DESCRIPTION OF DARFUR. 
419 
rate the memory of Aboucalec, one of their gover- 
nors, who renounced the allegiance of Sennaar 
about the time that Mr Bruce returned from 
Abyssinia. At his death, Kordofan was reduced 
by Darfur, but had again rebelled when the lat- 
ter country w^as visited by Mr Browne, and had 
interrupted entirely the eastern route to Darfur. 
The inhabitants of Kordofan are reported to es- 
tablish connexions with strangers, by admitting 
their intercourse with their female relations, in the 
same manner as the Abyssinian Galla in Maitsha. 
The language of Kordofan is Arabic. Ibeit is one 
of the principal towns. The Arabs and Nubians 
are distinguished by their olive complexions, ex- 
pressive features, and short curled black hair, 
"which is not woolly. A tribe of Arabs, on the 
east of Darfur, curl their hair in the form of a 
bushy wig, like the sculptured figures in the ruins 
of Persepolis. The Dongalese residing in Darfur 
use the dialect of Barabra, the district of the de- 
sert which borders on Egypt. The dialect of Ara- 
bic, which is vernacular in Darfur, differs essen- 
tially from, that spoken in Egypt. The native 
Furians are more cheerful in their dispositions 
than the Egyptians ; but resemble the Moorish 
tribes in the violence of their passions, their disre- 
gard to truth, their inattention to cleanliness, and 
their inaccurate ideas of property. As the prac- 
tice of polygamy is established, their intercourse 
