98 
TRIBES OF THE BRAKNAS. 
The principal tribes of hassanes are : Oulad-Sihi, Oulad- 
Aly, Oulad-Hamet, Oulad-Makhso, Oulad-Abdallah, Oulad- 
Baicar, Oulad-Pis-nem-Nematema ; of the marabouts^ Dhie- 
dhiebe-Touaryk, Oulad-Tandora, and Oulad-Biery-Togat. 
Each of these tribes has its separate and independent chief. 
Hamet-Dou is recognised as king by the French govern- 
ment^ and the duty on the trade in gum is paid into his 
hands ; he receives also the tax vrhich is levied on merchant 
ships 5 but the goods derived from these sources are divided 
amongst all the chiefs and princes. The marabouts receive 
nothing from the princes. 
These tribes are often engaged in war vrith one another, 
which they undertake without the king's consent. The 
crown is hereditary only when the king leaves a son who is 
of age ; if he leaves no children, or minors only, it devolves 
to his brother, who enjoys it during life ; after his death, if 
the sons of the preceding king are of age to inherit, the 
eldest succeeds to his father's rights. The population of 
the Braknas is not very numerous ; it is divided into five 
classes, which have been already mentioned : hassanes, ma- 
rabouts, zenagues, laratines, and slaves. 
The hassanes may be considered as the aristocracy 
of the country and its warriors ; their armies consist of 
themselves and their slaves ; the zenagues join also, in the 
hope of pillage; the common people, that is, the poorer 
hassanes, are attracted by the same hope, but they serve 
only as volunteers, and the princes have no power to compel 
free men to enlist in their armies. 
When the chief of a tribe is cruel or unjust towards hig 
subjects, or even deficient in liberality, it is at every man's 
option to remove with his flocks, and to join any other tribe 
which he pleases ; hence nothing is more uncertain than the 
population of a tribe, which increases or diminishes according 
to the reputation of its chief ; even the king's own tribe is 
not exempt from desertion. 
