SEVENTEEN TRIPS THROUGH
SOMALILAND

AND A VISIT TO ABYSSINIA

THE AUTHOR AND HIS ESCORT.

From a Photograph taken at the noon bivouac, Ambal River, Habr Toljaala country, March 1891.
The exposure of the plate was carried out by a Somali.

SEVENTEEN TRIPS

THROUGH

SOMALI LAN D

AND

A VISIT TO ABYSSINIA

WITH SUPPLEMENTARY PREFACE ON THE

‘MAD MULLAH’ RISINGS

BY

Major H. G. C. S WAYNE, R.E.

FELLOW OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY
CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY

THIRD EDITION

WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS

LONDON

ROWLAND WARD, LIMITED
‘ THE JUNGLE,’ 166 PICCADILLY
1903

A ll rights reserved

DT~

Hoi.%

Sel3

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Printed is Great Britain,

Note. — Recent press statements that Somaliland is unsurveyed are incorrect,
as the Indian Surveys of 1886, 1891, and 1892 were official and in my
charge.

PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION

ON THE

“MAD MULLAH” RISINGS

(

During the last three years the “ Mad Mullah” risings in
Og4den, directed against Abyssinia and the tribes of the British
Protectorate, have disturbed the interior of the Som&li country
and made administration difficult.

Some mention of this disturbance seems necessary to bring
my book up to date ; though it should be explained that I have
not been actively employed in Somaliland since the time of the
Mission to King Menelik.

Duty took me to Somaliland at intervals between 1885 and
1897, and duty has latterly kept me in India. When I at last
had a chance of going this year I was obliged to decline on the
ground of illness.

My younger brother has been more fortunate. First joining
me on the surveys during 1891 and 1892, after a long absence
on active service in Uganda, he returned to Somaliland in 1900
to organise a levy of SomMis against the Mad Mullah. Later
he became Commissioner with military charge, and has been
promoted for his recent good service.

My treatment of this subject is therefore on my own respon-
sibility, and I can write from a more or less independent point
of view.

It is only necessary to point to the chapters of this book,
published eight years ago by permission of the authorities at the
time, and to facts, of varying accuracy, daily set forth in the
press, to find enough material from which to draw fairly correct
inferences as to the general conditions which led up to the present
trouble.

In the tangle caused by the meeting of two sets of interests

11

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

— those of civilised European States on the one hand, and more or
less primitive African races on the other — it is difficult to say
what could have been done to stave off what may have been
practically inevitable.

The main cause of these risings has been simply the sale of
arms.

Unless civilised Governments work together in these days,
one African people will suddenly get a larger share of arms of
precision than another, which is certain to at once upset any
equilibrium, however long established, that may have existed.

Abyssinia has been flooded with modern rifles for the iast
fifteen years, while for the Somalis the arms are only now begin-
ning to leak in. I will show the effect of this later on.

The result of their contact with civilisation, to one who has
watched the Somalis for nearly twenty years, whether present or
from a distance, has known them at their camp fires, and had
their interest at heart, gives rise to melancholy reflections.

In their primitive state, as I found them in 1885, no people
could have been, on the whole, more hospitable to the well-
conducted European traveller than the Somalis. I am aware
that Sir Richard Burton was attacked in Berbera many years
ago, but that was an attack by robbers, an accident which might
happen in civilised countries to-day.

The British were the favoured race in the interior, and may
be to-day for aught I know ; and it has been my happy experi-
ence to have traversed some fifteen thousand miles of the country,
generally as the first white man, with scarcely any of the ordinary
hardships of travel.

The Somalis were so easily disciplined that dismissal was the
only punishment, and tribe after tribe was traversed without
real acts of hostility by the natives ; I take no credit for this, for
it was the common experience of most sportsmen, and English
ladies have fearlessly visited the distant interior prior to the
present trouble.

We may dismiss recent attacks on the reputation for courage
of the Som&lis by saying that they have no newspaper defence
to set up ; their courage, such as it is, has been shown in dozens
of instances with game ; in their attack on our second Zeyla
(Esa) expedition some seventeen years ago, when about twenty
of the Esa got into a zerfba containing some two hundred and
fifty regular troops, and put the officer in command and some
twenty men out of action before they were themselves disposed

PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION

111

of ; in their desperate and repeated assaults on Captain McNeill’s
zerfba at Sanala in 1901; and at Erigo last year, where men
were found dead at the muzzles of the guns.

Of a definite quality must be the courage of “spearmen and
archers ” who are among those who oppose our troops.

On the other hand, we seem to have had among those Somdlis
helping us numbers of men who would not face the Mullah, were
shaken in the fighting, and subject to nervousness, and have
shown over-excitability in action ; and it is his intense excitability
in action which, according to Captain M ‘Neill, detracts from the
value of a Somdli as a regular soldier, though as an irregular he
is good enough, and when trained seems to be a good scout. I
believe a few years of training would do wonders with the
Somalis, who are naturally a fighting race.

The cause of these opposite conditions may be due to the
mercurial temperament of the whole race, the difference in
courage of different tribes and of individuals, and a natural
proneness to superstition, intensified by the fact that those who
are helping us are fighting against their kinsmen (however
distant), their religion, and such national feeling as they possess.
That a force of raw Somali levies, outnumbered by twenty to
one, should, merely with the help of twenty British officers and
some Indian drill-instructors and details, have kept the Mullah
on the run during the whole of 1901 is the best argument in
their favour ; and, after all, it is the SomMis who have had the
bulk of the casualties on both sides in all these expeditions.

I am aware that in thus speaking up for the Somalis I am
taking the risk of having my credibility as a witness assailed by
any one who does not agree with me ; and I expect to be told
that I have never visited Somaliland at all. But Captain
M ‘Neill, who has had more experience of the Somalis in war-
time than myself, has, I think, taken on the whole much the
same view in his book, which was published later than mine.

I propose to show briefly how the present situation with the
Mullah has been working up for many years.

When Egypt withdrew her Soudan garrisons after the Gordon
Relief Expedition, she withdrew also from the city of Harar,
lying among its rich coffee-gardens at an elevation of five thousand
five hundred feet, and from the more arid Som&li coast with its
ports of Berbera, Bulhar, and Zeyla.

The Som41i coast was taken over by the British and adminis-
tered by the Indian Government from Aden ; and our interest

IV

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

there will be apparent when it is realised that pastoral Somali-
land sends large supplies to this important station ; in the one item
of mutton some sixty thousand sheep being sent over annually.

The first and most remote cause of the present trouble may
be looked for in our attempt to set up Harar, without further
support, as an independent state after the Egyptian garrison
left.

Harar was an Arab state peopled by a mixed population of
Arabs, Somalis, Gallas, and half-breeds, collectively called Hararis,
the city itself garrisoned by Egypt. It was a magnificent high-
land country of agricultural land and tropical forests, often rising
to an elevation of some nine thousand feet, if not more ; its slopes
descended on the east to Somaliland, and on the west to the
great Hawash River depression ; beyond was Shoa, one of the
kingdoms of Abyssinia.

History tells us of conflicts between Christian Abyssinia and
the Mahommedan state of Harar from time to time; but the
pine-clad passes of entry from the Hawash were difficult to force
and easily defended. Harar was safe and isolated, and the
soldiers of Abyssinia and Harar alike were indifferently armed
with spears, shields, and antiquated muskets.

When Egypt proposed withdrawing from Harar in 1884, two
separate missions were sent up from Aden to Harar to report on
the military situation, and to facilitate the withdrawal of the
Egyptian troops.

Harar was practically in our hands, and it is conceivable that
could later events have been foreseen, and considering its un-
doubted commercial value, it might have remained under our
influence.

Though the fact was not likely to have been recognised in
the state of our knowledge at the time, Harar offered a valuable
buffer-state, which, if strengthened and supported, might have
kept apart the well-armed Abyssinians, who are Christians, from
the badly-armed Somdlis, who are Mahommedans. But at that
time the influx of arms had scarcely begun, and Abyssinian
restlessness was not so apparent.

Be that as it may, the British saw the Egyptians safely down
to Zeyla, and set up an old Arab family government, that of
the Emir AbdilJahi, with a comparatively weak escort of Hararis,
armed with muskets and rifles, to administer the state in place
of the Egyptian authorities.

The British officers returned, and the Zeyla expedition, sent

PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION

v

over from Aden to cover the Egyptian retirement through the
Esa country, also returned to Aden.

For a few years nothing of importance happened. The ad-
ministration of Berbera, Bulhar, and Zeyla was established on
a sound basis under Indian political officers from Aden ; the
interior routes were surveyed, and biladiers, or country police,
were sent up with the trading caravans to prevent their being
raided by robbers, and so keep trade and revenue going.

Meanwhile, Abyssinia having been involved in struggles, first
with the Dervishes, and later with Italy, a demand for arms
arose, and, as I have pointed out in the chapter about Abyssinia,
they poured in from Obok and Jibuti through trading houses
for some fifteen years, till Abyssinia has been so stocked that
small-arm ammunition is piled in the market-places and used as
small change.

This gave Abyssinia a power and impetus which made her
restless.

About the year 1887 Ras Makunan, Menelik’s nephew,
occupied Harar and deposed Abdillahi, and filled the Harar
Highlands with Abyssinian soldiers; and his “ Fi-Tauraris,” or
advanced generals, went eastward among the Somalis, and pushed
out permanent fortified posts at Jig-Jiga, Gildessa, and Biyo-
Kab6ba.

The Abyssinian soldiers in the Harar army of occupation soon
ran short of food, and then began the Abyssinian foraging expedi-
tions to the Somali tribes, notably the Abbasgul, Rer Ali, Rer
Amaden, and river tribes of the upper Webbe Shabeyli.

I now return to the British occupation of the coast. Murder
cases were constantly coming in to be tried by our magistrates,
and our knowledge of the interior being at first a blank, it was
necessary to help the administration in identifying localities in
the interior in connection with these cases, to survey the trade-
routes by rapid reconnaissances. The survey parties, organised
and led by myself, had, after running traverses of many thousands
of miles, carried the mapping of caravan routes peacefully to
Milmil (Gagab), two hundred miles inland ; and here I may be
permitted to pick out from the chapters of this book, as having
an important bearing on the present “ Mad Mullah ” risings, an
interesting personal experience.

At Gag&b, on 25th July 1892, a mullah calling himself Sheikh
Sufi, who was not necessarily a very important man, appeared
from Eastern Og&den, from the direction of Mudug, and held a

VI

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

meeting of the tribesmen, at which he preached a Jihad or holy
war against Abyssinia. On this day, which was also that of the
arrival of my survey at this place, a great equestrian display was
given by horsemen of the Eer Ali tribe to Sheikh Sufi ; and he
preached for hours to the crowd squatting in the sandy river-
bed. With my brother I stood at the Sheikh’s side for a time.
He was polite to us, and asked us to listen to his words, as they
were on important matters. Our interpreter helped us to get
their drift.

Next day, after this mullah had gone, the same horsemen
gave a display to ourselves, the mounted minstrels uttering the
Mot , io mot (“Hail ! and again hail ! ”) or royal salute accorded
only to a sultdn or to the British.

As the survey party (which consisted merely of my brother
and myself, and an escort of armed camel-men whom we had
drilled) left Milmil, the crowds of men, women, and children
followed us, clutching hold of our camel bridles and calling out,
“ The English are good ; lead us against the Abyssinians.”

A year later, after my first visit to Eas Makunan, I was back
again among these tribes, on my way to the Webbe Shabeyli,
and rode Eas Makunan’s mule, and the significant remarks the
people made are recorded in the chapter dealing with that
journey. There is abundant evidence that the Somalis had no
quarrel with the British ; an Englishman could give a bond for
wages for trifling services rendered at a distance of three hundred
miles inland, and pay on presentation at the coast. This is the
ordinary experience of British visitors to primitive races ; but
the Somdli went further — he had a genuine admiration for the
British, whether sportsmen, officials, or Government. The
mullahs were the traveller’s best friends ; we gave them Korans
and Mahommedan bead rosaries, and they blessed our expeditions.

But after the fall of Harar the important arms-question, on
which I cannot lay too great a stress, was always present.
Modern weapons had for some years been pouring into Abyssinia
from sources other than British, while for the Somalis, the
people of our Hinterland, we had, by a wise general rule of
African policy, to say nothing of treaties, been unable to allow
a single musket through our ports.

But the Som&lis do not go into the larger issues, and they
said, “You have taken our coast ; either protect us against the
Abyssinians or let us import arms with which we can protect
ourselves.”

PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION

Vll

These far-interior tribes had no treaties with us, so we were
not bound to them in any way, except in so far as they chose
to consider our having occupied the coast a moral obligation to
let arms come in.

So the equilibrium became unstable. The Somalis — who
with equally good weapons would, in the lower desert country
to which they are accustomed, have been able to cope with the
Abyssinian mountaineers — were over-awed by the latter, and
lost a great deal of their live stock in one way and another.

It is well known that Great Britain was on friendly terms
with Abyssinia, and it was unreasonable for the Somalis to
expect such leadership from us.

The mullahs began to supply that leadership, and later on
the “Mad Mullah,” by interfering with our protected tribes,
drove us to side against him with Abyssinia, thus rendering the
struggle doubly holy by arraying a Mahommedan Power against
two Christian ones. During part of the time, in the last three
years, Abyssinian armies have been co-operating with an expedi-
tion, and one or two British officers have accompanied these
forces.

To go back to 1897. The Abyssinian fortified posts at
Gildessa, Biyo-Kaboba, and Jig-Jiga had been allowed to remain
for six or seven years planted on the territory of SomMi tribes,
but not necessarily British territory ; for that had not been
delimited, although a previous delimitation had assigned to
Italy those very tribes south of Milmil which used to complain
to the British about the Abyssinian foraging parties.

But Italy, after the Adowa reverse, while retaining this
nominal sphere of influence, had not found it necessary to
effectively occupy it. So that we find, in the treaty published
after the Pennell Podd . Mission, this territory left outside the
British Protectorate, yet effectively occupied by no one, and
subject to incursions by the Abyssinians or the mullahs. Also
the territory round the three Abyssinian forts already named
was left outside the British Protectorate, and fell to Abyssinia.

Now we come down to 1900.

In 1898 or thereabouts the British Foreign Office took over
the administration of British SomMiland from the Government
of India, and in 1900 we find our administration made difficult
by one Mahommed Abdulla called the “Mad Mullah. ”

He was born at Kirrit in the Dolbahanta country, and is
therefore presumably a pure SomMi. He seems to have drawn

Vlll

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

to himself a body of the South-Eastern tribesmen, and made the
neighbourhood of Mudug a base for his campaign (mainly directed
against Abyssinia), and to have come into conflict with our pro-
tected tribes. Although called mad, he seems to me to have
been part of the propaganda in which Sufi and other mullahs
like him were engaged. Such mullahs have at intervals arisen
in South-Eastern Ogaden in the past, and their recrudescence
may always be expected. In 1893, in my two journeys to the
Webbe, I found this Jihad-preaching going on briskly, and also
the Abyssinian expeditions going into Ogaden. In 1897, when
at Harar, I saw several mule-loads of rusty rifles being brought
in prior to being returned to store, said to have been the
property of Abyssinian soldiers killed in fights with the Gdllas
and SomMis, and I also passed several Som&li prisoners of war
being marched up.

