were active on the north coast of Africa in very early times,
and had relations with the Egyptians from a prehistoric
period. For long these movements continued, always in the
same direction, from north to south and from east to west;
though, of course, more rapid changes took place in the open
country, especially in the great eastern highway from north to
south, than in the forest area. Large states arose in the
western Sudan; Ghana flourished in the 7th century A.D.,
Melle in the 11th, Songhai in the 14th, and Bornu in the 16th.
Meanwhile in the east began the southerly movement of the
Bechuana, which was probably,spread over a considerable
period. Later than they, hut proceeding faster, came the
Zulu-Xosa (``Kaffir'') peoples, who followed a line nearer
the coast and outflanked them, surrounding them on the
south. Then followed a time of great ethnical confusion
in South Africa, during which tribes flourished, split up
and disappeared; but ere this the culture represented by
the ruins in Rhodesia had waxed and waned. It is uncertain
who were the builders of the forts and ``cities,'' but it
is not improbable that they may be found to have been early
Bechuana. The Zulu-Xosa, Bechuana and Herero together form
a group which may conveniently be termed ``Southern Bantu.',
Finally began a movement hitherto unparalleled in the
history of African migration; certain peoples of Zulu
blood began to press north, spreading destruction in their
wake. Of these the principal were the Matabele and
Angoni. The movement continued as far as the Victoria
Nyanza. Here, on the border-line of Negro, Bantu and
Hamite, important changes had taken place. Certain of the
Negro tribes had retired to the swamps of the Nile, and had
become somewhat specialized, both physically and culturally
(Shilluk, Dinka, Alur, Acholi, &c.). These had blended with
the Hamites to produce such races as the Masai and kindred
tribes. The old Kitwara empire, which comprised the plateau
land between the Ruwenzori range and Kavirondo, had broken
up into small states, usually governed by a Hamitic (Ba-Hima)
aristocracy. The more extensive Zang (Zenj) empire, of which.
the name Zanzibar (Zanguebar) is a lasting memorial, extending
along the sea-board from Somaliland to the Zambezi, was also
extinct. The Arabs had established themselves firmly on the
coast, and thence made continual slave-raids into the interior,
penetrating later to the Congo. The Swahili, inhabiting the
coast-line from the equator to about 16 deg. S., are a somewhat
heterogeneous mixture of Bantu with a tinge of Arab blood.
In the neighbourhood of Victoria Nyanza, where Hamite, Bantu,
Nilotic Negro and Pygmy are found in close contact, the ethnic
relations of tribes are often puzzling, but the Bantu not under
a Hamitic domination have been divided by F. Stuhlmann into
the Older Bantu (Wanyamwezi, Wasukuma, Wasambara, Waseguha,
Wasagara, Wasaramo, &c.) and the Bantu of Later Immigration
(Wakikuyu, Wakamba, Wapokomo, Wataita, Wachaga, &c.), who are
more strongly Hamitized and in many cases have adopted Masai
customs. These peoples, from the Victoria Nyanza to the
Zambezi, may conveniently be termed the ``Eastern Bantu.''
Turning to the Congo basin in the south, the great Luba
and Lunda peoples are found stretching nearly across the
continent, the latter, from at any rate the end of the 16th
century until the close of the 19th century, more or less
united under a single ruler, styled Muata Yanvo. These seem
to have been the most recent immigrants from the south-east,
and to exhibit certain affinities with the Barotse on the
upper Zambezi. Among the western Baluba, or Bashilange,
a remarkable politico-religious revolution took place at
a comparatively recent date, initiated by a secret society
termed Bena Riamba or ``Sons of Hemp,'' and resulted in
the subordination of the old fetishism to a cult of hemp, in
accordance with which all hemp-smokers consider themselves
brothers, and the duty of mutual hospitality, &c., is
acknowledged. North of these, in the great bend of the Congo,
are the Balolo, &c., the Balolo a nation of iron-workers;
and westward, on the Kasai, the Bakuba, and a large number
of tribes as yet imperfectly known. Farther west are the
tribes of Angola, many of whom were included within the
old ``Congo empire,'' of which the kingdom of Loango was an
offshoot. North of the latter lies the Gabun, with a large
number of small tribes dominated by the Fang who are recent
arrivals from the Congo. Farther to the north are the Bali
and other tribes of the Cameroon, among whom many primitive
Negroid elements begin to appear. Eastward are the Zandeh
peoples of the Welle district (primitive Negroids with a
Hamitic or, more probably, Libyan strain), with whom the
Dor trine of Nilotes on their eastern border show certain
affinities; while to the west along the coast are the Guinea
Negroes of primitive type. Here, amidst great linguistic
confusion, may be distinguished the tribes of Yoruba speech
in the Niger delta and the east portion of the Slave Coast;
those of Ewe speech, in the western portion of the latter;
and those of Ga and Tshi speech, on the Gold Coast. Among the
last two groups respectively may be mentioned the Dahomi and
Ashanti. Similar tribes are found along the coast to the
Bissagos Islands, though the introduction in Sierra Leone and
Liberia of settlements of repatriated slaves from the American
plantations has in those places modified the original ethnic
distribution. Leaving the forest zone and entering the more
open country there are, on the north from the Niger to the
Nile, a number of Negroids strongly tinged with Libyan blood and
professing the Mahommedan religion. Such are the Mandingo, the
Songhai, the Fula, Hausa, Kanuri, Bagirmi, Kanembu, and the
peoples of Wadai and Darfur; the few aborigines who persist, on
the southern fringe of the Chad basin, are imperfectly known.
