THE TAKRUEI— THE KUNAMA AND BABEA. 229 



The Takruri. 



To the north and north-west of the Ginjar, the zone of the spurs which 

 separate the Abyssinian plateaux from the Nubian steppes is occupied by other 

 immigrants, collectively known as Takruri, or Takarir, originally come from Dar- 

 Fôr, Wadai, and the countries of Western Africa. Mostly pilgrims returned from 

 Mecca, they have preferred to stop and settle down in a country where they found 

 lands to cultivate and a relative independence, rather than return to their own 

 territory, where they were certain to meet with oppression. Perfectly accli- 

 matised to these lowlands, where most of the Abyssinians and European travellers 

 succxmib, they now occupy all Galâbat and many of the valleys of the Kwarra, in 

 Abyssinia. Having become free, they have, at the same time, acquired great 

 prosperity as farmers and merchants ; but they have not always peacefully 

 enjoyed their conquests, and civil war often broke out between the Takrur of 

 Wadai, those of Dar-For, and the descendants of the immigrants long settled in 

 the country. A large number of Jiberti Mussulmans, expelled from Abyssinia 

 because they have refused to abjure their faith, have recently increased the 

 popidation of the Takarir communities and of the Dabaina Arabs. 



The Kunama and Barea. 



The Kimama, Bazen, or Baza, who people the valleys of the Mareb and 

 Takkazeh and the intermediary plateaux at the mouth of the Abyssinian kwallas 

 to the number of some one hundred and fifty thousand, are " Shangallas," who^ 

 have successfully kept aloof from intermingling with the Arabs. They do not as 

 yet speak the language of the northern invaders, and, except in the vicinity of the 

 borderlands, have not adopted the Mohammedan religion ; but if they have suc- 

 ceeded in maintaining their national independence, it is only due to their continual 

 and pitiless wars. An implacable struggle exists between them and the nomads 

 of the north, and the frontier populations are always on the alert to avoid surprise, 

 and the massacre which would inevitably follow. The Kunama have also to defend 

 themselves on the south from the attacks of the Abyssinian highlanders. Like 

 their neighbours, the Barea, ten times less numerous, who live to the north-west 

 in the rocky region of the water-parting between the Mareb and the Barka, they 

 are continually in danger of being crushed by the enemies who harass them on 

 both sides. In one direction the Arabs assail them from the lowlands, on the other 

 the Abyssinians swoop down from their plateaux, whence Munzinger compares them 

 to the corn, ground between two millstones. Nevertheless, these populations so 

 threatened are amongst the most interesting by their customs, the most sympathetic 

 by their qualities, and the most worthy of imitation ; peace exists between their 

 different communities, and labour is respected by them. 



Although resembling each other in their political and social institutions, the 

 Kunama and the Barea are different in origin and physical type. The Kunama, 

 established in the country since time immemorial, claim to be immigrants of Abys- 



