Both Abyssinia And The Galla Being Renowned
For A Fine Breed Of Mules, Affords Good Circumstantial Evidence That The
Akkara Tribe Of The Chol Are True Gallas, And That The Latookas May Be
Derived From A Similar Origin By Settlements After Conquest.
The great chief of the Latookas, "Moy," assured me that his people could
not withstand the cavalry of the Akkara, although they were superior to
all other tribes on foot.
I have heard the traders of Khartoum pretend that they can distinguish
the tribes of the White Nile by their individual type. I must confess my
inability on this point. In vain I have attempted to trace an actual
difference. To me the only distinguishing mark between the tribes
bordering the White River is a peculiarity in either dressing the hair,
or in ornament. The difference of general appearance caused by a variety
of hairdressing is most perplexing, and is apt to mislead a traveller
who is only a superficial observer; but from the commencement of the
negro tribes in N. lat. 12 degrees to Ellyria in lat. 4 degrees 30
minutes I have found no specific difference in the people. The actual
change takes place suddenly on arrival in Latooka, and this is accounted
for by an admixture with the Gallas.
The Latookas are a fine, frank, and warlike race. Far from being the
morose set of savages that I had hitherto seen, they were excessively
merry, and always ready for either a laugh or a fight. The town of
Tarrangolle contained about three thousand houses, and was not only
surrounded by iron-wood palisades, but every house was individually
fortified by a little stockaded courtyard. The cattle were kept in large
kraals in various parts of the town, and were most carefully attended
to, fires being lit every night to protect them from flies; and high
platforms, in three tiers, were erected in many places, upon which
sentinels watched both day and night to give the alarm in case of
danger. The cattle are the wealth of the country, and so rich are the
Latookas in oxen, that ten or twelve thousand head are housed in every
large town; thus the natives are ever on the watch, fearing the attacks
of the adjacent tribes.
The houses of the Latookas are generally bell-shaped, while others are
precisely like huge candle-extinguishers, about twenty-five feet high.
The roofs are neatly thatched, at an angle of about 75 degrees, resting
upon a circular wall about four feet high; thus the roof forms a cap
descending to within two feet and a half of the ground. The doorway is
only two feet and two inches high, thus an entrance must be effected
upon all-fours. The interior is remarkably clean, but dark, as the
architects have no idea of windows. It is a curious fact that the
circular form of but is the only style of architecture adopted among all
the tribes of Central Africa, and also among the Arabs of Upper Egypt;
and that, although these differ more or less in the form of the roof, no
tribe has ever yet sufficiently advanced to construct a window.
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