228 NOETH-EAST APEICA. 



said to belong to the Funj race. This very name, equivalent in meaning to 

 " citizen," would indicate that the Funj consider themselves as civilised in a super- 

 lative degree, in comparison with their still barbarous kindred. However this may 

 be, the Funj were till recently one of the most powerful African peoples. At the 

 commencement of the sixteenth century they destroyed the kingdom of Aloa, whose 

 centre stood near the confluence of the two Niles, and founded another State, that 

 of Senaar, which existed till the beginning of this century, exercising control over 

 all the neighbouring peoples of Sudan, Nubia, and even Kordofan, and holding in 

 check the Abyssinian armies which occasionally attempted to descend from their 

 plateaux. But tho Arab viziers by degrees obtained the power, leaving an empty 

 show of authority to the Funj sovereigns ; rivalries and revolutions disorganised 

 the State, and when the troops of Mohammed Ali penetrated into Senaar in 1821, 

 they had an easy triumph, thanks to their discipline and superior weapons. The 

 conquest was not to the advantage of the Funj, who soon became subjected to 

 methodical slave-hunts, fusillades, the punishment of impaling, and other "benefits" 

 of civilisation introduced by the Egyptians. 



At present the Funj, specially classed under this name, are not numerous, and 

 even round Mount Guleh very few are met with who can be considered as typical 

 representatives of the race ; the numerous crossings caused by war and slavery 

 have so corrupted the population that it is a matter of great difiiculty to trace the 

 predominating elements. Every Arab or serai- Arab tribe, especially the Baggâra 

 immigrants and the industrious Barbarins, come to seek a fortune in this country, 

 and the Kordofan Nubas settled in military colonies around the towns, have all 

 contributed to modify the Senaar populations. The Egyptians alone, whether 

 Mussulman soldiers or Coptic scribes, have had but little influence on the race, 

 nearly all having quickly succumbed to the climate. The variety of their origin 

 and physical appearance is so great that the inhabitants of Senaar are usually 

 classed according to their colour as " white, red, yellow, blue, green, and black." 

 Nevertheless the fundamental ethnical element appears to be that of the Funj. 

 According to most authors they form an intermediate type between those of the 

 Nubians, Negroes, and Gallas. The head is long, the face orthognathous, the 

 features regular, the cheek-bones slightly prominent, the body slim and graceful, 

 and like most other natives they spend much time in arranging their hair. They 

 are affable, cheerful, and hospitable, and all the Senaar Egyptians prefer to dwell 

 in Jebel-Guleh, in the Funj country, than in any other district. Infirm persons are 

 almost unknown amongst the Funj, and their women retain their beauty and 

 bodily elegance far beyond the period usually allotted to the women of other 

 African tribes. The delka, which consists of rubbing the body, fumigating it with 

 perfumes, and anointing it with grease, is a practice much in use amongst the Funj 

 and the other civilised inhabitants of Upper Nubia. The people of Senaar are 

 skilful surgeons, and many of them travel to the basin of the Nile in the exercise 

 of their talents. They are known even in Egypt, and the fellahin give the name 

 of Senaari to the persons who vaccinate, treat fractured limbs, or operate on those 

 suffering from ophthahnic complaints. 



