264 NOETH-EAST AFRICA. 



are much more appreciated than the Nubas, and unfortunately the occasion has 

 often been had of comparing them from this point of view, because they are 

 considered as the personal property of the king. This potentate is ^^egarded as a 

 sort of deity, whom they approach only by crawling on the stomach and scratching 

 the ground with the left hand. No one marries without the permission of the 

 king, and no one can remain free if it pleases the king to sell him as a slave. The 

 father has also the legal right to get rid of his children, and in times of famine 

 the slave-hunters go on purchasing expeditions from village to village. The 

 Mohammedan religion, which has recently been adopted by the country, has not 

 yet triumphed over the ancient customs. 



The Tagalas valiantly resisted the Egyptians, who would never have succeeded 

 in taking the natural stronghold occupied by these mountaineers had not disputes 

 as to the succession to the throne opened a way to the invaders. On the plateau 

 of the Tagala here and there rise steep hills, each bearing on its crest a small 

 village surrounded by walls and thorny shrubs. These villages form the acropolis 

 of the commune ; subterranean routes, excavated in the rock and communicating 

 with the outside by concealed passages, receive the provisions, and occasionally 

 serve as places of refuge to the inhabitants. In order to give an idea of the large 

 number of fortified villages inhabited by the Tagalas, their country is said to 

 possess no less than nine hundred and ninety moimtains, whilst one thousand are 

 attributed to the more extensive country of the Nubas. ' 



The Tagala district might under a settled government become the richest in 

 Kordofân ; its soil is fertile and relatively well- watered ; its inhabitants are skilful, 

 and almost the only people in Kordofân who have succeeded in cultivating the 

 steep slopes by means of terraces sustained by walls of loose stones. The low 

 mountain range of Wadelka, to the south-east of the Tagala hills, is also sur- 

 rounded by regular terraces, like the advanced spurs of the Alps, above the plain 

 of Lombardy. 



The Tagalas, extremely skilful smiths, import iron to manufacture arms and 

 implements ; but the deposits of copper which exist in their mountains are still 

 less worked than the auriferous sands of the country of the Naibas. The gold of 

 Kordofân is not so much appreciated as that of Fazogl, on account of its colour. 



The Kababish and Baggara Tribes. 



The cultivated regions of Kordofân are everywhere surrounded by nomad 

 populations, known under the general name of Bedouins, and divided into two 

 main groups of tribes, to the north the Kababish or " Goatherds," to the south the 

 Baggâra or " Cowherds." These names, which merely indicate the pursuits and 

 the mode of life of the tribes, do not imply any difference of race, and perhaps 

 both the Kababish and Baggâra belong to one and the same ethnical stock ; 

 according to Brun-Rollet, the Baggarâs give themselves the name of Gema. The 

 differences in soil and climate have had much to do with the difference in their 



