the racial melting pot congregated in one spot , though , revealed the degree of success that ghiliba had had in spreading his message far and wide : there were men - and they were almost exclusively young men with only very few exceptions - of all skin colours and racial characteristics ; arabs from the north ; zulu tribesmen from the south ; short bushmen ; tall nubians ; men in national costumes ; many others in work clothing , some wearing combat fatigues .