ARMS CAREFULLY PRESERVED. 429 



mented by a small boss, from which depends a long 

 tuft of horsehair, sometimes white, tinged with henna, 

 sometimes black. This tuft is the characteristic 

 symbol of a brave, as it is only assumed after the 

 bearer has slain a man. On the inside of the shield, 

 corresponding to the raised boss, is a depression, 

 about one inch deep, and an inch and a-half in 

 diameter, where generally is placed any little port- 

 able valuable, that can be stowed away in it. Gum- 

 myrrh, not unfrequently, occupies this place, and 

 sometimes "eltit," or assafcetida, or some other valued 

 medicine. Assafcetida is not indigenous to Adal ; 

 theDankalli obtain it in small quantities from Arabia. 



One trait in the character of these people, is the 

 great attention they pay to the condition of their 

 arms. Brightening or sharpening them is their 

 favourite amusement, and no fiercer scowls are 

 excited than by the accidental disturbance of the 

 carefully-deposited shield or spear. No traveller in 

 Adal can help observing this; and in the description 

 of a war-dance of these people, in a recent work 

 upon Ethiopia, its imaginary character is betrayed 

 by the alleged beating of the shields ; which, how- 

 ever characteristic it may be of the peaceable Abys- 

 sinian, when he endeavours to represent the turmoil 

 of strife, is quite out of place when speaking of 

 Dankalli customs and manners. 



We halted in a very open spot, amidst high 

 grass, no trees being in sight, except toward the 

 north and west, where a low mimosa forest extended 



