must 

 adopt or purchase an heir, who takes the dead man's name, and thus carries on the 

 family. Children are frequently adopted by the Gallas ; the wife gives the child 

 suck, the husband gives it hia thumb to bite, and the ties of relationship are 

 henceforth inviolable. 



The Galla communities, tribes or fractions of tribes, which bear a distinct name, 

 differing according to their political surroundings and their upland or lowland 

 place of habitation, may be reckoned by the hundred. Some of the clans have 

 become Abyssinians by marriage and mode of life. Such are principally the Mechas 

 of Go jam, the Jaggadas of Beghemeder, all nominally Christians; the Wollo 



