THE ETHIOPIAN RACE. 



205 



plan race, likewise made their appearance at Kenneh ; where a change 

 took place in the weights and measures, and cowries were seen used 

 as money ; and where articles from ' Hindi' were commonly offered 

 for sale; such as black pepper, which had been brought, together with 

 dates and coffee, from Mecca. Above Kenneh, men walking with 

 spears, were occasionally met with ; and according to the words of 

 my Barabra servant, "thief had finished." 



The true boundary, however, between the two races, appears to be 

 atSilsilis; about one hundred miles above Thebes, and forty miles 

 below the Cataract. The Kenoos begin at this point, and with them 

 a change takes place in the mode of raising water for irrigation ; a 

 task now accomplished by means of the wheel. I saw numbers of 

 Kenoos, on landing at different places, and particularly at Assouan 

 and Philse, the limit of my journey. The Barabra boatmen above 

 mentioned, hardly appeared to form a distinct class. Contrary to 

 the practice of the Arabs, the women were observed to take much 

 pains in braiding and dressing their hair in a variety of modes ; but 

 they had other customs which they had evidently borrowed from the 

 Arabs, as the use of kohhl or eye-paint, and of tattooing; both conti- 

 nued, notwithstanding the deep hue of the complexion. The Kenoos 

 are all Muslims ; but they do not appear to regard very rigidly some 

 of the observances of their religion ; and swine were seen at Assouan. 

 At the same place, I fell in with a body of slaves on their way down 

 the river; and also, with an Arab merchant, proceeding with bales of 

 goods to Sennaar. 



b. Barabra of the Desert. 



The Ababdeh inhabit the eastern desert of the Thebaid, between 

 the Nile and the Red Sea ; and I met with individuals at Kenneh, and 

 at other towns higher up the river; but principally at Assouan. The 

 Ababdeh use the Arabic language, and they do not understand that 

 of the agricultural Nubians. An opinion, however, prevailed at As- 

 souan, that they once had a language of their own, as the Bishareen 

 now have; and that it was displaced by the Arabic. The Ababdeh 

 "bring charcoal to Assouan, procuring it within two, three, or more 

 days journey in the desert; and they occasionally bring ostrich eggs, 

 obtained at a distance of not more than two hundred miles." My 



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