to the empires of the old world. The
Tirnihu, some of them tributaries from the XIIth, and others from the
first years of the XVIIIth dynasty, had always been troublesome, but
never really dangerous neighbours. From time to time it was necessary
to send light troops against them, who, sailing along the coast or
following the caravan routes, would enter their territory, force them
from their retreats, destroy their palm groves, carry off their cattle,
and place garrisons in the principal oases--even in Siwah itself.
For more than a century, however, it would seem that more active and
numerically stronger populations had entered upon the stage. A current
of invasion, having its origin in the region of the Atlas, or possibly
even in Europe, was setting towards the Nile, forcing before it the
scattered tribes of the Sudan. Who were these invaders? Were they
connected with the race which had planted its dolmens over the plains of
the Maghreb? Whatever the answer to this question may be, we know that
a certain number of Berber tribes*--the Labu and Mashauasha--who had
occupied a middle position between Egypt and the people behind them,
and who had only irregular communications with the Nile valley, were now
pushed to the front and forced to descend upon it.**

* The nationality of these tribes is evidenced by the names
of their chiefs, which recall exactly those of the
Numidians--Massyla, Massinissa, Massiva.

** The Labu, Laubu, Lobu, are mentioned for the first time
under Ramses II.; these are the Libyans of classical
geographers. The Mashauasha answer to the Maxycs of
Herodotus; they furnished mercenaries to the armies of
Ramses II.

They were men tall of stature and large of limb, with fair skins, light
hair, and blue eyes; everything, in fact, indicating their northern
origin. They took pleasure in tattooing the skin, just as the Tuaregs
and Kabyles are now accustomed to do, and some, if not all, of them
practised circumcision, like a portion of the Egyptians and Semites. In
the arrangement of the hair, a curl fell upon the shoulder, while the
remainder was arranged in small frizzled locks. Their chiefs and braves
wore on their heads two flowering plumes. A loin-cloth, a wild-beast's
skin thrown over the back, a mantle, or rather a covering of woollen
or dyed cloth, fringed and ornamented with many-coloured needlework,
falling from the left shoulder with no attachment in front,