The features are generally good, the nose
straight, the hair in many instances short and curly; the skin
brown, the lips often large, the teeth even and white. The men are
of the middle height; the women under it. So much for their physical
appearance. Morally they are ignorant and superstitious, having
apparently retained but few of their forefathers' virtues, but a
great many of their vices. A very good distinction can be made, in
the male portion of the community, between those who wear turbans
and long white shirts, and those hard-working wretches who, girded
with a single leather skin, roam about with their flocks in search
of pasture and water. The first live I know not how. They call
themselves brokers! It is true that three or four times a year
caravans arrive from the interior, but as a rule, with the exception
of a skin or two of honey, and a few bags of jowaree, nothing is
imported. What possible business can about 500 brokers have? How
ten dollars' worth of honey and fifty of grain can give a brokerage
sufficient to clothe and feed, not only themselves but also their
families, is a problem I have in vain endeavoured to solve!
In the East, children, instead of being a burden to poor people,
are often a source of wealth: at Massowah they certainly are. The
young girls of Moncullou, &c., bring in a pretty good income to
their parents.
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