At the end of 1900 my brother, passing through Aden, was
given a commission to raise, with the help of twenty British
officers and some Indian drill-instructors, a Somali levy of some
one thousand five hundred men — infantry, mounted infantry, and
camel corps- — against Mahommed Abdulla.

We are indebted to Captain M ‘Neill, in his book In Pursuit
of the Mad Mullah, for a compact account of contemporary
Somali history during 1901, and I shall quote freely from that
work.

On 1st January 1901 the force did not exist, but on the
22nd of May it started from Burao to cross the Waterless Haud
plateau and attack the Mullah. My brother had raised it in
little over four months, out of Somalis who, previous to this,
had not the slightest idea of military life or work, or anything
connected with it, who were, a few months before, rejoicing in
the acquisition of a spear or bargaining for the possession of an
oryx-liide shield. I use Captain M ‘Neills words.

By 31st May 1901 the little force was halted at Sanala, and
having captured three thousand five hundred camels and a quantity
of other stock, a zeriba was formed to shelter these under the
command of Captain M ‘Neill, with three officers and three
hundred and seventy SomMi riflemen and a few spearmen. At
the same time, Colonel S wayne went south-east with the rest of
his troops formed into a flying column, to look for the Mullah,
or at any rate get across his line of retreat, should he try to
recover all this stock by an attack on Sanala.

No sooner had this flying column left Sanala than on the

PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION

ix

afternoon of 2nd June the Mullah attacked M‘Neill’s zerlba with
a force of some five hundred horse and two thousand foot, he
and Sultan Nur and Hadji Sudi watching from the low hills.
They were repulsed, but returned to the attack after dark, many
men being shot touching the zerlba. Before nine, on the 3rd, they
attacked five thousand strong, never getting nearer than within
one hundred and fifty yards of the upper zerlba, approaching
close enough to throw spears into the lower zerlba. In the two
days’ fighting the enemy lost about six hundred, one hundred
and eighty dead being counted on the field ; M ‘Neill lost eighteen
in killed and wounded. The Mullah fled, and on 4th June
blundered into Colonel Swayne’s flying column which had “ zerl-
baed ” up across his path in the Odergoia valley. The Mullah,
Sultan Nur, and Hadji Sudi with a body of horsemen rode
almost into Colonel Swayne before they knew of the presence of
his force, and fire was opened, but the Maxim jammed. Then
Colonel Swayne with the mounted troops began a headlong chase,
pursuers and pursued vanishing through a narrow opening to
the east, and the pursuit being continued in daylight and dark,
over unknown country for fifty miles to Annaharigleh, the men
and animals going to the last stage of exhaustion and many
horses dying. The remainder of the flying column reached
Annaharigleh on 6th June, finding the Mullah’s line of retreat
strewn with corpses. The Mullah had thus been chased well out
of British into Italian territory. The force reconcentrated at
Lassader about 17th June.

Pending authority to follow the Mullah into Italian territory,
Colonel Swayne moved from Bohotleh against the Arasama and
Allegiri sections of the Dolbahanta tribe, who had helped the
Mullah, and while concentrating at Bohotleh captured two
thousand camels and about fifteen thousand sheep. On 26th,
at 1.45 a.m., they attacked the Allegiri Karias and captured
more stock, and on 8th July we find the main body again back
at Bohotleh.

Hearing of the Mullah’s return to British territory, Colonel
Swayne left Bohotleh on 9th July to attack him ; and on the
evening of 16th July we find the force at Kur Gerad about to
make an early morning attack on the Mullah, the latter being
in position with a large force, including over six hundred rifle-
men, at Fir-Diddin.

On 17th the force started at 2 a.m. and made a successful
night march, and the advanced mounted troops, accompanied by

X

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

a force of Mahmoud Gerad horsemen, fell in with the Mullah’s
riflemen well posted.

The Mahmoud Gerad, a tribe noted for bombast, promptly
fled, and the mounted troops, hard pressed, fell back with some
loss, Captain Friederichs being killed whilst attempting to help
a wounded man.

On the reserve infantry coming up, the Mullah retired in a
hurry, water-vessels, camel-mats, and other of his belongings
being scattered on the ground ; he fled without stopping for four
days, till he had put the Haud between himself and his enemies.
Our loss at this action of Fir-Diddin was one British officer and
eleven men killed, and one British officer (Lieut. Dickinson) and
seventeen men wounded.

Fifty of the enemy’s dead were counted, two of these being
the Mullah’s brothers, and many more were killed in the pursuit.
A thousand more camels were captured.

The force returned to Kur-Gerad by nine on 17th.

In the course of ten weeks, my brother had, with raw levies,
defeated the Mullah in three fights and twice chased him out of
British territory.

Soon after these fights Colonel Swayne started for London,
the successful operations having been brought to a close by
orders from England.

But next year (1902), the Mullah having entered British
territory a third time, my brother was sent out to prepare
another force against him.

I will not follow the extended operations in the earlier part
of 1902, the punishment of hostile tribes, the large captures of
stock, and measures on the British coast to prevent gun-running.

In June 1902 Colonel Swayne left Damot to attack the
enemy, and killed some one hundred and fifty in a chase of
eighty miles, took four thousand camels and twelve thousand
sheep, with a loss to himself of twelve killed and wounded ;
another capture was made at that time of four hundred and
fifty camels and five thousand sheep.

In the autumn of 1902 we find him following up the Mullah
with an extraordinarily mobile force, carrying its water and
rations, across the hundred miles’ stretch of waterless Haud ; he
having fled to the Mudug oasis on the farther side, well out of
British territory, thus having been driven out for at least the
third time.

At Erigo in the Haud, on 6th October, the Mullah seems to

PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION

.*

xi

have prepared an ambush of rifle-pits, and, whilst my brother
was marching towards them through the worst and blindest
bush that the Haud produces, to have advanced and opened fire
and also made a sudden flank counter-attack by two thousand
spearmen on the transport. The bush was so thick that in
places not more than five men could see each other.

This Erigo action was a desperately contested affair. I have
before me an account published in the Daily Mail , 27th October
1902, and other accounts.

Owing apparently to the transport having gone on and over-
lapped the fighting-line when it halted, the camels were thrown
into confusion and stampeded, and hand-to-hand fighting ensued.
The enemy attacked^ with great courage in the face of fire from
some two thousand rifles, machine guns, and two seven-pounders.

Within a belt of twenty to twenty -five yards of the front
face alone, sixty-two bodies were counted, forty of which were
recognised as Hadjis and Mullahs. The six leaders of the
enemy’s force were killed ; prisoners reported that, besides a
large number of spearmen, one hundred and thirty-five Dervish
riflemen had been killed; and Colonel Swayne relates in one
published official account that the enemy charged up so close to
the guns that their clothing was set on fire by the discharges of
grape-shot.

Colonel Phillips was killed while rallying his men, and
Lieutenant Everett wounded while attending him ; Captain
Angus fell while serving his guns in a most determined manner ;
Captain Howard was also wounded. Colonel Cobbe continued
to serve the guns with only one Somali sergeant, and for this
and another deed has since received the Victoria Cross. On
our side the casualties were fifty -six levies and forty -three
transport spearmen killed, and eighty-four levies and transport
wounded.

Colonel Swayne, in two charges led by himself in person,
finally drove off the enemy, who retired defeated. The force
then formed zerfba. The ,enemy had got a lot of the stampeded
camels, which must have run for miles, and a Maxim, which had
never come into action, but had been dropped by its carriers in
the first confusion.

At 5 p.m. the enemy began to show up again, and Colonel
Swayne with three companies went out and drove them off,
recovering the stampeded camels, though the Maxim could not
be found.

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

Next day the force moved six miles to an open plain where
there was water, and in spite of a three days’ halt was not again
molested. The Mullah had been badly beaten, and save for the
unfortunate loss of the Maxim the whole honours of the fight
indisputably rested with my brother.

I wish to lay stress on the fact that the fight of Erigo
happened over six months ago, and though the many times
larger and more costly force which started from Obbia and
Berbera this year has with great energy been chasing him to
Mudug, Galadi, and towards Gerlogubi, he has never once come
on with his regular force since that fight, nor has he appeared in
person.

After the fight at Erigo, my brother, finding that his force,
while successfully repulsing the enemy, had been badly mauled
and confidence in some measure shaken, and finding himself not
strong enough to follow up the enemy to Mudug, the heart of
his country, without reinforcements, very properly decided to
retire.

A retirement under such circumstances is the most difficult
operation in war. The Mullah must, with his horsemen, naturally
have kept a watch on the movements of the force during the
days subsequent to the action, and a precipitate retirement
might have encouraged the enemy to attack the column on the
march and brought on a possible disaster. My brother there-
fore halted three days as before mentioned, thereby, no doubt,
leading the Mullah to suppose he meant to pursue ; and then
the retirement was made in an orderly manner, no article of
camp equipage being left behind, or anything thrown away likely
to point to haste. In due course the force reached Bohotleh in
safety.1

I maintain that it was because of the extremely severe
handling at Erigo that the Mullah neither molested my brother
in the retirement nor seriously opposed the expedition of this
year.

At the date of writing, the first stand that can be called
serious was reported under date 11th April 1903, to the south-
west of Galadi, where several of the enemy were killed and some
two thousand camels captured ; but the stand can scarcely have
been a determined one by the Mullah’s best troops, for our
casualties reported are one, and I believe I am right in saying —

1 Colonel Swayne, after seeing tlie force into safety, was struck down by
fever, and returned to England dangerously ill.

PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION

xm

though I am open to correction, and really it does not matter
much— that this is the first casualty in action recorded up to
date to the Mullah’s credit since Erigo last year. I say up to
date, because in following up the Mullah’s flocks more skirmish-
ing may be expected.

I do not think the Mullah will attack a zerfba again, nor
attack in the open, and he will probably not come on until he is
desperately cornered or sees a certain chance of scoring, which
we, if it is a mere case of fighting, may rely on picked troops,
like our British and Boer Mounted Infantry, Bikanir Camel
Corps, and Sikhs, to prevent.1

As to the chances of his being captured, he has been moved
towards the north-west, the right direction, and his prestige
must have been mu&h diminished by the chasing about he has
had. It is said his followers are dispersing, and we may
confidently expect captures of his stock at the present time by
the British and Abyssinian forces. But the rainy season is
coming on, when for some eight months there may be abundant
pools and grass at any time, even in the Haud • it is his
manoeuvring time, while the dry Jilal — that is, J anuary,
February, and March — has been the season of least mobility for
him. I therefore expect renewed activity from the Mullah any
time in the next eight months. These advantages of grass and
water will at the same time help our troops, always provided we
have sufficient camels to carry the impedimenta.

There is little likelihood of the Mullah playing our game by
attacking us unless he is obliged to ; but a large capture of
stock might have the desired effect, as the herdsmen belonging to
the tribes which lose camels can generally pluck up courage to try
and get them back, and “ sitting over a bait,” though not in the
strategy books, is a good practical way of bringing on a fight in
Somaliland. The attack on M ‘Neill’s zerfba shows this.

If the Mullah does get off this year it must be with a
wholesome fear of our Protectorate, which, by the way, he has
never entered since he was driven out the third time by my
brother in the operations previous to the fight at Erigo last
October.

1 This was written before the annihilation of the flying column under Col.
Plunkett on 17th April.

. London, 21st April 1903.

POSTSCRIPT

Since the above was written, important news has come in.

It now appears that throughout the present campaign the Mullah has
been drawing our forces further and further inland with the intention of
striking an unexpected blow.

The telegrams lately published state that on 16th April, at a point
some fifty miles north-west of Galadi, there was a fight in which Captain
Chichester, Somali Mounted Infantry, was killed and three men wounded,
the enemy's riflemen being beaten off with a loss of fifteen men killed.

Next day, 17th April, Colonel Cobbe, being short of water and having
decided to retire on Galadi, sent out Captain Olivey and another officer,
each with a company of the King’s African Rifles (Yaos), to reconnoitre ;
and the former having located the enemy, Colonel Plunkett was sent to
reinforce Olivey ; the combined force then advanced.

The Mullah, with some two thousand horse and ten thousand spearmen
and riflemen, attacked and broke the British square ; and when all the
ammunition was exhausted, a bayonet charge was made with the object
of getting clear ; but only forty Yaos, thirty-four of whom were wounded,
got through to Colonel Cobbe’s force. The remainder — that is, Colonel
Plunkett and nine British officers, two British signallers and the whole
of the detachment* of the 2nd Sikhs, forty -eight in number, and one
hundred and nineteen Yaos and fourteen followers — were killed ; and the
two Maxims were lost.

Colonel Cobbe, who must, I gather, have had only something over
three hundred men, sent for reinforcements, and was reinforced next day,
and on 19th met General Manning some twenty miles outside Galadi, to
which place the combined force retired without further fighting, the
enemy having gone back to Warder.

That is the history of the latest British disaster so far as can be
gathered from telegrams.

The enemy, who are Somali Dervishes (and must not be confused with
those of the Soudan), are described as fighting with fanatical bravery,
their dead “piled in heaps ” in front of the Maxims, and are said to have
lost two thousand men. A “Dervish” is simply a poor Mahommedan,
and has come to mean a fanatic.

The Mullah is reported to have altogether from two thousand to three
thousand well-armed mounted men, and eighty thousand spearmen, though
this is probably exaggerated. They are drawn from the Dolbahanta,
Mijerten, and Ogaden Somali tribes, with some Gallas and Adone negroes
from the Webbe.

There has been another fight on the Bohotleh side (Berbera line of
communication), Major Gough’s flying-column being fiercely attacked on
22nd April, and having to retire after beating off the enemy’s riflemen
with a loss of one hundred to one hundred and fifty. Our loss was Capts.
Godfrey and Bruce and thirteen men killed, and four British officers and
twenty-eight men wounded.

There are several scattered parties and posts now in Somaliland, any of
which may be attacked ; so that reinforcements may be needed. The
next eight months will be the best fighting months, when there is grass
and water, favourable for the operations of mounted men like the South
Africans and Bikanir Camel Corps, of whom small units have already been
in the recent fighting.

London, 21th April 1903.

I DEDICATE THIS BOOK

TO MY

BRAVE AND INTELLIGENT
SOMALI FOLLOWERS

b

PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION

Since the first edition was published the wave of exploration,
which reached its greatest intensity about the years 1892-94,
has swept over parts of Somaliland in common with other
countries. When the writer first visited the interior in 1885
there were no Europeans ; the whole region, except where Sir
Richard Burton had left a single thread of exploration, was one
great blank on the map. To the east, near the Horn of Africa,
Georges Revoil had made extended explorations and done valu-
able work near the coast ; and the caravan of Mr. F. L. James
was in the beginning of 1885 just returning from the adventurous
journey to the Shabeleh River. Behind the Maritime Hills some
twenty miles inland lay nothing but the unknown tribes.

