This is
called the chimbane; it is usually carried with two other lances
with plain heads. The Tokrooris despise shields; therefore, in
spite of their superior personal strength, they would be no match
for the Arabs.
There is a curious weapon, the trombash, that is used by these
people, somewhat resembling the Australian boomerang; it is a
piece of flat, hard wood, about two feet in length, the end of
which turns sharply at an angle of about 30 degrees. They throw
this with great dexterity, and inflict severe wounds with the
hard and sharp edge; but, unlike the boomerang, the weapon does
not return to the thrower.
The women are very powerful, but exceedingly plain. They are good
workers, and may be constantly seen either spinning or weaving;
they keep their huts remarkably clean, and are rarely idle.
The greater portion of the cotton exhibited in the market of
Gallabat is produced by the Tokrooris; it is uncleaned, and
simply packed in mat bales of a hundred pounds weight, which at
that date (April 1862) sold for one dollar each.
Much might be done to improve these peculiar people. Were the
frontiers of Abyssinia positively determined, and security
insured to the new settlers, the whole of that magnificent
country through which we had travelled between the Settite and
Gallabat might be peopled and cultivated.
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