240 HISTORY AND ETHNOLOGY. 



and Timbuctoo for instance, are like the villages of Europe, but surrounded 

 with walls 14 feet thick and 10 or 12 feet in height. The houses are built 

 of air-dried bricks, one story high, with flat roof, the windows opening on 

 the court. Every house has a flight of steps leading up to the roof The 

 streets are irregular, and often very broad. 



The dress of the Kissures approaches the graceful costume of the Moors. 

 In pi. 26, Jig. 10, a girl is represented, wearing a conical cap, a short- 

 sleeved blue jacket, richly ornamented with gold, over the wide-sleeved 

 chemise, and a boddice fitting tight on the bosom ; the jacket being 

 encircled above the hips by a wadded white and red striped border. The 

 frock, which reaches below the knees, is trimmed with broad gold lace. 

 The wide scarlet mantle is only slung around the hips in fine weather. 

 Small slippers are worn on the bare feet, and a wide ring loosely girds the 

 ankles. In the right hand, the girl here represented carries a feather brush 

 or fan. 



Hereditary princes are at the head of the government, which is based 

 upon the directions of the Koran, and is described as being very mild. 

 The King of Timbuctoo has lost much of his independence by the inces- 

 sant inroads of the Tuaricks, called Sorgous by the Kissures. The royal 

 house is marked by no splendor, and the sovereign lives in a style little 

 better than that of his subjects. 



The Gouberies, or Haussans, all speak the language of Gouber. Before 

 the last conquests of the Foulahs in Soudan, the different tribes of East 

 Soudan, as Prichard informs us, had become the subjects of one sovereign, 

 and were blended into a single kingdom which was called Haussa {Houssa, 

 Hawsa), after the principal state. The inhabitants spoke a dialect of the 

 language common to the whole nation, since then called the Houssa 

 dialect, and which seems to have been divided into more or less varying 

 suj3-dialects, according to the different provinces in which it formed the 

 idiom of the people. The East Soudanians are not entirely black, have 

 interesting physiognomies, with small, not broad noses, and their appear- 

 ance is less repulsive than that of the negroes of Guinea. Their eyes are 

 black, with a frank and noble expression. True beauties are found among 

 the female sex, hence the women are greatly esteemed as slaves. Since 

 the inhabitants are yet exposed to being sold as slaves, it may be presumed 

 that they have not yet all embraced Mohammedanism. The Houssans are 

 a subdued nation, under the dominion of the Fellatahs, who have settled in 

 numerous colonies among them. The former, however, have retained their 

 old customs and occupations. They pursue agriculture, rearing cattle, 

 mechanical occupations, and traffic in the interior of the country. They 

 live in villages and towns, the latter of which, Kashna (Kasnea) for instance, 

 are frequently very large. The sword and bow and arrows are the wea- 

 pons in use. Women often color their hair, hands, feet, thighs, and eye- 

 brows, blue ; and among both sexes, the teeth and lips are generally dyed. 



The Bornouese, inhabitants of Bornou, are blacker, stouter, and have 

 more strongly marked features than the Houssas ; but handsome figures 

 are also found, especially among the women, who not unfrequently have a 

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