The same was the case with the Mombasa Hinterland farther
south. Mombasa itself was merely a primitive village with a
Mission station at Rabai ; and the wilds of Ukambani were left
untouched except where the caravans for Uganda hurried over
the dreaded Nyika to the uplands of the interior. The word
“ Masai bore a terrible significance to the Wa-Kamba. The
Tana and Ozi Rivers and Belezoni Canal, which the writer
visited in 1888, had been explored by about half a dozen white
men, and his canoe was followed in broad daylight by schools
of hippopotami, swimming quietly alongside. All this is changed
now. Turning to the Somali frontier, in 1885 the little Arab state
of Harar seemed far more important than distant Abyssinia,
which had not then begun to import modern breechloaders by
thousands from French merchants at Obok and Jibuti, to be
turned later against the gallant soldiers of Italy. Abyssinia
has awakened since ; has absorbed Harar and become a factor
in Somali politics ; has further, with the help of these weapons
in the hands of tireless mountaineers, gained successes over
Italy which have spurred Abyssinian ambition and turned this

X

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

kingdom, isolated for centuries, again into a restless military
empire.

There is no doubt that North-East Africa of to-day is still a
good field for the shikari, as are Ladak and the ranges near
Kashmir, and parts of India ; but much of the romance has
gone as country after country has been opened up. The writer
considers it a great privilege to have known what may be called
the Africa of yesterday ; to have been able to take into the
interior books like those of Gordon-Cumming and others, and to
have read them while leading the life their authors led. It is a
privilege also to have seen the Abyssinian army while still re-
taining its picturesque splendour of gold and silver and colour,
and its ancient organisation, unspoilt by any attempts to mas-
querade in European uniforms.

As regards the Somaliland hunting-grounds, prices have
risen, lions have been reduced in number, and elephants have
been driven away. The shooting has been doubly curtailed,
most of Guban, the coast country, including the Habr Awal and
Gadabursi countries, being now reserved for the sport of officers
stationed at Aden; while the treaty with King Menelik in 1897
has left many of the old shooting-grounds, including the whole
of Ogaden and the Webbe, out of the British Protectorate.

This loss of sport is perhaps less to be regretted than the
exigencies of State, which have obliged us to disappoint a vast
number of tribes in the Hinterland who had always hoped to be
included within the British sphere of influence.

THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION

Somaliland, the new British Protectorate, is in some respects
one of the most interesting regions of the African Continent.
In the present daily life of its natives we have represented to us
something of the wandering patriarchal existence of Biblical
times. The country contains ruins which probably date back
to a period of very ancient civilisation. It is, moreover, the
threshold to the mysterious nomad Galla tribes who inhabit the
land between the Gulf of Aden and the Great African Lakes.
Somaliland is the home of many varieties of African large game,
and affords one of the best and most accessible of hunting-
grounds to be found at the present time.

In the intervening years between 1884 and 1893, professional
duties necessitated my undertaking several journeys in Somali-
land, with the object of exploration. In the intervals between
these journeys I devoted my periods of leave to hunting in that
country. During a period of nine years I undertook seventeen
separate journeys to the interior, and so became familiar with
the chief elements of interest to be found there. At the outset
of my travels my age was twenty-five. I enjoyed absolute
freedom of movement, and at this period had full control of a
small escort of Indian cavalry. The sense of responsibility, and
the prospect of exploring new country, filled me with delight
and awakened my faculties. When I first entered the interior
of Somaliland, in 1885, it was practically an untraversed
country ; and hitherto, though unjustly so, it had always borne
the reputation of being the desert home of bigoted and ferocious
savages.

My principal object in writing this book is to present phases
of life in nomadic North-East Africa, and to supply detailed
information of a nature that might prove useful to travellers
and sportsmen who wish to visit that country. As my brother

Xll

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

and I have always been pioneering, the men who have followed
in our footsteps have naturally had better opportunities for
sport than we had, and I only give such of my more successful
sporting experiences as will assist me in my main object of
giving a general portrait of the country.

With reference to the following pages of my book, I may
say that I merely present a collection of facts. To write a
continuous narrative of my movements, in a manner to hold the
interest of the reader throughout, requires a special literary gift
such as I do not possess. The careful notes of all that came
within the observation and experience of my brother and myself,
during our ten thousand miles of wanderings with camel caravans,
are here collected and presented in their most simple form.
Most of the illustrations are direct reproductions of my own
drawings, representing incidents I have seen, for the artistic
merit of which I must beg my readers’ indulgence.

My thanks are due to Brigadier -General J. Jopp, C.B.,
A.D.C., British Besident at Aden; and to Lieut.-Colonel E. V.
Stace, C.B., Political Agent and Consul for the Somali Coast ;
and to many officers of the Aden Political Staff under whom I
have been employed, or with whom 1 have been associated, for
many kindnesses and hospitalities extended to me in Aden and
the Somali Coast ports. Also to my brother, Captain E. J. E.
Swayne, 16th Bengal Infantry, for the use of his journals and
sketches, for all his valuable and indefatigable assistance, to say
nothing of his saving my life in a plucky and skilful manner
under circumstances the difficulty of which only sportsmen
can fully aj3preciate. My best thanks are also due to Prince
Boris Czetwertynski and Mr. Seton Karr for having given me
permission to reproduce some of their beautiful and artistic
photographs ; to Captain H. M. Abud, Assistant Besident at
Aden, for many hospitalities, and for his kindness in having
supplied me with the historical notes given in the first chapter.

I am also greatly indebted to Lieut.-General E. F. Chapman,
C.B., Director of Military Intelligence, and to Lieut.-Colonel
J. K. Trotter, and other officers of the Intelligence Staff, for
having permitted me to use and to copy a reduction of my
routes, which was made under their direction ; and also to Mr.
W. Knight for the excellent manner in which he has designed
and drawn the maps which accompany this book. My third
chapter is rewritten from articles which have already been
published in the Field in 1887, and I have to thank the Editor

PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION

xiii

of that journal for his courtesy in having allowed me to make
use of them here.

I have to thankfully acknowledge the kindness of Dr. P. L.
Sclater, Secretary of the London Zoological Society, for having
permitted me to rewrite and amplify, in my supplementary
chapter, two papers upon Antelopes which were written by me
for that Society and published in its Proceedings.

Finally, I would express my gratitude to Mr. Rowland Ward,
who has devoted so much valuable time and experience to the
production of my book.

THE AUTHOR.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

SOMALI ETHNOLOGY

Division of classes in Somaliland — The trading caravans from Ogaden and
Harar — Habits of the nomad tribes — The Somali brokers — The ontcaste
races and their characteristics — The settlements of the mullahs — The
Somali, his character — Religion — Costume and weapons — Condition of
women — Marriage laws — Industries of women — Blood money — Feuds —
Native councils — Respect for the English — Somali vanity — The dihaltig
ceremony — Influence of religion — Influence of civilisation — Religious
observances — Superstitions — Carelessness — The origin of the Somali race
— Tracing descent for twenty-two generations — Arab descent — Tribal
customs — Plurality of wives — Adoption of prefix Ba to names of children
—Somali nomenclature — Nicknames — Tribal divisions — “ Brothers of
the shield” — Ruins, cairns, and graves — Frontier raids between the
Gallas and the Somalis — Boldness of southern tribes — The Golbanti
Gallas — The Wa-pokomo negroes of the Tana — Origin of the Gallas —
The Esa tribe — The Gadabursi tribe — Evidences^ of former highly-
organised races in Somaliland — Interesting remains — Old Galla ruins —
Curious legend to account for cairns — The* robbers’ cover — Baneful
influence of feuds ..... Pages 1-26

CHAPTER II

THE NOMADIC LIFE

Varieties of camel — Somali camel willing and gentle — Method of loading
camels — On the march — Weight of loads — Marching hours — Scourges,
gadflies, ticks, and leeches — Firing camels — Sore back — Camel food —
Grazing customs — Breeding habits of Somali camels — The milk-supply
of she- camels — Description of Somali ponies— Fodder — Ticks — Donkeys
— Their usefulness in Somaliland— Cattle — Cow’s milk — Ghee — Hides
exported to America — Sheep and goats — Powers of subsisting without
water— Camel-meat and mutton the favourite meal of Somalis— The

XVI

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

annual movements of trading caravans governed by seasons — Duration
of seasons — Great heat — Movements of the nomad tribes — Caravan
marauders — Tribal fights — Gangs of highway robbers — Methods of the
raiders — English scheme of protection popular — Trade greatly injured
through insecurity of routes — A peculiarity of the Somali guide —
Mysterious strangers — Remarkable faculties of adaptability in the
Somali — Baneful effect of civilisation . . . Pages 27-42

CHAPTER III

BIG GAME SHOOTING, 1887

Start from Berbera — The first koodoo — First herd of elephants seen ; elephant
bagged with a single shot — Fresh start with another caravan — Waller’s
gazelle bagged — Mandeira ; delightful headquarters — The Issutugan
river— Herd of elephants found — Elephant hunt at Jalelo, and death of
a large bull — Our night camp — Camp at Sobat — Elephants heard
trumpeting at night — Interesting scene ; a herd of sixty elephants —
Two elephants bagged — Camp at Hembeweina ; lions 4round camp —
A herd of elephants in the Jalelo reeds — Long and unsuccessful hunt —
Tusks stolen by a caravan — Lions roaring round the Hembeweina camp
at night — Visit of Shire Shirmaki and thirty horsemen — Interesting
scene — A row in camp — News of a solitary bull at Eil Dan an — Exciting
hunt ; horsemen manoeuvring a vicious elephant, and death of the bull —
Return to Berbera ...... 43-73

CHAPTER IV

GOVERNMENT EXPLORATIONS

Early trips to the coast — Disturbed state of Bulhar — Stopping a fight — Two
skirmishes — First exploring trips — Hostility of the natives — An unlucky
trip — Start with my brother to explore the Habr Toljaala and Dolbahanta
countries on duty — Camp on Golis Range — Theodolite station at 6800
feet — Enter the waterless plains — Advance to the Tug Der — News of
raiders ahead, and of Col. A. Paget’s party — Dolbahanta horsemen —
Advance to the Nogal Valley — Constantly annoyed by the Dolbahanta —
Prehistoric tank and buildings at Badwein — Advance to Gosaweina —
More horsemen — Insecure border, and scene of a raid — Explore Bur Dab
Range — Robbers’ Caves — Exploration by my brother on Wagar Mountain
— Lovely scenery — Return to Berbera — Start on a second expedition to
the Jibril.Abokr country — The top of Gan Libah — A new hartebeest —
Death of a leopard — Hargeisa — Natives clamouring for British protection
against Abyssinia — Bold behaviour of a leopard — Advance to the Marar
Prairie — Camp at Ujawaji — Extraordinary scene on the prairie —
Quantities of game — Gadabursi raid — Jibril Abokr welcome of the
English — A shooting trip on the plains — News of three lions — Vedettes

CONTENTS

XVII

posted over lions — Advance to the attack — Savage charge ; unconscious
and in the clutches of a lioness — My brother’s account of the accident —
His own narrow escape, and death of a fine lion — Civility of the Jibril
Abokr — Abyssinian news — Return to the coast — Recovery from wounds
— Third expedition ; to the Gadabursi country — Great raid by the Jibril
Abokr on the Bahgoba — Curious adventure with robbers — Betrayed by
vultures — Raiding tactics— First meeting with the Gadabursi — Meeting
with Ugaz Niir — The rival sultans — Construction of an Abyssinian fort
at Biyo-Kaboba — Esa in a ferment — Speech of Mudun Golab — My
brother bags a large bull elephant — March to Zeila . Pages 74-113

CHAPTER Y

A RECONNAISSANCE OF THE ABYSSINIAN BORDER, 1892

First news of Abyssinian aggression — Start for Milmil — Unfortunate Bulhar
— Across the “ Haud ” waterless plateau — Extraordinary landscape —
Sudden meeting with the Rer Ali — Their consternation and pleasant
greeting — News of a raid — Water-supply statistics — Great display at
Milmil in honour of Au Mahomed Sufi — Agitation against Abyssinia —
Unsuccessful lion hunt — Display in honour of the English — Interesting
scene — The vulture-like elders — Success of an Arab pony — Our camp at
Tuli — The “Valley of Rhinoceroses” — Two rhinoceros hunts — Four
bagged — Death of a bull rhinoceros— The Waror wells — Abbasgul
complaints against Abyssinia — First meeting with Abyssinians —
Disturbed country — English sportsmen met at Hargeisa — Fresh start
from Hargeisa — Incessant rains — Thousands of liartebeests near Gumbur
Dug — Scouting for the Abyssinians — Visit to the Abyssinian fort at
Jig-Jiga — We approach Gildessa — The caravan imprisoned by the
Abyssinians — Embarrassing situation — A letter to Ras Makunan of
Harar — Exciting time at Gildessa — We retire by night — The answer of
the Ras — March to Zeila ..... 114-146

CHAPTER VI

A VISIT TO RAS MAKUNAN OF HARAR, 1893

Project to explore Gallaland — News of Colonel Carrington’s party — A Bulhar
feud — Start from Bulhar — Gadabursi dance to the English — Esa raid—
A rival sportsman — Awale Yasin breaks his leg — Native surgery —
Adventures with leopards — Following a wounded leopard by moonlight
— A plucky home charge — Exciting encounter — A beisa hunt — On the
Marar Prairie again — Quantities of game — Arrival at Jig-Jiga, and visit
from Abyssinians — Attempted arrest of the caravan by an Abyssinian
general — Exciting adventure — Arrival of Gabratagli — Character of
Banaguse — A letter to the Ras — Interviews with Banaguse — Bertiri com-
plaints against Abyssinians — An answer from the Ras — Picturesque

xviii THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

journey to Harar— Hospitality of Basha-Basha, an Abyssinian general —
Enter Harar — Meet Signor Felter — First interview with the Ras in the
audience -room — Entertained by Allaka Gobau Desta — My servant
wounded — Meet Count Salimbeni, M. Guigniony, and the Archbishop
of Gallaland — Interviews with the Ras and exchange of presents —
Farewells in Harar — Leave Harar for the Webbe . Pages 147-176

CHAPTER VII

FIRST JOURNEY TO THE WEBBE SHABELEH RIVER, 1893

Form an ambush over the pool at Kuredelli — A rhinoceros wounded —
Unsuccessful hunt after the rhinoceros — Two lions seen — Another
rhinoceros wounded at the pool ; three lionesses arrive ; interesting
moonlight scene — A lioness drinks, and is wounded — Death of the
lioness — Follow and bag the rhinoceros — Exciting hyaena -hunt with
pistol and knife — Abbasgul fight — Unsuccessful rhinoceros -hunt — We
march into the monsoon — Waller’s gazelle wounded by me and pulled
down by a leopard — Death of the leopard — Camp again at Tiili — Two
rhinoceroses bagged ; furious charge — The Sheikh Ash, a friendly tribe
—A leopard in camp — Ambush at the Garba-aleh pool ; leopard and
hyaena bagged — Abundance of game — First enter zebra country — Man-
eating lions at Durhi — Malingur at Durhi — Elephant-hunting in Daghatto
Valley ; a bull bagged — Large number of elephants — Interesting scene
in Daghatto — Leopards seen — Uninhabited country — Difficulty in finding
the Rer Amaden tribe — Halt at Enleh and send out scouts . 177-198

