THE KISAWAHILI TONGUE. 



437 



The Wasawahili are not an honoured race; 

 even the savage Somal call them ' Abid, or serviles, 

 and bitterly deride their peculiarities. The unerr- 

 ing instinct of mankind has pointed them out for 

 slaves, and they have readily accepted the position. 

 As Moslems thev should be free, and the Paith 

 forbids them to trade in Moslems. Yet by local 

 usage, as the children become the property not of 

 the parents, but of the mother's brother, the latter 

 can sell any or all of his nephews and nieces ; in- 

 deed, he would be subject to popular contempt if, 

 when poor, he did not thus 6 raise the wind.' 



The most interesting point connected with 

 these coast negroids is their language, the KisaAva- 

 hili. It was anciently called Kingozi, from 

 Ungozi or the region lying about the Dana, or 

 rather Zana, the river known to its Galla accoloe 

 as ' Maro,' and 6 Pokomoni ' from the heathen 

 Pokomo who, living near its course, form the 

 southern boundary of Galla-land proper. The 

 dialect is still spoken with the greatest purity 

 about Patta and the other ancient settlements be- 

 tween Lamu and Mombasah. Oral tongues are 

 essentially fluctuating; having no standard, the 

 roots of words soon wither and die, whilst terms, 

 idioms, and expressions once popular speedily fall 

 into oblivion, and are supplanted by neologisms. 