Peculiar conditions in Madagascar.
The island of Madagascar, belonging to the African continent,
still remains for discussion. Here the ethnological conditions
are people were the Hova, a Malayo-Indonesian people who
must have come from the Malay Peninsula or the adjacent
islands. The date of their immigration has been line subject
of a good deal of dispute, but it may be argued that their
arrival must have taken place in early times, since Malagasy
speech, which is the language of the island, is principally
Malayo-Polynesian in origin, and contains no traces of
Sanskrit. Such traces, introduced with Hinduism, are
present in all the cultivated languages of Malaysia at
the present day.The Hova occupy the table-land of Imerina
and form the first of the three main groups into which the
population of Madagascar may be divided. They are short, of
an olive-yellow complexion and have straight or faintly wavy
hair. On the east coast are the Malagasy, who in physical
characteristics stand halfway between the Hova and the
Sakalava, the last occupying the remaining portion of the
island and displaying almost pure Negroid characteristics.
Though the Hova belong to a race naturally addicted to
seafaring, the contrary is the case respecting the Negroid
population, and the presence of the latter in the island has
been explained by the supposition that they were imported
by the Hova. Other authorities assign less antiquity
to the Hova immigration and believe that they found
the Negroid tribes already in occupation of the island.
As might be expected, the culture found in Madagascar
contains two elements, Negroid and Malayo-Indonesian.
The first of these two shows certain affinities with the
culture characteristic of the western area of Africa, such as
rectangular huts, clothing of bark and palm-fibre, fetishism,
&c., but cattle-breeding is found as well as agriculture.
However, the Negroid tribes are more and more adopting the
customs and mode of life of the Hova, among whom are found
pile-houses, the sarong, yadi or tabu applied to food, a
non-African form of bellows, &c., all characteristic of their
original home. The Hova, during the 19th century, embraced
Christianity, but retain, nevertheless, many of their old
animistic beliefs; their original social organization in
three classes, andriana or nobles, hova or freemen, and
andevo or slaves, has been modified by the French, who have
abolished kingship and slavery. An Arab infusion is also to be
noticed, especially on the north-east and south-east coasts.
It is impossible to give a complete list of the tribes inhabiting
Africa, owing to the fact that the country is not fully explored.
Even where the names of the tribes are known their ethnic
relations are still a matter of uncertainty in many localities.
The following list, therefore, must be regarded as purely tentative,
and liable to correction in the light of fuller information:-
AFRICAN TRIBAL DISTRIBUTION
LIBYANS
(North Africa, excluding Egypt)
Berbers, including--
Kabyles
Mzab
Shawia
Tuareg
LIBYO-NEGROID TRANSITIONAL
Fula (West Sudan)
Tibbu (Central Sudan)
HAMITES
(East Sudan and Horn of Africa)
Beja, including--
Ababda
Hadendoa
Bisharin
Beni-Amer
Hamran
Galla
Somali
Danakil (Afar)
Ba-Hima, including--
Wa-Tussi
Wa-Hha
Wa-Rundi
Wa-Ruanda
HAMITO-SEMITES
Fellahin (Egypt)
Abyssinians (with Negroid admixture)
HAMITO-NEGROID TRANSITIONAL
Masai
Wa-Kuafi
NEGROID TRIBES
West Sudan Central Sudan Eastern
Tukulor Songhai Fur Kargo
Wolof Hausa Dago Kulfan
Serer Bagirmi Kunjara Kolaji
Leybu Kanembu Tegele Tumali
Mandingo, including-- Kanuri Nuba
Kassonke Tama
Yallonke Maba Zandeh Tribes
Soninke Birkit (Akin to Nilotics, but
Bambara Massalit probably with Fula
Vei Korunga element)
Susu Kabbaga Azandeh (Niam Niam)
Solima &c. Makaraka
Malinke Mundu
Mangbettu
Probably also-- Ababwa
Mossi Mege
Borgu Abisanga
Tombo } Mabode{ probably
