Nyffe. Lander says, when a Borgho man approaches the
king, he stretches himself on the earth, and lies kissing the
ground, and covering his head with sand or dust. This is
exactly what Leo Africanus related that he had seen done by
some of the natives of Sudan.
S e c t io n IV.—Notices of the Physical Characters of the
native Races of Sudan.
We haveJbut few and imperfect accounts of the physical
characteristics of the different Negro nations in the interior
of the African continent.
The people of Bomü are described in the notices collected
by Horneinann, whose account has been confirmed by late
writers, as Negroes of a coarse and stout make. The men in
Bomü, as in some of the eastern countries pf thé same great
region of the world, prefer for their wives the largest females»,
Hie race of Bomü is of blacker colour and of Negro features
more strongly characterised than that of Hausa or Afnu.~
The Gubery or Hausa race are described by travellers as
much more handsome in their features than the people of
Bomü. Homemann informs us that they are “ Negroes, but
not quite black: they are the most intelligent nation in the
interior of Africa: they are distinguished by an interesting
countenance; their noses are small and not flattened; and
their figure is not so disagreeable as that of the'Negroes of
Guinea: they are much devoted to pleasure, to dancing and
singing.”
Abdallah, a native of Guber, whose Recount of his country
and other parts of Africa, is cited by the author of a memoir
already alluded to, is described as having the true Negro
features and colour, but a, very intelligent, prepossessing countenance.*
Mr. Jackson informs us, that the people of Hausa are acute,
intelligent and industrious, They possess a peculiarly open
and noble countenance, having prominent noses and expressive
black eyes.” He adds, that “ a young girl of Hausa, of
* Annals of Oriental Literature; p. 637.
exquisite beauty, was sold at Morocco when he was there for
four hundred dueats, the? usual price of a female Negro
being one hundred.* ...
. v According to the same writer fhepeople of Wangara have
very large mouths, thick lips, broad fla,t noses, and heavy
eyes. Wangara or Guangara- is described in the extracts
from Leo Afrieanu-s. It adj oins Bornü, and it is probable that
the people belong rathef ^feé iihe Bbrnduy than the Habsa race.
Dr. Seetzen derived his information^respecting Mobha from
two natives of that country named Abdallah and Hassan,
whose persons he has described. vAbdallah had a broad flat
nose and an uneven complexion, perhaps from small-pox,
which often rages sepeiely among the Négrpés. in his ^ rita l
faculties he appeared to be fey no means inferiorio Europeans.
Hassan, who was Abdallah’s countryman, was a man.of very
mild and1 gentle disposition, and displayed g j^ t sincerity and
love <*f truth., His colour wjas black, but not q u it^ N ^ b r k
a shade as in many Negroes, his nose fess brpad.and frat, and
his lips not ?so much turned out. He was of middlè^btaturè^
and thin, and had a scanty and .short beard. He had left
his home with thirty-two of, his countrymen, for thbfpftgrim-
age of Meoca and Medina, without a para of money, with
only a garment of white cotton cloth manufacture of his own
country, and'a knapsack on his head,
S e c t io n V.—Of the Falatiyu or Pélaiahs.
Scattered hordes of a race different in many respects from
the genuine Negroes, have long been spread through many
countries, very far to the northward and eastward of the
* Jackson, uli supra., M.Rozet. declares that there are many Negresses in
the Algerine country, whither they have .been doubtless brought from, the interior
çf Sûdan, and very probably from Hausa,,who are of a1 jet-black colour^but
with truly Roman countenances : ci Elles onti l&nez aquilin, les lèpres peu prononcées,
les yeux grands, et le front découvert/’ He adds, that-he has seen seVeralmen
of exactly similar features. See JM. Rôzet’s Voyage dans la Régence dtAlger,
tom. ii.rp. 140.
+ Seetzen’s Nachriehten v. d. Negerlande, inF. Yon. Zach’s Monathl. Corresp.
1810. p. 141.