are capable, most of them being distinguished by the smallness of their limbs and the slender growth of their bodies. But as to their outward appearance, which presents various contrasts in complexion as well as in bodily development, we must first take into account that the Fúlbe, as a conquering tribe, sweeping over a wide expanse of provinces, have absorbed and incorporated with themselves different and quite distinct national elements, which have given to their community a rather varying and undecided character.

Moreover, besides such tribes as have been entirely absorbed, and whose origin has even been referred to the supposed ancestors of the whole nation, there are others which, although their pedigree is not brought into so close a connexion with that of the Fúlbe, nevertheless are so intermingled with them, that they have quite forgotten their native idiom, and might be confounded with the former by any traveller who is not distinctly aware of the fact. Prominent among these latter are the Sissílbe, as they call themselves, or Syllebáwa, as they are called in Háusa, whom I shall have occasion to mention on my visit to Sókoto, and who are nothing but a portion of the numerous tribe of the Wákoré or Wángaráwa, to whom belong also the Súsu and the so-called Mandingoes; and while that portion of them who are settled in Háusa have entirely forgotten their native idiom, and have adopted, besides the Fulfulde language, even the Háusa dialect, their

CHAP. LVII.

ORIGIN OF THE FU'LBE.

145

brethren in the more western province of Zaberma use their own idiom at the present time almost exclusively.

On the other hand, foremost among those tribes who have been entirely absorbed by the community of the Fúlbe are the Toróde or Torunkáwa, who, although they are considered as the most noble portion of the population in most of the kingdoms founded by the Fúlbe, yet evidently owe their origin to a mixture of the Jolof element with the ruling tribe, and in such a manner that, in point of numbers, the former enjoyed full superiority in the amalgamation; but it is quite evident that, even if we do not take into account the Toróde, the Jolof have entered into the formation of the remarkable tribe of the Fúlbe or Fúla, in a very strong proportion, although the languages of these two tribes at present are so distinct, especially as far as regards grammatical structure; and it is highly interesting that A'hmed Bábá (who, by occasional hints, allows us to form a much better idea of the progress of that tribe, in its spreading over tracts so immense, than we were able to obtain before we became acquainted with his history of Súdán) intimates distinctly that he regards the Jolof as belonging to the great stock

* It is, however, remarkable that, according to Sultan Bello's account, in a passage not translated by Silame, the original idiom of the Toróde was the Wákoro or Wakoré, which, if it be true, would render the Toróde the near kinsfolk of the Sissílbe.

of the Fullán or Fúlbe*, although at the present time the terms "Jolof" and "Púllo" seem to be used in opposition, the one meaning a person of black, the other an individual of red complexion.

It is this element of the Toróde in particular which causes such a great variety in the type of the Fúlbe community, the Toróde being in general of tall stature and strong frame, large features, and of very black complexion, while the other sections of that tribe are always distinguished by a tinge of red or copper colour.

But besides the Toróde, who, as I have said, in most cases as well in Fúta as in Sókoto, at present form the ruling aristocracy, there are many other nationalities which have been absorbed in this great conquering nation, and which, on the contrary, are rather degraded. The most interesting among these latter, at least in the more eastern tracts occupied by the Fúlbe, are certainly the Jawámbe, as they are called by the Fúlbe, but rather, as they call themselves, Zoghorán, or as they are named by the Hausa people, Zoromáwa. This tribe, which we find at present quite absorbed by the Féllani, and, at least in the provinces of Háusa and Kébbi, reduced to the occupation of mere brokers, we still find, during the

He says of the Jolof that their character is distinguished greatly from that of the other Fullán or Fúlbe:

و طبايعهم تباين طبایع ساير الفلانيون

See Journal of the Leipsic Oriental Soc. ix. p. 536.

CHAP. LVII.

DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES.

147

period of the A'skia, that is to say, in the sixteenth century of our era, quite distinct from the community of the Fúlbe or Féllani, as a tribe by themselves, settled to the S.E. of the Great River, where it enters the province of Másina *; and it was this tribe which, having been continually persecuted by the Songhay during the height of their sway, at a later period, when that empire had been laid prostrate by the musketeers of Morocco, contributed the most to its ruin, and conquered great part of it, particularly the most fertile provinces, such as Bára and Kármina.

Nearly the same character distinguishes the tribe of the Laube on the Senegal, who, in general, at the present time have been reduced to the rank of carpenters, but, nevertheless, at a former period evidently constituted a distinct tribe.† It is these degraded tribes - viz. besides those above mentioned, the Mábube or Mábe, considered in general as weavers; the Gergasábe, or shoemakers; the Waílube, or tailors; the Wambaibe, or singing men; the Waúlube, or beggars, who impart to the community

* A'hmed Bábá in J. L. O. S. pp. 550, 555, and elsewhere. †M. Eichwaldt, from the account given of them by various French travellers, makes, as to this tribe, the following interesting statement, regarding them as gipsies:-"En effet, les ethnographes considèrent habituellement les Laobés comme une branche des Foulahs: mais ce fait n'est nullement démontré, et nous avons nous-mêmes connu des voyageurs qui affirmaient que les Laobés possédaient une langue nationale différente du Foulah." (Journal de la Société Ethnologique, 1841, vol. i. p. 62.)

of the Fúlbe the character of a distinction into castes, especially as all of them, in the imaginary pedigree of the Púllo stock, have been carried back to one common progenitor called Só; but we find the same degraded families among the Jolof.*

The absorbing of these western tribes, especially the Jolof and Wákoré by the Fulfulde nation, furnishes at the same time an unquestionable and unmistakable proof that the march of conquest of the latter proceeded from west to east, and not in an opposite direction, as has been the generally-adopted view of those who have touched upon the subject. No doubt

The Fúlbe in general divide all the tribes belonging to their stock into four groups or families; but they by no means agree as to the particulars of the division. I will here give one which is commonly assumed :

:

1. The Jel, comprising the following sections: the Torobe; Ulérbe; Fíttobe; Jébtobe; Súdube; U'rube; Tarábe; Jéllube ; Búabe; Símbirankóbe, also called Ndójiga, from their dwellingplace; Feroibe; Núkkobe; Síllube; Sosóbe; Tóngabe; Waijóbe. Of these the U'rube are again subdivided into five sections, the U. Búbe, U. Feroibe (distinct from the Feroibe before mentioned), U. Dúde, U. Síkam, U. Waijóbe. The Jéllube, again, are subdivided into three sections, the J. Yorónga, J. Haire, and J. Másina.

2. The Baá, comprising the sections of the Gnara or Ghara, the Síndega, and the Danéji.

3. The Só, comprising the Jawámbe, the Mábube or Mábe, Gergasábe, Wailube, Laúbe, Wambaibe, and Waúlube.

4. The Berí, comprising the Siwálbe, Jaléji, Kombangkóbe, and Kíngirankóbe.

But besides these there are a great many other divisions of this wide-spread tribe, called from localities some of which I shall mention as opportunity occurs. See especially Appendix II.