CHAPTER VIII

FIRST JOURNEY TO THE WEBBE SHABELEH RIVER (continued)

Our camp at Enleh — Success of* the Lee-Metford rifle — A beisa hunt —
Abundance of game — A night alarm — Attempt to catch a zebra foal —
Strange voices in the bush — News of the Rer Amaden — Jama Deria —
Advance into the Amaden country — Meeting with Sheikh Abdul Kader
at Dambaswerer — Friendly reception by the Rer Amaden — Decide to
make a dash for Ime — Fine view of the Webbe Valley — Difficulty and
expense of a Somali outfit — Close to Ime ; doubtful as to our welcome —
Cordiality of the Adone or Webbe negroes — Council of the elders ; desire
for an English treaty — Kind hospitality of Gabba Oboho, chief of Ime
— A word for British management at the coast — Invited to return to
the Webbe — Shoot two waterbuck — Return to Dambaswerer — Jama
Deria at home — Galla raids — Extraordinary vitality of a Somali — Jama
Deria’s avarice — Reputation of Ras Makunan — Beisa shot — A lion roars
at night — Lion surprised stealing the carcase — Exciting hunt, and death
of the lion — Sit up for lion at Durhi — Melancholy episode ; Daura

CONTENTS

xix

Warsama killed by a man-eater — Unsuccessful bunt — Clarke’s gazelle
bagged — Beisa bagged — Artificial tanks — Form a camp for koodoo-
bunting at Mandeira ..... Pages 199-224

CHAPTER IX

THREE WEEKS’ KOODOO-STALKING ON G6LIS RANGE, 1893

Our bunting camp in the mountains — The “ Rock of the Seven Robbers ”
— Exciting koodoo bunt ; death of a splendid koodoo — My shooting
costume — Triumphant return to camp — Unsuccessful koodoo hunt —
March to Henweina — Unsuccessful hunt after koodoos — Bag a bull — A
charming spot — Dog-faced baboons — Alarm note of the koodoo cow —
Picturesque bivouac — Cedar-trees in Mirso — A leopard caught with a
piece of rope and speared by the Somalis — March to Armaleh Garbadir
— The great Massleh Wein bull — Exciting hunt ; success of the Martini ;
a glorious koodoo — Return to the coast . . . 225-238

CHAPTER X

SECOND JOURNEY TO THE WEBBE SHABELEH RIVER, 1893

The new caravan — Pass Lord Delamere’s party — Captain Abud in camp at
Hargeisa — Sheikh Mattar — Cross the Haud, and arrive at Seyyid
Mahomed’s town in Ogaden— Holy reputation — Why the Somalis have
no Mahdi — Scene at the Seyyid’s town — Native impression of European
travellers — Every European a doctor — Malingur mission to Harar —
Ruspoli’s men seized — Jama Deria’s Englishman — Reach the Webbe and
bag a waterbuck — Friendly Gilimiss Somalis — First news of the Webbe
bushbuck — Shooting a crocodile — Great beauty of our camp on the
Webbe banks — Galla raids on the Gilimiss — The crossing of the Webbe
at Karanleh — Unexpected Galla news — Entertain Galla chiefs in camp ;
a defiant speech — A Galla trip planned — Fresh hippo tracks in the
reeds — A waterbuck swims the Webbe ; a noble buck — Sad death of a
horse — The Aulihan — A row in camp — Unsuccessful buffalo-hunting —
Wounded waterbuck struck down by a lion — Starving negroes eat the
carrion — Disturbed country ; the Galla trip impracticable — Recross the
Webbe — Driving for bushbuck — A wart-hog bagged — A man seized by
a lion ; extraordinary story — A leopard bagged — A buck killed by
leopards before our eyes — A row at Garbo — Success of the Lee-Metford
— The Aware pan ; beautiful hunting-ground — Lions roaring at night —
Unsuccessful lion -hunts — Magnificent lion shot ; a surprising leap —
Abundance of lions — Return to Berbera ; and go to England . 239-267

XX

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

CHAPTER XI

WITH THE BRITISH MISSION TO KINO MENELIK, 1897

Sent to represent India on the Mission — Meeting with Italian prisoners
marching down — The Italian Red Cross Mission — A forced march to
Gildessa to get transport — Aito Merzha, Governor of Gildessa' — Impres-
sions of the journey up the pass to Harar — Makunan’s escort into Harar
— Buying mules — Sent on with Speedy — Scenery in the Harar Highlands
— Some peculiarly English country — Crossing the Hawash — A camel
accident — Over high veldt country to Addis-Abbaba — The opening audience
— Menelik’s personality — Dining with Menelik and his thousand officers
— The Feast of St. Raguel — Ritual in the church : the dance of King
David before the Ark of the Covenant — A feu de joie — The scene
marching home — Presents for the King and Queen — The final day —
Escorted by 20,000 soldiers — A magnificent sight — The march to the
coast — Daily routine — Astronomy — British and French positions for
Addis-Abbaba compared — Fast marching — Political reflections — Our
African frontier compared with our Asiatic one — Importation of arms by
France — Abyssinian character — Vindication of Somali character — Sport
on the road — Somaliland as a future hunting-ground . Pages 268-292

CHAPTER XII

Notes on the Fauna of Somaliland

293-327

Appendix I. — On Fitting Out SomXli Expeditions

329

II. — Physical Geography of Som/liland

354

III. — Fitting Out an Expedition for Abyssinia

IV. — Notes on Somali Trade .

366

373

Index .

377

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

The Author and his Escort Frontispiece iv

Group of Somalis (White Esa) ....... 2

Somali Camp Followers and a Horseman from the Bush . . 5

A Camp Servant with Lesser Koodoo Skull and Horns . . . 13

Somali Scouts halting in a sandy River-Bed to look for Water . 29

A Herd of Plateau Gazelles ........ 43

Elephants at a Pool ......... 47

‘ ‘ Flying the Bushes ” ......... 53

Elephant and Calf ......... 59

Lesser Koodoo and Aloes . . . . . . . . 72

Male Waterbuck Head ......... 77

Somali Horseman . .79

JSaJcdro Antelope . . . . . . . . . . 85

Jungle of Hig Aloes and Gudd Tliorn-Trees ..... 101

On the Mule-Track, near Harar . . . . . . .Ill

Game on the Plains 117

Kirk’s Dik-Dik 118

Waller’s Gazelle 119

A Trial of Strength ......... 127

A Crouching Lion . . 129

Greater Koodoo Head . . . . . . . . .137

Female Scemmerring’s Gazelle Head . . . . . .145

A Herd of Aoul 147

A Herd of Hartebeest 156

Jungle of Wadi Thorn-Trees and Hig Aloes ; Subul Odli, Hand . 169

Male Soemmerring’s Gazelle Head 175

Aoul Bucks at Play ......... 177

The Pool at Kuredelli 180

A Herd of Beisa 191

A Sounder of Wart-Hog ........ 198

A Herd of Gerendk ......... 199

Greater Koodoo on the Look-out 225

xxn THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

PAGE

Rock Rabbits 237

A Herd of Water Antelope ........ 239

Waterbuck Swimming . . . . . . . 248

Skull of Central African Buffalo 252

A Snap Shot .......... 263

Head of Baira Antelope ........ 266

Female Lowland Gazelle 267

Ras Makunan, the Abyssinian Governor of Harar and Nephew of

Menelik 271

Some Members of the British Mission in the Courtyard of Menelik’s

Palace 275

At the Feast of Saint Raguel at Addis- Abbaba (Part of the Crowd

descending the Hill after the Ceremony) .... 279

Vultures 293

Black Rhinoceros Head ......... 297

Beisa Oryx Head 299

Lesser Koodoo Head ......... 304

The Somali Hartebeest 306

Somali Bushbuck or Decula Antelope ...... 309

Clarke’s Gazelle Head . . . . . . . . .310

A Dibatag Buck 311

Waller’s Gazelle Head . . . . . . . .313

Male Lowland Gazelle Head . . . . . . . .316

Klipspringer, Head and Skull and Horns . . . . . 317

Dik-Dik Antelopes, Heads and Skull and Horns . . . .318

Dik-Dik and Aloes ......... 319

Wart-Hog Head .......... 323

Male Plateau Gazelle Head 324

Female Plateau Gazelle Head . 326

Hunting Map of Northern Somaliland.

Map of the Horn of Africa.

Map of Route from Zeila to Addis- Abbaba.

CHAPTER I

SOMALI ETHNOLOGY

Division of classes in Somaliland — The trading caravans from Ogaden and
Harar — Habits of the nomad tribes — The Somali brokers — The out-
caste races and their characteristics — The settlements of the mullahs —
The Somali, his character — Religion — Costume and weapons — Condition
of women — Marriage laws — Industries of women — Blood money — Feuds
— Native councils — Respect for the English — Somali vanity — The dibdltig
ceremony — Influence of religion — Influence of civilisation — Religious
observances — Superstitions — Carelessness — The origin of the Somali race
— Tracing descent for twenty-two generations — Arab descent — Tribal
customs — Plurality of wives — Adoption of prefix Ba to names of children
— Somali nomenclature — ■Nicknames — Tribal divisions — “Brothers of
the shield” — Ruins, cairns, and graves — Frontier raids between the
G alias and the Somalis — Boldness of southern tribes — The Golbanti
G alias — The Wa-pokomo negroes of the Tana — Origin of the Gallas —
The Esa tribe — The Gadabursi tribe — Evidences of former highly-
organised races in Somaliland — Interesting remains — Old Galla ruins —
Curious legend to account for cairns — The robbers’ cover — Baneful
influence of feuds.

He who dines alone, dines with the devil. — Somali Proverb.

The inhabitants of Somaliland may be divided into four
classes : — The nomad Somalis, who keep sheep, goats, cattle,
and camels, and breed ponies; who live almost entirely upon
milk and meat, and follow the rains in search of grass for their
animals. The settled Somhlis, who form a comparatively small
community, living in or near the coast towns, and are princi-
pally occupied as abbdns or brokers. Certain outcaste races,
living in a precarious way, scattered about among the different
Somhli tribes, engaged principally in gathering gum and
hunting. The traders, who at certain seasons bring large
caravans from the interior to the coast.

The most important trading caravans are those which come

B

2

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

to Berbera from Og&den and Harar. They bring hides, ivory,
ostrich -feathers, rhinoceros and antelope horns, prayer -skins,
honey, coffee, ghee (clarified butter), and gum ; exchanging
these products and loading up for the return journey with the
beads, dates, rice, cotton goods, and other articles which form
the cargoes of dhows visiting the ports. The traders have
portable huts ( gurgi ) which are packed on camels, and can be
pitched or struck in about an hour. These they erect on long

GROUP OF SOMALIS (WHITE ESA).
From a Photograph by the Author.

halts, and when staying at the coast towns in the trading
season. The rer or kraal (karia in Arabic) is formed by
unpacking the gurgi and pitching them in a semicircle,
surrounding the whole by a thorn-fence or zeriba. The huts
are carried on camels in sections, and consist of a framework
of bent gipsy poles, over which mats and skins are sewn when
a halt is made. While on the march the mats do duty as
pack-saddles for the camels, the skins being tied over the loads
to protect them from sun and rain. While the caravans are at
the coast, generally during the greater part of the cold weather,

Dsr

I

SOMALI ETHNOLOGY

3

the camels are placed under the care of the nomad Somdls, to
be fed and tended until the return journey to the interior in
the spring.

The nomadic tribes also form zerlbas during their wanderings,
staying in camp for a month or two at a time. Each nomad
clan wanders in an orbit of its own, and reoccupies its former
zerlbas at the different pastures year after year. Their zerlbas
differ from those of trading caravans by being made in a double
ring, the outer circle of which is often twelve feet high, to keep
out lions. Inside the double brushwood fence the space is
divided into pens for cattle, camels, sheep, and goats, the
ponies being hobbled and allowed to graze abroad by day, while
at night they are tied to the outside of the huts or to thorn
trees ; and for their further protection fires are lit round the inside
of the zerlba and in the huts. At the coast towns the arrange-
ments are not so formidable, a low single fence to keep in the
animals being deemed sufficient. The huts are put up by
women, while the men form the zerlba and cut logs for the
watch-fires, using an axe (fas) made from a block of soft iron,
worked into a ring with a forked stick inserted — much like the
axe of jungle tribes in India. The men are extremely lazy,
and consider that their dignity is lowered by tending anything
but camels, cattle, and ponies. Thousands of sheep and goats
are looked after by a few women and small children ; while the
donkeys and the water -vessels they carry are the particular care
of the oldest and most decrepit women.

The neighbourhood of nomad encampments and watering-
places is always noisy and dusty, the ground being worked into
powder by the feet of thousands of animals. Most of the
bushes are denuded of their branches for firewood, and the grass
is eaten and worn away. At the important wells watering is
done by sub-tribes, to each of which is allotted a certain well at
a certain hour. When watering is going on, the groups of
naked men singing in chorus as they pass the water up to the
troughs, the lowing of the cattle, the countless flocks and herds
moving to and fro half veiled by clouds of dust, form a very
remarkable scene. The nomads who live about the G61is Eange
draw near to the coast during the cool trading season, and
return to the high Ogo country to remain there during the
summer months. They form no large caravans, but are engaged
in a good deal of petty barter with the coast and in the export
of sheep.

4

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

CH. i

With reference to the class engaged in brokerage, they are
people settled permanently at the ports of the North Som41i
coast. Until a short time ago the office of abbdn or broker was
considered to be important. When a trader arrived off the
coast in a dhow, or with a caravan from the interior, he was
obliged to engage an abbdn to transact his business, to protect
his interests, to act as general agent, paying in return for such
services a small commission on all purchases and sales.

Of the outcaste races the most important are the Tomal,
Yebir, and Midg^n. They are not organised in tribes, but live
in scattered families all over Somaliland. The Tomal are
the blacksmiths, who fashion all kinds of arms, axes, and
general ironwork. The Yebir are workers in leather, such as
saddlery, scabbards, and so forth. The Midg&ns are probably
the most numerous of the outcaste people. They are armed
with the mindi (a small dagger), bow, and poisoned arrows,
carrying the latter in a large quiver. They keep wild and
savage pariah dogs, which they train to hunting, their chief
quarry being the beisa ( Oryx beisa ), the large antelope with
rapier-like horns.

I have often been out beisa-hunting on foot in the Bulh&r
Plain with Midg&ns and dogs. When a bull beisa is killed a
disc from fifteen to eighteen inches in diameter is cut from the
thick skin of his withers and sometimes from the rump : these
are worth from one to four rupees at the coast, and are used
by the Midg&ns for shields. The MidgMis are a hardy race,
used to living away from karias, stealthy and perfect trackers,
and are sometimes, in inter -tribal warfare, engaged to act as
messengers, scouts, and light skirmishers. There appears to be
no physical difference between them and other Somalis, except
that the average stature of the Midg&ns may be slightly shorter.
I have on more than one occasion come upon a party of Midgans
pegging out the fresh skin of a lion which they had just killed ;
many of these animals are brought to bag every year with no
other weapons than their tiny arrows. The lions are found
asleep under the khansa bushes at mid-day, or are shot from an
ambush at night over a living bait, or when returning to a “ kill.”

