An 1840s account of the Oromo by a British traveler

[Waachis]

An 1840 account of the Oromos:

''It is certain that, as a martial people, the Oromo have greatly degenerated from their ancestors. United under one head/chief, they overran the fairest provinces of Ethiopia; and had they remained united, they might, with equal ease, have completed the conquest of the greater portion of Africa. Relaxing, however, in their common cause against the Christians, the tribes soon began to contest among each other for the possession of the newly acquired territory. Intestine feuds and dissensions neutralized their giant power; and the weakness and disorganization by which the majority are now characterized, is to be ascribed to the fact of there being no king in Israel.

Roving in his native pastures, where his manners are unadulterated by the semi-civilization of Abyssinia, the equestrian Oromo is an object worthy the pencil of Carle Vernet or Pinelli. Tall and athletic, his manly figure is enveloped in a toga, such as graced the sons of Ancient Rome, and his savage, wild, and fiery features, are rendered still more ferocious by thick bushy hair arranged either in large lotus-leaved compartments, or streaming over the shoulders in long raven plaits.''

[Harris, Major W[illiam] Cornwallis
Adventures in Africa; During a Tour of Two Years Through That Country, Page 244-245]