THE BEJAS. 237 



scarring of the body. Their warriors have not yet completely ceased wearing 

 coats of mail, while some of the tribes still use primitive weapons, amongst others 

 a plain or spiked stick. The bulk of the Bejas wear their hair very thick as a 

 protection against the sun. On a level with the eyes they draw a circle round the 

 head, above which the hair rises straight up like a huge mop, distinct tufts 

 forming a crest at each side and at the back, which serve as a protection to the 

 ears and the nape of the neck. A scratcher, usually a porcupine quill, is stuck 

 through this black headdress, which is often saturated with butter. 



Most of the Bejas are said in their youth to possess considerable intelligence, 

 while their development is greatly arrested after puberty. They are said to be 

 bounded in their ideas, obstinate, boastful, rude, disrespectful to their parents, and 

 careless of the welfare or safety of their guests. They give themselves up exclu- 

 sively to cattle-breeding, and migrate from pasturage to pasturage, although one 

 of their tsaga, or encampments, may be considered as the official residence. 

 Custom forbids that anything in this place should be touched ; marauders may 

 seize the flocks, but they respect the tents. The Iladendoas possess an excellent 

 breed of camels, which enables them suddenly to appear at great distances from 

 their usual camping-grounds, and escape with their booty before the warriors have 

 had time to assemble so as to overtake them. The numerous Beja tribes also 

 consider it a point of honour to breed war-horses, although in many places they 

 are fain to be content with small wiry animals of Abyssinian extraction ; the larger 

 and stronger Dongola steeds suffer greatly from the climate, and the chiefs are 

 compelled to be constantly renewing their studs. Some of the Beja peoples are 

 agriculturists, but they use very rudimentary instruments, a stick burnt to a point 

 serving as a plough. Here and there certain industries have also survived, 

 inherited from the Blemmyes, such as weaving, iron-smelting and forging, and 

 making filigree work. The straight two-edged sword, the favourite weapon of 

 the Bejas, is generally of German manufacture, but they also forge excellent 

 weapons, swords and daggers ; the scabbards are of wood, covered with leather, 

 and amongst the rich embellished with elephants' ears. The shields they use arc- 

 made of rhinoceros hide, or the skins of other large animals. Commerce is actively 

 carried on amongst all the tribes, and in this respect the Bejas contrast singularly 

 with their neighbours the Bazen or Kunama. 



The customs of the Bejas, especially those which relate to marriage and the 

 social position of women, are still very different from those of the Arabs ; the 

 contrast is complete between the precepts of the Koran and the traditional prac- 

 tices of clivers origin. In certain respects the women are treated witli unspeak- 

 able cruelty. Parents are obliged to make their daughters undergo dreadful 

 surgical operations, without whicli they must renounce all hopes of obtaining a 

 husband. But after marriage the wife is in no way under the control of the 

 husband. She can return to her mother's tent whenever she pleases, and after 

 the birth of a child she has the right to repudiate her husband, who must make her 

 a present in order to be accepted again. If he insults or speaks rudely to her he 

 is driven from the tent, and can only obtain re-admittance by presenting her with 



