OCR Text |
Show THE SOMALI. They Arc llnliltanlly Idle mill Ativnya Merry Thi-lr 1'ecullnr IleiidtlreHi. By nattRro Somali aro alternately docile and savage, nearly always merry mer-ry and habitually Idle. Even in busy Aden they work ns little as possible and then do no manual work, for their inherent pride forbids that. Cab driving, driv-ing, boat manning nnd grooming hre the general crafts of tbo Aden Somali. In the lntcrlor(6f bin own Country his princlpnl occupations aro plUndeilng , and cattle lifting, at which latter pur-Itmlt pur-Itmlt he h said to bo unparalleled in .um,K t nmjiUMohnni. Tho great peculiarity of the Soman' Is, however, his hair, fpr, contrary t the cuHtqm of most races professing Islam, he docs ppt.filmvo'his head, but allows his locks to? run wild. ' Nor la his hair the wool of the negro, for In. stead of growing in one dense cluster' all over his head, ns Is the caso of tho Galla, for Instance; it tangles into Ions cords, not unlike those of n poodle, which, parted over his forchpad, hangs down on both cheeks, often projecting ' nlmost ns far us his shoulders. I Not pontcnt with the show of hair that nature and neglect insure him, ho plasters his head with a peculiar light clay, which has tho effect of bleaching Its blackness to 11 light reddish red-dish hue, and n Somali In a new tobe, as their winding sheet of a garment is caljed, and a freshly clayed head is tho very acme of dandyism. Blackwood's Magazine. |