In the interior of Northern Somaliland there are no
permanent settlements except those founded and occupied by
religious Mahomedans, called sheikhs, mullahs, or widads.
These settlements occur, on an average, about seventy miles
apart. The two largest which I have seen are Seyyid Mahomed’s

i**|

somAli camp followers and a horseman from the bush

From a Photograph by Prince Boris Czetwcrtynski,

CHAP. I

SOMALI ETHNOLOGY

7

Town in Og&den, and Hargeisa in tlie Habr Awal country.
There are about a dozen others of minor importance, all
inhabited by mullahs, scattered over several degrees of latitude
and longitude, but Hargeisa may be taken as the type of them
all.

Mullahs are enabled to settle down and form permanent
villages, and cultivate, on account of the respect in which they
are held by all tribes. A looting party must be driven to the
last extremity of hunger before it will attack them, and
generally in such a case only as many animals would be looted
as are needed to provide food. The mullahs are drawn from
various tribes, and, being cosmopolitan, have very extended
influence. They are a quiet, respectable class, generally on the
side of order, and civil to travellers.

Hargeisa, a compact village of a few hundred agal or
permanent huts, is surrounded by a high mat fence, and a
square mile or two of jowdri ( Holcus sorghum) cultivation
belonging to different mullahs. Sheikh Mattar, the chief of
Hargeisa, is a pleasant-mannered man affecting Arab dress ; he
reads and writes Arabic, and is a steady supporter of British
interests. Like many of the more important mullahs in
Somaliland, he has a very dark complexion, almost black, in
fact, with well-formed, intelligent features. With the exception
of these mullah settlements, a few graves dotted about the
country, and some cairns and ancient remains of former races,
there is nothing permanent to show the presence of human
beings. The caravan routes are mere paths made by the feet
of camels and passing flocks, crossed by game tracks in every
direction. For countless years long lines of baggage camels
have gone aside from the straight course in order to wind round
some stone or bush that a child could remove. The work is
left to the next caravan, or to Allah, who is made responsible
for everything, good or bad, in Somaliland. There is no
social system, but patriarchal government by tribes, clans, and
families ; no cohesion, and no paramount native authority ; and
the whole country has been from time immemorial in a chronic
state of petty warfare and blood feuds.

The Somali has a many-sided character. He is generally
a good camelman, a cheerful camp-follower, a trustworthy,
loyal, and attentive soldier; proud of the confidence reposed
in him, quick to learn new things, and wonderfully bright and
intelligent. He is untiring on the march, often a reckless

8

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

hunter, and will stand by his master splendidly. I know of
one Somali who, to save his English master, hit a lion over the
head with the butt of his rifle ; and quite lately, under similar
circumstances, another Somali caught hold of a lion by the
jaws. Occasionally, however, he relapses into a state of original
sin ; he becomes criminally careless with the camels, breaking
everything in the process of loading, from leather to cast steel ;
and he can be disrespectful, mutinous, and sulky. He is
inordinately vain, and will walk off into the jungle and make
his way home to the coast, leaving two months5 back pay and
rations behind him, if he considers his lordly dignity insulted.
If he sees a chance of gain he is a toady and flatterer. His
worst fault is avarice.

The Somali, although by no means a coward, is much more
afraid of his fellow-man than of wild animals, — a fact which is
possibly due to the general insecurity of life and property.
Above all things he dreads crossing the inland frontiers of his
country, holding his hereditary enemies the Gallas in abhor-
rence. He has a great deal of romance in his composition, and
in his natural nomad state, on the long, lazy days, when there
is no looting to be done, while his women and children are
away minding his flocks, he takes his praying-mat and water-
bottle, and sits a hundred yards from his karia under a flat,
shady gudd tree, lazily droning out melancholy-sounding chants
on the themes of his dusky loves, looted or otherwise ; on the
often miserable screw which he calls faras, the horse ; and on
the supreme pleasure of eating stolen camels.

The summer and winter rains are his great periods of
activity. There is then plenty of grass, and pools of water are
abundant throughout the country ; he bestrides his “ favourite
mare,55 and in company with many dear brothers of his clan,
leaving his flocks and herds in the charge of his women and
young children, rides quietly off a hundred miles into the heart
of the jungle to loot the camels of the next Somali tribe, the
owners of which are perhaps away doing exactly the same thing
elsewhere. There is tremendous excitement, and the camels are
driven across miles of uninhabited wilderness, trailing clouds of
dust behind them ; and so back to the home karia, where he
finds his own herds have perhaps been looted in his absence.
He at once goes off on a fresh horse, smarting under his wrongs
and intent on vengeance ; and if in the spear and shield
skirmish that ensues a man has been killed, he and his com-

I

SOMALI ETHNOLOGY

9

panions ride back covered with sweat and glory, the tired nags
showing gaping spear-wounds and mouths dripping with blood
from the cruel bits. This is life ! In the intervals between
expeditions the Somdlis, when not sleeping, sit in circles on the
outskirts of their karias, talking, drinking camel’s milk, and
eating mutton for days together. Every adult male has his say
in the affairs of the tribe, and is to a certain extent a born
orator.

Som&lis are Mussulmans of the Shafai sect, and use the
Sonkdi salutation “ Nabad” or the Arab “ Salaam aleihum ”
which is answered by “Aleihum salaam ” and touching of
hands. The men are nearly all dressed alike, in long “ tobes ”
of white sheeting of different degrees of dirtiness, from brown
to dazzling white ; not a few of the tobes have been dipped in
red clay and are of a bright burnt-sienna colour, making the
wearers look like Burmese priests. A long dagger ( bildwa ) is
strapped round the waist, while a shield and two spears are
carried in the hands. A grass water-bottle and Ogdden prayer-
carpet are slung over the shoulders of some, and on the feet
are thick sandals, turned up in front, and changed every hour
or so to ease the feet. Many of the men wear a leather charm
containing a verse of the Koran, a lump of yellow amber, or a
long prayer chaplet ( tusba ) of black sweet-smelling wood around
the neck. The camels are often adorned with cowrie necklaces.

The tobe is a simple cotton sheet of two breadths sewn
together, about fifteen feet long, and is worn in a variety of
ways. Generally it is thrown over one or both shoulders, a
turn given round the waist, and allowed to fall to the ankles.
In cold weather the head is muffled up in it after the fashion of
an Algerian “ burnouse.” When sleeping round a camp fire the
body is enveloped in it from head to foot, as in a winding-
sheet ; for a fight the chest and arms are left bare, the part
which was thrown over the shoulders being wound many times
round the waist to protect the stomach. In the jungle the
tobes are worn till they are brown and threadbare ; but at the
coast towns they are generally of dazzling whiteness. Elders,
horsemen, and those who wish to assume a little extra dignity,
discard the common tobe and affect the Ichaili , a gorgeous
tartan arrangement in red, white, and blue, each colour being
in two shades, with a narrow fringe of light yellow. On horse-
back it is a very becoming dress, and it is often affected by a
favourite wife. All khaili tobes are about the same in appear-

10

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

ance, so that practically the white tobe or hhaili , shield, and
spears is a uniform that seldom varies much in the whole
country. There is very little distinction in the dress of different
tribes. The Esa seldom wear the tobe, having only a small
cloth hung round the loins. The Dolbahanta, Og^den, Esa,
and the Ish4k 1 tribes differ from one another in the shape of
their spear - blades ; and the Midg&ns carry bow and quiver
instead of spear and shield. The hildwa or sword is a long
two-edged, sharp-pointed knife with soft wrought -iron blade,
about two feet long and an inch broad at the broadest part ;
the weight is well forward for hacking. The hilt, too small for
a European hand, is made of horn, ornamented with zinc or
pewter, and the scabbard is of white leather, sewn crossways to
a long white thong which goes round the waist. The gdshdn
or shield is a round disc of white leather, of rhinoceros, bullock,
or preferably beisa hide, from fifteen to eighteen inches in
diameter, with a boss in the centre and a handle behind. It
is easily pierced by a pistol bullet. Two kinds of spears are
used throughout the country, each man among the Ishdk tribes,
near Berbera, carrying one of each kind. The small spear,
plain or barbed like a fish-hook, is for throwing at a distance of
from twenty-five to thirty yards, but the aim is not accurate
much over thirty yards, though I have seen it thrown as far as
seventy -five yards on foot in competitions at Bulhar. The
Som&li grasps his spear firmly in the fingers, and gives it one
or two quick jerks against the palm of the hand before casting,
the vibration being supposed to keep the point straight when
in flight. The best spear-shafts come from Eilo, a mountain
in the Gadabursi country near Zeila, and round the butt is
twisted a bit of soft iron to balance the spear -head. The
ponderous laurel -leaf -shaped spear, bound with brass wire, is
used for close quarters, being especially useful against horses.
The men of the Esa tribe generally carry one of these and no
throwing spear. They fight on foot and charge home, stabbing
at close quarters, but most Som&lis prefer light skirmishing.
Some spears are scraped bright, others blackened and polished.
The Somali is often a great dandy in these matters, and keeps
his shield in a white calico cover.

The water-bottle (Jcarura) is a wonderfully neat affair, plaited
by the women from the fibres of a root, or from grass, and
made watertight by applying fat or other substances to the
1 The Habr Awal, Habr Gerhajis, and Habr Toljaala.

I

SOMALI ETHNOLOGY

11

inside, and is corked with a wooden plug. The prayer-carpet
generally comes from Qgfiden, and is a small piece of very
thick tanned leather. On this the Somali makes his regular
prostrations at dawn and sunset, and during the day, as becomes
a devout Mussulman ; when not put to this use, it is hung over
the shoulder to afford protection from the chafing of the spears.
The sandals, which are very heavy, are of several thicknesses of
white leather sewn together, rising in a knob in front. They
make a great noise, so when stalking game the wearer carries
them and goes barefoot. The club or kerrie is a foot and a half
long, made of the hard wogga wood, and is thrown with dexterity.

Somalis generally have good Arab features, with particularly
smooth skins, varying from the colour of an Arab to black.
Among certain tribes those who have killed a man wear an
ostrich-feather in the hair. Originally it was only worn for
enemies killed in a fight, but now this is not necessary. Little
boys carry miniature spears and shields as soon as they can
learn to use them, and many an Esa youth of sixteen can show
an ostrich-feather earned in the orthodox manner.

The hair is worn in various ways according to sex and age.
Old men shave the head, and sometimes grow a slight beard.
Men in the prime of life wear their hair about an inch and a
half long, and periodically smear it with a gray mixture,
apparently composed of ashes and clay, leaving it for a day or
two to dry. It is then dusted out and the hair becomes
beautifully clean and highly curled. My followers have always
gone through this performance a day or two before reaching
Berbera at the conclusion of a trip. Young men and boys
grow their hair in a heavy mop, often of a yellow colour, like
the mane of a lion. Married women wear it in a chignon,
enclosed in a dark blue bag. Young women and girls wear a
mop like the young men, but carefully plaited into pigtails.
Small children have their heads shaven, three cockscombs of
short hair being left, giving the head the appearance of a
crested helmet.

Women are of very little account among the Somdlis, every
boy appearing to lord it over the female members of his family,
of whatever generation. The father of many daughters is rich
in that while they are young they herd his sheep and goats,
and when they marry he receives from the husband of each her
yerad or price, in return for which he has to j3rovide a new hut
and furniture for the pair. When a man marries he pays the

12

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

father of the woman, say, two or three horses and about two
hundred sheep. Often this is given back to the woman by her
father, and sometimes a dowry is given by him. In the Rer
Ali tribe we once passed a drove of about fifty camels being
driven by a pretty young woman, who stopped to proudly tell
us that they were the dowry her father was sending along with
her to her husband. One favourite way of obtaining a wife is
to loot her in a foray, along with a lot of sheep. Often when
I have asked a man where he got his pretty wife, he has
answered, “ Oh, I looted her from the Samanter Abdallah,” or
the Rer Ali, naming a neighbouring tribe. A nod and a laugh
from the wife has corroborated the story, and she does not
appear to be at all unhappy about it. Marriage with aliens is,
I think, looked upon with favour by Somalis, because it brings
new blood into the tribe; and it has the additional advantage
of extending diplomatic relations, a man who has married into
a tribe being tolerably safe when in its territory, even in dis-
turbed times.

Some rich women, who have brought a large dowry to their
husbands, only perform light work in the huts, and make mats.
Others tend sheep and cattle, draw water, hew wood, and work
all day long, with no reward but blows. I go by what Somalis
themselves say, for I have never seen any cruelty. Women
work very hard. From every watering-place old women are
seen struggling to the karias with heavy hans full of water,
often containing three or four gallons. They carry the hans
and bundles of firewood in exactly the same manner as they do
their babies, slung on their backs. The water hans are com-
posed of plaited bark. They are easily broken, and on every
march one or two may become useless, owing either to contact
with thorn branches or to the tired camels sitting on them.
A little water is always lost by leakage. My own experience
of hans has been somewhat unfortunate, chiefly because my
caravans being composed almost entirely of men, their manage-
ment has not been properly understood.

Another industry practised by the women is the plaiting of
camel-mats ; these are made by chewing the striped bark of the
Galol tree, and weaving it into a mat, which it takes a week
to make. They also extract the fibres from the Hig , or pointed
aloe-plants, by beating them between stones, the fibre then being
twisted into ropes. The Somali women lead the camels on the
longest marches, and exhibit wonderful powers of endurance,

I

SOMALI ETHNOLOGY

13

marching sometimes the four hundred miles from the Webbe to
Berbera in about sixteen days. From constantly loading camels
they become nearly as strong in the arms as the men.

The mag , dia,1 or blood money for a man killed is one hun-
dred milch-camels. Among the Habr Yunis and Habr Gerhajis
if one man of the tribe
kills another the blood
money is one hundred she-
camels and four horses,
half this number being
considered enough for a
woman. For the loss of
an eye or permanent dis-
ablement of a limb fifty
camels have to be paid,
and for the loss of both
eyes or disablement of
both limbs the full blood
money, as for murder, is
demanded. If blood is
drawn from the head
about thirty camels are
demanded, and even for
a bruise the demand is
for three or four camels.

Such minor cases, how-
ever, are, as a rule, re-
ferred to the mullahs for
decision. As a matter of
fact, in most cases the
blood money actually paid
is below the nominal amount. If a man captures his wife during
a raid on another tribe, he generally sends a present afterwards
to her parents to secure peace ; should, however, a married
woman be carried off, or one to whose parents cows have
already been paid by another man, the offence is a grave
one, and the tribe of the woman must fight. One of the most
unpardonable offences is the striking of any one with a shoe

A CAMP SERVANT WITH LESSER KOODOO
SKULL AND HORNS.

From a Photograph by Mr. Seton Karr.

1 When a mail commits murder or manslaughter the relatives of the
deceased can claim blood money. The tribe to which the slayer belongs
must either pay this, give up the murderer, or fight. Which of these three
courses will be taken depends on the nature of the act, and whether the man
is considered to be worth fighting for.

