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. 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 Peculiar
conditions
in Mada-
gascar. 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, fadi 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:—

		⁠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
⁠Vei			Korunga	Fula element)
⁠Susu			Kabbaga	Azandeh (Niam Niam)
⁠Solima			⁠&c.	Makaraka
⁠Malinke				Mundu
				Mangbettu
Probably also—				Ababwa
⁠Mossi				Mege
⁠Borgu				Abisanga
Tombo	${\displaystyle \scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}}$	Probably with Mandin- gan elements	⁠	Mabode	${\displaystyle \scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}}$	probably with
Gurma				Momfu		Pygmy element
Gurunga
Dagomba				⁠Allied are—
Mampursi				Banziri		Languassi
Gonja				Ndris		Wia-Wia
⁠&c.				Togbo		Awaka
				&c.