Dhow Chasing in Zanzibar Waters - The Search For Mecca

404 APPENDIX.
in Wadi Thama. The fact of this race being
found in many parts of this portion of Arabia,
gives rise to the conjecture that, according to
the saying, the Ethiopians must at one time
have forced themselves into Arabia for a short
period. (Here belongs the remark, that the
present inhabitants of the highland of Tigre,
Lassa, and Wolkaih, and the greater part of
Abyssinia, have many elements in common
with the Arabians of Hadrament.) I found
no one in this small wandering tribe who could
give any information as to their origin;
and I
could not question other better-informed
Arabians, for the condition of this country is
such, that I deemed it expedient to avoid much
intercourse with men ; and by choosing unfrequented
roads, to be as little seen as
possible. The features, colour, and hair of
these solitary wandering tribes, and their
bodily form and character are identical with
the Abyssinians of the present day, near
Hamasjen.
in the district of Modat.
Their dialect resembles that spoken
"The mountains and vegetation strongly recall
that of Abyssinia, particularly the towns and
grouping of the trees. The meteorological
relations and the elevation of the land are very
similar to the high land of Bogos, near
Hamasjen in Abyssinia (the formations there.