230 NORTH-EAST AFEICA. 



sinian origin, and the Abyssinians themselves look upon them as descendants of 

 the ancient Aksumites. They are generally of a dark complexion, and individuals 

 are often found amongst them nearly as black as the Nigritians of western Africa. 

 Well-proportioned, tall, strong, and broad-shouldered, the Kunama are one of the 

 healthiest and most vigorous peoples of the continent. Sickly persons are un- 

 known, and the disgraceful diseases so common amongst the Abyssinian highlanders 

 and the Arab lowlanders have not yet contaminated their race. Like the Nuers 

 and Denkas of the Upper Nile, they often rest standing on one foot. They rarely 

 suffer from the fevers so dangerous to strangers, and many of them attain an 

 advanced age. However, they have a certain tendency to stoutness, and in this 

 respect present a singular contrast to their neighbours, the Barea, and especially 

 to the Arabs. The Kunama attribute their good health to the scars with which 

 they cover the face and body — and which they look upon as signs of beauty — as 

 well as a sacred writing proclaiming their origin. The Barea are not of such 

 light complexion as the Kunama, and are usually weaker and less shapely ; 

 many blind persons are found in their tribes, especially in the vicinity of the 

 marshy shallows of the river Barka. Whilst nearly all the Kunama have a 

 family likeness, the Barea present a great diversity of types, and, excepting the 

 women, have rarely regular features. The languages of the two peoples are also 

 different, although both may be classed provisionally in the " Hamitic " group, 

 while in some respects they appear to be allied with the Nuba idiom. It will be 

 possible to fix their position definitely when all the dialects of North-East Africa 

 have been as carefully studied as the Bazena of the Kunama, and the Nerehena of 

 the Barea, have been by Munzinger, Edlund, Halevy, and Reinisch. The speech 

 of the Kunama is unaccentuated, and without harsh consonants ; uniform and soft, 

 it corresponds perfectly with the peaceful character of the nation. Very few of 

 the Kunama speak any language than their own, whilst nearly all the Barea under- 

 stand the Tigré of their Abyssinian neighbours. There is a rich treasure in the 

 popular songs and melodies of the Kunama, which have not yet been collected by 

 European explorers. 



The Kunama and Barea are pre-eminently agriculturists, all cultivating the 

 land without distinction of sex, position, or fortune. During the rainy season the 

 plough never rests, and, unlike their neighbours, they have no idle days consecrated 

 to religious feasts. All the domestic animals are used for work ; the camels, asses, 

 and horned cattle are harnessed to the plough, and if these cannot be had, the men 

 or women take their place. Everyone has his farm, and plots of land are set apart 

 even for the slaves, who are allowed sufficient time for its cultivation. The public 

 domain, at the disposition of all, is of sufficient size to enable the labourer to select 

 another piece of land, and thus replace the field exhausted by a long term of culti- 

 vation ; but the rotation of these allotments is usually made in a regular order 

 around the scattered huts in which the families reside. Wherever the hills have 

 a decided slope, they are cultivated in terraces sustained by stone walls. The Bazen 

 are never daunted by any kind of work. Peaceful labourers engaged exclusively 

 in tilling the land, neither the Bazen nor the Barea are grouped in villages, as they 



