Their features are coarse and
debauched; many of them squint, others have lost an eye by small-pox, and
they are disfigured by scrofula and other diseases:
The bad expression of
their countenances justifies the proverb, "Hard as the heart of Harar."
Generally the complexion is a yellowish brown, the beard short, stubby and
untractable as the hair, and the hands and wrists, feet and ancles, are
large and ill-made. The stature is moderate-sized, some of the elders show
the "pudding sides" and the pulpy stomachs of Banyans, whilst others are
lank and bony as Arabs or Jews. Their voices are loud and rude. They dress
is a mixture of Arab and Abyssinian. They shave the head, and clip the
mustachios and imperial close, like the Shafei of Yemen. Many are
bareheaded, some wear a cap, generally the embroidered Indian work, or the
common cotton Takiyah of Egypt: a few affect white turbans of the fine
Harar work, loosely twisted over the ears. The body-garment is the Tobe,
worn flowing as in the Somali country or girt with the dagger-strap round
the waist: the richer classes bind under it a Futah or loin-cloth, and the
dignitaries have wide Arab drawers of white calico. Coarse leathern
sandals, a rosary and a tooth-stick rendered perpetually necessary by the
habit of chewing tobacco, complete the costume: and arms being forbidden
in the streets, the citizens carry wands five or six feet long.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 293 of 479
Words from 78262 to 78516
of 128411