14

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

or whip, or the open hand, and theoretically this act can only
be wiped out by blood.

There are always innumerable blood feuds going on in
Somaliland, but as a rule the tribal fights are not very serious,
a dozen men killed in every thousand engaged being a fair
proportion. The men slain in these combats are buried on the
spot, and then begins a long series of negotiations for the
settlement of the amount of blood money, which generally lasts
months, or even years, before any result is arrived at. Often
at a council all the old men on both sides get up in a fury and
leave hurriedly for their kraals with angry shouting, showing
that diplomacy has failed.

This sitting in council discussing tribal politics appears
to be the principal occupation of Somalis, and at Berbera, in
the native town, they may generally be seen sitting in circles
holding protracted discussions. They appeal to our courts to
decide the greatest and most trivial cases, delighting in arbi-
tration ; and tribes from very great distances inland, even from
Og&den or the Marehhn country, come to the Berbera Court
with cases, a great number of which have to do with raids of
some sort, committed either upon grazing flocks and herds or
upon caravans.

Although a good deal of intermittent fighting is prevalent
all over the interior, the Somalis have no quarrel with the
English. They show respect for the English as being their
natural protectors and arbitrators. The chronic fighting which
goes on throughout the country is only looked upon by the
elders as healthy blood-letting, giving the young men some-
thing to do. It is only considered serious when it occurs
on the main caravan routes, thereby damaging trade. In
Cuban quarrels and raids have practically ceased within the
last few years, owing to British influence.

The Somalis love display, and do honour to their own
sultans 1 by the performance of a ceremony called the dihdltig.
When this function is to be gone through a body of horsemen
are collected, and line having been formed, the tribal minstrel
or gerara sings, while sitting in the saddle, long extempore
songs in praise of the sultan and the tribe, the most atrocious
flattery being the leading feature of the song. At every great
hit scored by the minstrel the song rises to a shriek, and all
the horsemen turn and gallop away, returning and reining up
1 The Gerad (Arabic Saltan) is the paramount chief of a tribe.

I

SOMALI ETHNOLOGY

15

in a dense mass, crying “Mot!” (Hail to thee). The men are
generally dressed in the red Ichaili tobes, and the saddlery is
covered with red tassels. Among the Esa tribe the dihdltig is
represented by a dance on foot, with shield and spear. In
this dance the warriors go through the performance of pretend-
ing to kill a man, crowding in a semicircle round him, and
stabbing him again and again, all the while yelling “ Kek-kek-
TceTc ! Kek-kek-kek ! ” as they gasp for breath. I have the
authority of Major Abud, formerly Assistant Resident at Berbera,
for stating that the dibdltig is usually performed only on the
election of a sultan or in honour of an English traveller, whom
the people recognise as a representative of the paramount
authority. It may be performed in honour of Europeans
other than English who visit the country, but only when they
do so under the aegis of the British Government. Among
Somalis themselves it is the open recognition of the authority
of a sultan, and notifies the acceptance of his rule by the sub-
tribes or jilibs performing it. It may therefore be looked upon
as a species of coronation ceremony. The word mot is the
royal salute. The late Assistant Resident at Berbera had a
case brought before him in which a part of the Eidegalla tribe
had thrown off allegiance to Sultan Deria, and wdien his
intervention was successful, one of the terms proposed by the
delinquents themselves was that they would dibdltig before him
as a recognition of their return to his control.

The influence of the Mussulman teaching is apparent in
many of the customs of the country. The SomMis are as a
rule clean and decent in their dress, and such a thing as a
drunken SomMi in Somaliland is practically unknown. I have
seen a man dangerously ill with snake-bite, and believed to be
dying, refusing brandy when offered to him as a medicine,
saying that he would rather die than take it.

In speaking of SomMis I do not, of course, attempt to
describe the Aden hack -carriage driver or boatman. These
products of civilisation are not found in the interior of Somali-
land ; they are, to my mind, the only true Somdli savages. The
Aden SomMi as a boy diving for silver coins in the harbour is
a delightful little fellow, but when he grows up he becomes
odious. As a cabman or boatman he sees too much of the
weaknesses of Europeans, and as a result of the familiarity
loses his respect for them. To cite an instance of the familiarity
which breeds contempt, Aden Somalis have been known to call

16

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

visitors from passing ships “ damned fool passengers ” ! The
real jungle Somali from the African side of the Gulf never
quite gets used to Aden life. After having made his money
there, he returns to his own country to invest his savings in
cows, camels, and sheep, and a wife or two to tend them. He
lives the old pastoral life, and soon shakes off every trace of
his sojourn among the white men. Give him a house in Aden,
and he will build a round gurgi of mats and skins inside it.

In the far interior I have more than once met a horseman,
looking quite like a jungle Som&li, tricked out in all the finery
of a mounted warrior, yet whose salutation has been “ Good
morning, sir,” in excellent English, and I have found that he
has been to Marseilles and London, having done his spell as a
fireman on a steamer ; and has come back at last to his country,
disgusted with civilisation, and worse in many ways than when
he started on his travels. With such a man the jungle Som&li
will often refuse to eat, saying he is no longer a clean Mussul-
man, that he is a Frinji , and must eat alone.

Whatever faults a Somali may have, lack of intelligence, and
what, for want of an English word, may be called savoir-faire ,
are not among them. His bringing-up, in a country where
every man has his spears ready to answer an insult on the
moment, tends to make him keep his temper and maintain a
diplomatic calm. Once that calm is broken through, he becomes
a veritable madman. From laughter to rage is the transition of
a second. Luckily he keeps his infrequent tantrums for black
men. The rich white man is a privileged person, being allowed
the eccentricity which may be excused in the great. If a white
man, in pyjamas and slippers, unfortunately loses his temper,
and kicks a lazy SomMi all round his zerfba for breach of con-
tract, the latter sulks for a time, but soon gives way before the
ridiculous ; yet he will permit no SomMi to insult him.

There is no written Somali language, so only a few mullahs
who are learned in Arabic can read the Koran. The bulk of the
people who cannot read are more prejudiced than the mullahs,
wishing to be on the safe side, and having all sorts of complicated
rules which mullahs know to be unnecessary. For a long time
we could not get our men to eat game which had had the throat
cut low down, although the customary bismiliah had been said
as the knife was drawn. On going to Hargeisa I appealed
to Sheikh Mattar and his mullahs, who explained to them that
they might eat the flesh of game bled in this way, and after

SOMALI ETHNOLOGY

17

the sheikh’s decision we never had any trouble on this point.
It is an important one, for a gash in the skin from ear to ear is
very unsightly in a valuable trophy when set up in England.

The fastidiousness of Somalis varies according to circum-
stances. They say all game is dry, and will not generally eat
birds or fish, and despise all other food if there is a fat sheep to
be procured. Not eating birds, their ignorance about them is
extraordinary, and I believe very few species have distinctive
names.

The life of a Somali includes many interesting observances,
which unfold themselves day by day in the course of a journey.
Some are very regular in their prayers and prostrations at the
orthodox hours, praying for all they are worth, in season or out
of it ; others seldom or never pray. When on the G&lla frontier,
however, I noticed that my followers, in view of approaching
death, became very devout, and mustered in great force in line
for the daily church parade at sunset, no one being absent ; and
all day on the frontier the Somali looks for a prowling enemy
under every bush, fingering his tusba or chaplet to keep away evil.

When the new moon appears he plucks a tussock of grass
and holds it in flattering compliment between the slender
crescent and his eyes, to keep them from being dazzled by the
light. If he sees a tortoise he stands upon it, first casting off
his sandals, believing, I think, that the soles of his feet will
thereby be hardened ; but whatever the motive may be, the act
is commonly practised.

One of the chief faults of the Somali is carelessness. When
a caravan moves off in the early morning there is generally a
forgotten camel or straying sheep to be hunted for, which has
perhaps wandered miles away into the bush. The men who
have not to lead camels linger round the camp-fires warming
their spears, thereby storing up heat for ten minutes longer to
comfort their hands on their cold morning march. There is a
great deal of shouting to the stragglers to bring things left
behind. On our Abyssinian frontier reconnaissance our men
temporarily lost, at different times, our goats, three Arab riding
camels, the horse, a flock of sheep, and one or two baggage
camels, besides two boxes of Martini-Henry ammunition. The
man who loses or forgets a thing generally remembers the
omission after travelling about fifteen miles, and then cheerfully
trots back to get it, returning perhaps at noon next day. He is
philosophical as to results, for if he loses your property, is it

c

18

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

not his fate ? and no man can fight with fate or with the will of
Allah ! He has lost your property, and there is an end of it.

Although I have made many jungle trips in India and else-
where, yet in no country have I had such obedient and cheerful
followers and such pleasant native companions, despite their
faults, as in Somaliland. In my earlier and later trips I have
often been from one to four months in the interior with no
other companion than the Somalis ; and I cannot say there has
been a dull moment.

Major Abud, who for some years lived in, and had the
immediate administration of, Berbera and Bulhfir, and the
greater part of the SornMi coast-protectorate, and who is doubt-
less the best authority on the intricate inter-tribal relations of
the Somalis, has furnished me with a few7 notes on their early
history. He says : “ The real origin of the Somalis is wrapped
in mystery. They themselves say that they are descended from
‘ noble Arabs/ w7ho, having had occasion to fly from their ovm
country, landed on the SomMi coast and intermarried with the
aboriginal inhabitants, many of whose descendants still exist,
though they now mingle with the Somalis. The Somdlis,
although none of them, except a few mullahs, can write, know
their genealogical descent by heart, and, although the custom is
beginning to die out, nearly every youngster is made to learn
the names of his forefathers in their order. Out of at least a
thousand elders examined while I w7as working at the genealogy
of the tribes, none could trace their descent further than twenty
or twenty-two generations ; and if this number is correct the
dawn of the Somali nation would be placed about twelve or
thirteen hundred years ago, nearly coinciding with the rise of
Mahomed, on wdiose account the Arabs w7ere obliged to fly from
Mecca. This coincidence in time is so much in favour of the
Somali claim ; but, on the other hand, it is difficult to believe
that ‘ noble Arabs 7 would knowingly give their children the
barbarous names some of them have. In any case we must
seek away from the true African races for the origin of the
Somali, for he bears no trace of the negroid type. It is supposed
by some, from a resemblance, fancied or real, in the languages,
that the SomMis may be allied to the races of Hindustan. So
far, however, the subject has not been thoroughly worked out,
and for all practical purposes the descent from ‘noble Arabs7
may be assumed as a convenient starting-point.

“ The two great tribal groups of the SomMi nation are named

I

SOMALI ETHNOLOGY

19

Ish&k and Darud from their supposed progenitors, Sheikh Ishak
bin Ahmed and Sheikh Jaberti bin Ismail, whose son D4rud
is said to have been. The Habr Awal, Habr Gerhajis, and
Habr Toljaala tribes, with whom we have most dealings in
Berbera, belong to the Ishak group ; and the Ogaden, Bertiri,
Abbasgul, Geri, Dolbahanta, Warsingali, Midjerten, Usbeyan,
and Marehan belong to the Darud group. The descent of the
Esa and Gadabursi tribes is unknown, but it is more than
probable that they are offshoots of a great tribe called Her Ali.

“ The tribal collective prefixes Rer, Habr, Ba, and Ba Habr
are often met with. A wealthy Soimdi surrounds his huts,
cattle, sheep, and camels by a zeriba of brushwood, and one of
these, with the contents, is called a rer, being the kraal or
temporary village. It will easily be understood, therefore, that
all the descendants of a man called, say, Ibrahim, may be called
the ‘ Rer ’ Ibrahim after him.

“Every SomMi, being a Shafai Mussulman, can have four
wives at a time, and it is each man’s object to have as many
children as possible, to increase his own power and that of his
tribe. Plurality of wives being allowed, the children of one
wife must be distinguished from those of another. This is done
by the prefix Ba. For an example of this, we have the case of
the Rer Dahir Farah sub-tribe of the Habr Toljaala. The
children by an Ibran woman were called the Ba Ibran ; those by
a Habr Awal woman were called the Ba Awal ; and those by a
woman named Gailoh, the Ba Gailoli.

“ There are comparatively few names used among the Somalis,
the changes being rung on different combinations of Mahomed,
Ali, Hassan, Esa, Samanter, Ismail, Gadid, and others, many
of which are names used in every Mussulman country. Owing
to this scarcity of names, and to the vast number of people
consequently named alike, the use of nicknames is very prevalent.
A Somali will, as often as not, when asked his name, tell you
his nickname, and I have known many a man at a loss when
asked his real name. For instance, the descendants of Daud
Gerhajis are called the Eidegalla, meaning 4 he who rolls in the
mud,’ while those of Said Harti are known by his nickname, and
are called the Dolbahanta tribe.

“Somfili children are, as often as not, named after the circum-
stances of their birth, unless they receive ordinary Mussulman
names : for instance, Wa-berri means that the man bearing this
name was born in the morning, from berri , morning. Similarly,

20

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

the bearers of the name Gedi, ‘a march/ were born while the rer
or kraal was shifting to another pasture. Gadid denotes a man
born at noon, and Robleh, from ro6, rain, a man born in wet
weather. Descriptive nicknames are suggested by some personal
peculiarities, as Afhakam, Afweina, ‘big mouth/ Daga-yera,
‘small ears/ Even Europeans do not escape, and such names as
Gadweina, ‘big beard/ Gudani, ‘small stomach/ Madah weina,

‘ big head/ have been bestowed on English officers without any
disrespect being intended ; and the bearers of these nicknames
are known by them, especially when Somfilis are speaking among
themselves.

“The usual divisions among Somalis are the tribe, the sub-
tribe, the clan, and the jilib or family. Thus the chief of the
Eidegalla, Sult&n Deria, would describe himself as Habr Gerhajis
(tribe), Eidegalla (sub-tribe), Rer Mattan (clan), Rer Guled
(family). If further asked he would describe himself as one of
the Ba Ambaro, or sons of Ambaro. In the event of a man
having a large number of sons, he is entitled to call himself a
separate family ; for instance, Shirmaki Adan, a man still living
and still procreating, has already twenty-three sons and twenty-
nine daughters, and these are now called the Rer Shirmaki
Adan. A weak clan is likely to be looted and absorbed by a
stronger, and thus the weaker clans join together for protection.
When whole families so unite the members combine under the
name ‘ Gashhnbur/ or ‘brothers of the shield/ Somalis have
no surnames in the English sense, and when a distinction is to
be made, the name of the man’s father is added to his own.
Thus the son of Shire Shirmaki is Deria Shire, and he again
might have a son called Hussein Deria.”

Without myself having gone so deeply as Major Abud into
historical questions, I have been led, while fully accepting his
deductions, from a long intercourse with the natives at the camp-
fire and on the march, to add my own conclusions on certain
points. From ruins, cairns, and graves which have been pointed
out to me as of Galla origin, I have been led to believe that before
the Arab immigrations Somaliland, even to the northern coast,
was owned by the GMlas. The immigrant Arabs and their
followers with “friendlies” on the spot, becoming strong, began
to seize the coast, driving the Gallas inland towards the parts
of their country which lie round Harar and beyond the Webbe.
On the frontier between the Som41is and GMlas there are
periodical raids still in active progress from one side or the other.

