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JULY, 1890.)
THE ABORIGINES OF SOKOTRA.
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part of the back of the head, where the whole is fastened. This manner of dressing their hair is more becoming to them than otherwise, the longer and loose portion being allowed to flow down their backs, or to remain between the shoulders in a large bunch, according to the nature of its curl. The band, or cord, with which it is tied, is made from their own hair, and not only serves them for the purpose mentioned, but also for any other use to which it may be applied, in case nothing better is at hand.
"The women are much finer, fatter, and lighter-coloured than the Arab women of the coast, and their features are small and regular. They wear a loose frock, which is also made of blue cotton cloth, and is of the same size from the shoulders to the ground; it is open in front for about a foot, where it buttons tightly round the lower part of the neck, and the sleeves are short and large; behind it trails on the ground, but in front it does not descend much below the knee. In addition to this, they have another portion of the same coloured cloth, which they throw over the back of their head and shoulders in the manner of a dopatta; but this they seldom use, and never think of concealing their faces under it, as is the custom with the Arab women. Their hair is divided by a narrow line, braided on the scalp, which passes from the centre of the forehead to the middle of the back part of the head, and they collect the hair into two large tresses, one on each side, which, passing down behind the ears, hangs loogely over the breast. Few possess ornaments, not because they despise them, but because they have no money to purchase them. I have seen large pewter rings in the ears of some, though I am certain gold or silver ones would not have been refused for the same purpose.
"Their language is the Beduin dialect of the South-east Coast of Arabia; being, like that spoken by the inhabitants of the island of Sokotra and by those also of the islands in the Bay of Kuria Muria, intensely guttural; and in some of their songs the modulation of the sounds is almost entirely confined to the throat. They do not understand the Arabic spoken in the towns, unless they have had much intercourse with the Arabs, who themselves, on this coast, appear to prefer conversing in the dialect of the Beduins. In their singing they display a great fondness for melody, and their guttural articulation, which is never very harsh, is rendered most agreeable in some of their plaintive airs, which accord much with the European taste.
“That part of the tribe who have permanent places of abode in the mountains, live in natural caverns of the rock, which have been hereditarily transmitted to them through their forefathers, and have been selected near some rivulet, or fresh-water spring, for domestic purposes, and for the sake of their cattle. In these caverns, which are of gigantic dimensions, and in the form and proportion of an interior fourth of a hollow sphere, with a stalactite ceiling, they have ample room to pen their flocks and herds at night, or to afford them shelter during heavy falls of rain and wet weather ; for which purpose they are surrounded by a dense fence of interwoven brushwood. In the different recesses of the interior, the Beduin and his family live, and towards the outside, still sheltered by the overhanging vault, are the huts of the herdsmen and his dependents. .............
“They encourage blood feuds, and in an affray which ends in the death of one of the parties, the survivors, or one of his relatives, sooner or later, is murdered by the friends of the deceased, when the feud is at an end.....
"Their mode of salutation consists in placing the tips of the three first fingers of the right hand on those of the persons they salute, and afterwards kissing them audibly; they do this to every member of the assembly, to strangers as well as acquaintances. It is the first passport and best introduction, and should never be neglected by any one who wishes to establish a friendship among them.
“They profess themselves to be Muhammadans, undergo the operation of circumcision, and keep up the ceremony connected with it; but they pay very little attention to the other formalities of the Muhammadan religion. Their chief fear appears to be of ghosts and the devil, and this far exceeds their confidence in the protection of the Supreme Being."