I

SOMALI ETHNOLOGY

21

These raids were occurring at Karanleh on the Webbe when I
went there in 1893, and put me to much inconvenience; and in
1889, when I visited a mission station called Golbdnti on the
Tana River, not far from Lamu on the east coast, I found a
Somdli encroachment taking place.

The GMlas at this place a few years before my visit numbered
between one and two thousand souls ; they are rich in cattle, but
latterly had been annually raided by the Masai from the south
and the Somdlis from the north, till the village of Golb&nti had
dwindled down to about one hundred and fifty inhabitants, and
had only been kept going by the exertions of, and protection
afforded by, the representative of the United Methodist Mission
stationed there. Three years before my visit the former
missionary and his wife, an English lady, had been murdered by
the Masai, and less than two years later the German station of
Ngai, a few miles up-stream, was burnt by a party of over a
thousand Somdlis, who came to within a short distance of
Golbdnti, but were unprepared to attack the stockade and house
built by the missionaries, the upper verandah having been
thoughtfully lined with a few rifles.1 The German missionaries
from Ngai had taken refuge in the Golbdnti house, and saw the
flare of their own mission burning a few miles away. The Gdllas
at Golbdnti said they feared the Somalis even more than the Masai,
as the former being good swimmers, the Tana River was no
obstacle to them.

The southern Somdli tribes, who are very bold, are said to
raid cattle from the Gdllas and take them to the mixed Gdlla
and Arab town of Lamu, on the east coast, to sell again. As
they have horsemen, they are said to be able to cope with the
Masai, whom they sometimes meet when raiding the Gdllas near
the Tana. I saw a few of the southern Somdlis walking about
Lamu. They appear to be rougher, more savage, and finer men
than the northern Somdlis.

The Gdllas of Golbdnti are well-featured men, quiet in manner,
brown in colour, with thin lips, and slightly built. The Somalis
are like them, but rather bigger and better built ; the only differ-
ence that I could observe was that there appeared to be some
Arab blood in the SomMis. The little I saw of the nomad GMlas
at Ime and Karanleh on the Webbe tended to strengthen me in

1 A few years later (Christmas 1894) another Somali raid against the Gallas
of the Tana has resulted in the total defeat of the Somalis at Kulessa by a
handful of white men and natives.

22

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSLNIA chap.

the belief that the Somalis are G&llas with a slight strain of Arab
in their blood. The Somalis themselves deny this, and claim
descent from the higher race. Both G&llas and Som&lis, though
bitter enemies, are much alike, and utterly different from the
mongrel Swahili races to the south.

On the Tana I found a river population called the Wa-pok6mo,
negroes of fine physique, lorded over and held in bondage by the
warlike Gdllas ; and on the Webbe Shabeleh a river race called
the Adone, also negroes, were working in the fields and punting
rafts on the river for their masters, the SomMis.

My theory is that the G&llas seem to be wedged in between
the continually advancing SomMis from the north and the Masai
and other races from the south, the apex of the wedge being
somewhere near the Tana mouth, and the base at the sources of
the Juba. The effect of this pressure is perhaps driving the Tana
GMlas up the river, to the country where they are more numerous
and can hold their own.

Monseigneur Taurin Cahaigne of Harar, who probably knows
as much as any man living about the G4llas, hinted, so far as I can
remember, that the origin of the GMla nation was probably near the
mouth of the Tana, whence they spread northward and westward.

The tribe occupying the coast round Zeila is the Esa, and
those about Bulhar and Berbera are the Habr Awal, and farther
east Habr Toljaala. The nearest inland tribe to Zeila is the
Gadabursi, those on the Berbera side being the Habr Gerhajis
and Dolbahanta. The six above-named are the tribes with which
the British authorities have most directly to deal. Of these the
most capable in war is probably the Esa. The Gadabursi and
Habr Awal fear them, and it is only because the former are
mounted and the latter have no horses that the balance of power
is maintained. The Esa are chaffed by the Ish&k tribes for being
uncouth and barbarous. The men go about dressed in a simple
short cloth round the loins, while eastern Som&lis generally wrap
themselves in a full tobe. The Esa women do not necessarily
cover up the breast, while among the IsMk tribes all but the
oldest and most destitute are well dressed from head to foot. In
no tribe that I have seen do the Somdli women cover the face.
The Gadabursi tribe is rich in ponies of a poor stamp. The Jibril
Abokr sub-tribe of the Habr Awal is, I think, the best mounted
among the tribes named, and the Dolbahanta also have enormous
numbers of good ponies, and are wild and addicted to raiding on
a very large scale.

SOMALI ETHNOLOGY

23

It is certain that Somaliland has at different times been
occupied by highly-organised races, whose habits of life have
been quite different from those of the present nomadic tribes.
Widely distributed over the country are traces of permanent
settlements, many probably of great antiquity. Many of these
ruins are traced to Mussulman occupations by the Arabs from
Yemen, some hundreds of years back, but older remains are
assigned by tradition to a people who were “ before the GMlas.”
There are no writings, and many of the remains are scarcely
recognisable as of human origin. Sometimes blocks of dressed
stone are found lying in a rectangular pattern on the ground,
overgrown and half -buried by grass and jungle; a series of
parallel revetment walls on a hill overlooking a pass is occasionally
to be met with ; and frequently one may observe the scanty
evidences of an ancient tank to catch rain-water. It is possible
to travel for weeks in Somaliland without coming on these
remains ; they are met with by chance, and it seldom occurs to
the natives to think of pointing them out to travellers.

Near the mullah village of Guldu Hamed, at Upper Sheikh,
are the remains of a very large ruined town, and close by there
is a graveyard containing some five thousand graves. I believe
these remains are not very ancient, but are traceable to early
Mussulman settlements from Yemen. West of Hargeisa is an
old fort of considerable size, crowning the detached hill called
Yoghol. In the Gadabursi country there is the ancient ruined
town of Aub6ba, and at the head of the G&wa Pass, on a hill to
the west, about four hundred feet above it, are some massive
ancient ruins, which must once have been a fort, commanding
the pass. They are called Samawe, from the name of a sheikh
whose tomb crowns the ruins. The hill-top is surrounded by
parallel retaining walls built of dressed stone, rising in steps
from the bottom. In some places the walls are six or eight feet
high, and there are remains of extensive ancient buildings filling
the enclosure. Surmounting the whole in the centre is the ruin
of a building of cut stone, which appeared to be the sheikh’s
tomb.

The position of the Samawe ruins would favour a supposi-
tion that some power holding Harar, and having its northern
boundary along the hills which wall in the southern side of the
Harrawa valley, had built the fort to command the Gdwa Pass,
which is one of the great routes from the Gadabursi country to
the Marar Prairie. On the other hand, the fort may have been

24

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chai>.

built by a power holding the coast, to close the pass on the
Harar side.

Within half a mile of the Samawe tomb, on the sloping
ground to the south, we found, a curious stone enclosure, half
buried in jungle. It was in the form of a rectangle measuring
fifty-seven by fifty-eight yards, marked by long rows of dressed
stones, each about nine inches by a foot, lying loosely on the
ground. Some of these were blocks of limestone, and others
apparently basalt.

Near Hug, in the mountainous Jibril Abokr country, my
brother found many signs of old u GMla ” habitations and graves,
and some well-made pathways down the hillsides. His followers
told him that the hills having in the olden time been used as
places of refuge by the Gallas, these roads were made to enable
the cattle to be quickly driven up in case of alarm — the custom
being for a part of the clan to camp on the top of a hill, in order
to hold it, while the rest looked after the flocks and herds grazing
below. He was told that the GMlas on the Abyssinian border,
and the Abyssinians themselves, still do this.

All over the territory of the Ish^k tribes, and in the Dolbahanta
country, we found many old G&lla graves and cairns. At Kirrit
there is a well in which a very ancient cross has been carved in
the face of the rock. Crowning nearly every prominent hill in
the countries named is a cairn or pile of stones, each stone
being, roughly speaking, about the size of a man’s head. They
are made up of many hundreds of such stones, and are generally
about twelve or fifteen feet high and eight yards in diameter.
Each one is circular, having in the centre a depression, suggest-
ing that there may have been a tomb beneath, which has fallen
in. I never cared to dig one up, not wishing to offend the
susceptibilities of the natives. Some of them are of immense
size, and are called Taalla GMla or GMla cairns.

There is a curious legend accounting for the origin of these
cairns, which was told me by one of the Esa Musa tribe, while
I was camped on the Golis Kange, and by others of the Habr
Awal at different times.

The drift of the story was that when the GMlas were in the
country there once lived a great and powerful queen, called
Arroweilo. She was very wicked, and was the origin of all evil
in women at the present day. For some reason she conceived a
ferocious prejudice against all male children, and a mother, to
escape from her tyrannies, fled into a far country with her baby

SOMALI ETHNOLOGY

25

boy. As years went on this son grew, and when he had become
a man he returned into Arroweilo’ s country armed with a sword.
He attacked Arroweilo in a lonely pass, and hacking her to pieces,
tied her remains on a camel, and sent it off with a parting cut.
The camel trotted in mad career all over the country, and where-
ever a piece of Arroweilo fell, the pious native as he passed said
a prayer and threw a stone “ to keep her down.” The chief use
of these cairns now is to form cover for robbers when watching
for caravans ; and my brother and I found they made very re-
cognisable points when seen through the telescope of a theodolite.

At Badwein ( i.e . “ Big Tank ”) in the Dolbahanta country,
one hundred and fifty miles, as the crow flies, from Berbera, we
found a tank forty feet deep and a hundred and twenty yards in
diameter, evidently excavated by human labour. Hear it was a
temple or large house with walls still standing at a height of ten
feet, and the space enclosed was so large that a party of horse-
men could ride into it.

The Dolbahanta told us that before the G&llas a race of men
occupied the country who could read and write. Unfortunately
none of their literary work was visible, as we examined many
remains for inscriptions, but found none. One man, for a small
fee, took us four miles out of our way to read an inscription, but
the result was not promising, for we only found on a tombstone
some scratches, perhaps twenty years old, evidently made by an
idle sheep-boy. All these discoveries of ancient remains go to
prove that the elevated parts of Somaliland (not semi-desert
Guban) were once capable of permanent settlement under a
more secure form of society than at present exists.

The deserted village of Dagahbur in Ogdden is an example
which shows how settlement and cultivation have been success-
fully begun and abandoned because of the insecurity resulting
from inter-tribal feuds. At Dagahbur there were formerly many
square miles of jowdri cultivation, which have been abandoned
within the last few years, and now there is only left an immense
area of stubble and the ruins of the village. Dagahbur used to
be a thriving settlement of one thousand five hundred inhabit-
ants, with trade caravans plying regularly across the Haud to
Hargeisa and Berbera ; and now not a hut is left.

The fact is, that although the natural conditions are suitable
to the settlement of large tracts of country, and though many
of the people are willing enough to engage in cultivation, yet
the tribes and sub-tribes are so incessantly at feud, that the

26

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

CH. I

mullahs, who enjoy a certain immunity from raids, alone dare
settle down and cultivate ; and now that many of the old wells
and tanks have fallen into disuse and ruin, the water-supply
could only be restored by a great expenditure of capital, for
which there would perhaps be no adequate return for some
generations.

CHAPTER II

THE NOMADIC LIFE

Varieties of camels — Somali camel willing and gentle — Method of loading
camels — On the march — Weight of loads — Marching hours — Scourges,
gadflies, ticks, and leeches — Firing camels — Sore back — Camel food —
Grazing customs — Breeding habits of Somali camels — The milk-supply of
she-camels — Description of Somali ponies — Fodder — Ticks — Donkeys —
Their usefulness in Somaliland — Cattle — Cow’s milk — Ghee — Hides
exported to America — Sheep and goats — Powers of subsisting without
water — Camel-meat and mutton the favourite meal of Somalis — The
annual movements of trading caravans governed by seasons — Duration of
seasons — Great heat — Movements of the nomad tribes — Caravan
marauders — Tribal fights — Gangs of highway robbers — Methods of the
raiders — English scheme of protection popular — Trade greatly injured
through insecurity of routes — A peculiarity of the Somali guide —
Mysterious strangers — Remarkable faculties of adaptability in the
Somali — Baneful effect of civilisation.

There appear to be two distinct varieties of camel in Somdli-
land, — the Gel Ad, or white variety, sold mostly on the Berbera
side ; and the Ayyun or dark Dankali one, which is common on
the Zeila side. The Esa themselves admit the superiority of
the Berbera camel, and offer a higher price for it. There are
certain camels fattened for the butcher, which never carry loads.
They can be recognised by their hairiness and the great develop-
ment of the hump, but they are not, I believe, a distinct variety.
Somdlis know their animals individually by name. A fine large
camel may often be christened “ Marodi ” (elephant) ; another,
noted for its pace, is sometimes flatteringly called “ Faras ”
(horse).

The Somdli camels, as contrasted with those of India, are
willing and gentle ; and although whilst being laden they will
generally complain, and make feints at biting, yet I have
seldom knowrn them injure any one. In moving about the

28

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA ch. n

camp at night one has often to pass among them as they kneel
in rows, sometimes stepping over them, or stooping under their
outstretched necks, but I have never had experience of a vicious
camel in Somaliland. Even when undergoing firing operations
they rarely bite, although the head is left free. This ac-
commodating disposition I attribute greatly to the manner in
which they are treated by the natives, who, though rather
cruel to their ponies, never ill-use a camel. Many SomMis
are utterly ignorant of loading, this work being done largely by
the women. When a camel is intractable it is generally through
ignorant handling. The Somalis talk and sing to their animals
when loading and unloading, and wdiistle while they are drinking,
some of the songs used upon such occasions being very ancient.
During loading the camels are made to kneel, and the head-rope
is passed round the knees and made fast there.

When marching with loads they need to be watered every
fifth day, though upon emergency we have often worked them for
ten days without distress. While on the march they are tied
head to tail, as in Northern India. In rocky places, where the
caravan animals are liable to stumbles and sudden stops, the
tail is sometimes torn off.

The usual load is not less than about two hundred and
seventy-five pounds, exclusive of mats, but it varies according to
the nature of the load. Dates are bad to carry, being compact
and heavy in proportion to their size, and the date load is
generally two gosra, or two hundred and fifty pounds. European
baggage comes under the same category. The marching hours
are from about 4 a.m. to 9 a.m., and from 1 to 5 p.m. The
camels are allowed to graze during the mid-day heat, and
for half an hour before sunset. It takes three-quarters of an
hour to load up, from the time of rounding in the grazing
camels to the start -off, and unloading takes about fifteen
minutes. In stating these particulars I am giving our own
average with complicated boxes, tents, loads of trophies, and so
forth, a Som&li caravan probably taking less time. The usual
rate of marching is from two and a quarter to two and three-
quarter miles an hour, not counting short halts to adjust loads.
The fastest rate, for a short distance, wdiich I have tested has
been three and a quarter miles an hour. The loaded SomMi
camel will not trot as a rule, though sometimes the Midgdns
train them to do so, leading them by a string.

Camels are delicate, and I have considered myself lucky

SOMALI SCOUTS HALTING IN A SANDY RIVER-BED TO LOOK FOR WATER.

From a Photograph by Prince Boris Czetwertynski.

CHAP. II

THE NOMADIC LIFE

31

when I have not lost more than five per cent on a three months’
expedition. In Og&den the Balaad , or small gadfly, is a
terrible scourge to them, as, to a lesser extent, is the large
gadfly, or Dug ; they are also infested with ticks, which swell
to the size of a date-stone, and are seen clinging round the eye-
lids. In drinking the camels often take in small leeches, which
fix themselves to the root of the tongue, growing to a great size
and filling the mouth with blood.

Should a camel show stiffness, he is at once fired, either by
raising small blisters with a red-hot ramrod or spear, or by strip-
ing with hoops of red-hot iron. Open sores have glowing stones
strapped over them, followed by an application of moist camel-
dung ; and when off his feed, he is dosed with melted sheep’s tail.
Thorns are excised from the foot with the bilawa or dagger, and
the spike — often two inches long — having been extracted, camel-
clung is applied, and as a general rule the cut soon heals.

A great cause of sickness is a sore back, brought on by the
chafing of a load. The worst place is in front of the hump.
A camel when let out to browse is likely to bite such a sore
until it festers and becomes full of maggots. There is a fly
which is on the look-out for these sores, and instead of laying
eggs deposits live maggots, which crawl about briskly directly
they leave the body of the fly. A red -beaked bird, very
common in Ogaden,1 then attacks the sore, plunging its sharp
beak again and again into the hole, picking out the maggots
and decayed mass, and even the sound flesh, until there is a
cavity into which a man’s clenched fist may be thrust. In this
condition, the beast should always have a strip of calico, steeped
in carbolic solution, tied over the wound when sent out to graze,
to protect it from the birds, a dozen of which can be often seen
clinging flat to its shoulders, giving out at intervals their long-
drawn, discordant shrill note.

The Somali camel does not require grain, but thrives
entirely on whatever it can pick up by the way. Except at
certain seasons in Guban, the coast country, there is always an
abundance of food for them everywhere, in the unlimited ex-
panse of grass and acacia forest, as they feed and thrive on
many grasses that ponies will not touch. When grazing, or
browsing on the leaves of the mimosa jungles, they roam about
in enormous droves, attended by a few men and women. In
Ogaden and the Dolbahanta country I have seen driven past a
1 The rhinoceros bird, called Shimbir Loh, or the “cow-bird,” by Somalis.

32

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

succession of herds, each containing over a thousand camels, as
they were taken to pasture in the mornings or back to the karias
at night. They often have to graze at a distance of six miles or
so from home, for, as the food near the karias is eaten up, they
are driven farther out daily, and after a month or two the mat
huts themselves are packed up and the tribe marches on, per-
haps ten miles, to a fresh pasturage. Horsemen are constantly
scouring the surrounding country to watch the next tribe, or to
bring early news of a pasture having received heavy rain.

Camels can be much more quickly rounded up and driven
to the home karia than cattle or flocks, so they are trusted
farther afield, and the number sometimes seen is astonishing,
the whole horizon being covered with them. When camped at
Gag4b by the Milmil river-bed we daily saw between ten
thousand and thirty thousand driven to water past our tents,
belonging chiefly to the Her Ali tribe. In Og4den even an
outcaste Midg&n will sometimes own three or four hundred, and
the only limit to their numbers is the capability of their owners
to water and protect them. When a tribe becomes rich every
man’s eye is covetously turned to this accumulation of camels,
and it is not long before attempts are made to raid them in a
mass. We were told of instances in the Dolbahanta country
where ten thousand had been looted at one swoop. When
unladen they can be driven at great speed, and as the raiders
are nearly always on horseback, the attack is very sudden.

When grazing, in dry weather, they are watered every six
days or so, but when men are lazy, or animals very numerous,
much longer periods are allowed to elapse. When rain has
fallen, and the grass is green, camels, sheep, and goats are
sometimes not watered for three months. We often found tens
of thousands of camels and sheep grazing at least forty miles
from water. The men and horses attendant on them live almost
entirely on camel’s milk, a little water being carried over these
great distances for the women and children.

Droves of camels are generally led by an old one of immense
size, a large wooden bell (/cor) being hung round his neck to
indicate the position of the drove after dusk. When returning
from a good pasture, they show the exuberance of their spirits
by cantering and kicking their heels in the air. A man running
at best pace can with difficulty overtake one which is bent on
avoiding him, and for a greater distance than two hundred yards
the man is nowhere. They may often be seen scampering about

II

THE NOMADIC LIFE

33

the sands at Berbera, the men following for hours trying to
catch them.

According to the Som&lis, camels have a young one every
second year, generally in the Gu or monsoon. They begin to
foal when three years old; the foal — black, tawny yellow, or
white as a well-washed sheep — soon gets on its legs, and in a
few days can scamper about. They are called Godir , Gel- Ass,
or Gel- Ad, according as they are born black, reddish yellow, or
white, and they retain these shades through life. Yearlings,
older camels, and she -camels with their young are kept in
distinct mobs. The Somalis object to the firing of a gun near,
or otherwise startling the she-camels when about to foal, as they
gallop away in panic, injuring stock. A she -camel, besides
nourishing her foal, will daily give milk for two men who
have no other food ; in the event of more being required, the
young one is killed and the skin removed, and whenever the
mother is milked its skin is rubbed against her nostrils. She
becomes quite tractable, and will follow the man who carries
the skin. If the foal is allowed to live, as soon as it can browse
the teats of the mother are tied with bits of string, and the
milk reserved for human beings.

Somali ponies average about thirteen hands and a half, and
are bred by every tribe except the Esa and Geri. Of the tribes
I have met on different expeditions, those having the most
ponies are the Dolbahanta, the Rer Ali, the Rer Amaden, the
Habr Gerhajis, and the Jibril Abokr sub -tribe of the Habr
Awal. In the Nogal country wTe saw enormous numbers, one
man sometimes owning one hundred and fifty. The Somdli
pony carries a light wreight splendidly ; his feet are harder than
even those of an Arab horse, and, indeed, unless well shod the
latter would make poor work on the rocky ground over which
the Somali animal, which is never shod, will gallop at full speed.
He is handy among bushes, and will go for three days, or even
longer, without water, eats nothing but grass, and requires no
care. I have never seen a Somali pony covered up or groomed ;
he is exposed to all weathers, and is usually infested with ticks.
The Kud-hudaha is a tick about half an inch in diameter, with
a tortoise-shell back, its bite being venomous and drawing blood.
Ponies are bred solely for inter-tribal fighting, the mares being
considered the best.

Sir Richard Burton, in his First Footsteps in East Africa ,
gives an admirable description of the Somali pony and his rider,

D

34

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

not very flattering to either. But he could not have seen the
best stamp of pony among the Gadabursi, and we have noticed
that the tribes farther to the east were not so cruel as the
Gadabursi, a man often dismounting and walking to save his
animal.

The few ponies which are kept in waterless tracts, as a guard
for the grazing camels, receive each a daily allowance of the
milk of two camels mixed with a quart of water, the latter
being brought from great distances. They are never used as
pack animals, being too valuable in the eyes of the Somali to
be degraded by doing donkey’s work. Mules are sometimes
used on the Zeila-Harar road, but are found nowhere else in
Somaliland, to my knowledge.

We tried the best SomMi ponies ridden by their owners
against an ordinary 14.1 “ Gulf Arab” imported from Bombay,
which was ridden by my brother. The Somali invariably
jumped off with a good start, keeping it for about one hundred
and fifty yards, and then dropping hopelessly behind when once
the advantage of the start was lost.

Donkeys are not much used for transport except on the
Zeila-Harar roads, where the country is stony. They are largely
employed in taking salt and rice from Zeila to Harar, a bag of
rice weighing one hundred and seventy pounds, or half a camel
load, being carried by each. Only women ride donkeys, the
Som&li man considering it beneath his dignity to do so.

When surveying in 1886, with a small escort of Bombay
Infantry sepoys, I provided each man with a donkey, either to
tide or to carry his valise and water-bottle on, according to
inclination. There were twelve men so mounted, and the
experiment proved a great success. The donkeys were driven
herded together by two little boys. The escort was composed
partly of these men and partly of Hindustani policemen
mounted on ponies, carrying carbines in saddle-buckets. In my
later journeys, however, finding that the natives of Hindustan,
being used to plenty of water, were at a great disadvantage
when crossing waterless tracts, I formed the escort purely of
well-drilled Som&lis, and this arrangement proved less expensive
and better adapted to the requirements of the country.

Cattle are kept chiefly by the tribes inhabiting hilly country
where water is plentiful, and by the mullahs in their settlements.
Cow’s milk is generally tainted by the smoked vessels in which
it is kept, and to obtain good milk it is necessary to see the

II

THE NOMADIC LIFE

35

cow milked. Ghee, or clarified butter ( suhug ), is prepared from
the cow’s milk which is left after the people have drunk their
fill, and this ghee is sent down for sale to Berbera, where the
coast people, who live chiefly on rice, consume a great quantity.
Somalis need fat or butter, and when not eating mutton or
camel’s flesh, or drinking large quantities of milk, they insist
on a plentiful allowance of ghee to mix with their rice. The
cattle from the interior are largely exported to Aden for the
supply of the garrison, and vast quantities of hides are annually
exported to America. It is possible that the Aden supply has
been affected of late years by the great drain caused by the
Abyssinian foraging expeditions into Ogaden.

Sheep and goats constitute the ordinary Somali meat food.
Camel meat is preferred, but it is considered a luxury, and
cattle are seldom killed. The common sheep are of the black-
headed variety (dumbo), with fat tails, and are seen whitening
the hillsides wherever tribes are encamped. In the rains they
get very fat, their tails becoming flabby masses. At this season
the Bur Dab raider hurries back to his family, to luxuriate on
the delicious meat. Sheep are given as presents to caravans,
and, like fruit in India, “ they represent in the bountiful East
the visiting-cards of the meagre West.” In many places a chief
is not supposed to be officially aware of a stranger’s presence till
he has received his gift of a sheep or two, or a piece of cloth.
Sheep and goats can ordinarily go a week without water, but
when grass is green they require none. We saw thousands of
sheep grazing in the Haud pastures, forty miles away from water,
and were told they would remain there for three months.

Somali sheep have no wool to speak of, and are never sheared.
A few goats are herded with every flock of sheep, and, being by
far the more intelligent animals, take the lead when the flock is
moving. The shepherd walks in front, calling to the goats,
which are followed by the sheep. Sheep are exported in large
numbers to Aden. In 1891 there were sixty-eight thousand
exported chiefly to feed the garrison. Amongst the tribes
quantities of sheep are killed daily, and devoured at the evening
meal in the karias, with singing and dancing. Mutton ranks
second to camel meat as the favourite food of a SomMi.

The annual movements of the trading caravans and the
nomad tribes of Somaliland depend, of course, on the seasons.
Boughly the duration of the seasons is as follows : —
j (1) Jildl — January to April — the driest season ; great heat.

36

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

(2) Gu — May, June — the heavier rains (little felt on the
coast).

(3) Haga — July, August, September — the hot weather. The
karif wind, or south-west monsoon, blows furiously. It is hot
in Guban, with sand-storms, but cold on the Haud and other
parts of the high interior.

(4) Daw — October, November, December — the lighter rains.
Heavy on the coast.

(5) At the end of Jildl is a short season of greatest heat just
before Gu, called Kalil.

Of these seasons the Haga is the most unpleasant on the
coast, the karif, a strong south-west gale, sweeping along with
great fury, blowing the dust and stones in the face of any caravan
so unfortunate as to have to march against it, and making it
impossible to keep a tent up. The wind generally commences
at midnight and blows till 2 p.m. the next day ; the remainder
of the twenty-four hours, from 2 p.m. till midnight, being a time
of great heat, which is even more unpleasant than the wind,
unless tempered by a slight north-east breeze, coming as a re-
action after the fourteen hours5 gale. My usual plan was to
make the longest marches in the mornings, in spite of the wind,
and on halting, to camp under the shade of a tree till the wind
should have stopped sufficiently for us to pitch tents. Then at
night a bivouac was made by piling all the baggage and camel-
mats into a steep wall, all of us sleeping under the lee of it in the
open, by which means one could get a comfortable sleep till
morning ; but I never kept up a tent during the wind-storm.

At this season coast communication by dhow is very un-
certain ; dhows cannot beat against the karif, but while sailing
before it they make about eleven knots an hour. Dhows for
Aden cannot leave the Berbera harbour during the Haga season
until evening, when the lull occurs, and then they sail out to
near the lighthouse, three miles west of the town, waiting till
midnight to cross towards Aden ; on getting thirty-five miles
out to sea they are usually clear of the karif. This wind seems
to cease above the level of Guban, and above Golis the heat of
July is mitigated by cool south-west breezes which are not very
violent. As one descends again to the Webbe Shabeleh valley
in the far interior, one comes into the karif again ; it is much
worse at Bulli&r, Berbera, and Karam than it is on the Zeila side.

In the Kalil season, the intense heat just before the rains,
I have registered 118° Fahrenheit under the shade of a double

II

THE NOMADIC LIFE

37

“ Cabul ” tent at mid-day, in my camp at Malgni in the maritime
mountains. As we marched to the camp where this heat was
registered, several of the men were bleeding from the nose, and
on my asking them the reason, they said cheerfully, “ Oh,
Allah makes our noses bleed to cool our heads.” The Somalis
do not wear anything on their heads, and the close-shaven skulls
of the older men are entirely exposed to the hot sun.

Caravans coming down from a distance of ten or twelve days’
march — that is, from Milmil or from this side of Gerlogubi—
generally make two trips to the coast each year. For the first
trip they come down from the interior late in the Haga , or about
September, leaving Berbera again for the interior in the Bair ,
about December. They then come on a second trip in Jilcil ,
bringing down animals, hides, ivory, feathers, gum, and ghee ;
and return in Kalil , taking up chiefly rice and cloth.

From distant parts of Ogdden, or the Webbe, caravans make
one trip a year, coming down at the end of Haga and returning
in Kalil or the beginning of Gu. Many smaller caravans, coming
from the nearer parts of the Haud and Ogo, and engaged in
petty barter, make more than two journeys to and from Berbera.
Those coming from Faf in Og4den make the journey in, say,
fifteen days’ fast marching without halts. The gedi, or march,
is usually from four to five hours, ten to twelve miles being
covered. The start is made at 4 a.m., marching goes on till 9
a.m., the midday halt giving the camels time to feed till 1 p.m.,
when another march is made till about 5 p.m.

Eastern tribes make longer marches than the Gadabursi
and Esa. The longest are made over waterless or uninhabited
country, while in the inhabited tracts the caravan dawdles at
every encampment. Our men used to advise us to make one
long march instead of two short ones, but we found it did not
benefit the camels, the only saving being in trouble to the men,
as the camp had to be formed once instead of twice.

In the hot weather on the Berbera maritime plain, the best
time to march is at night, especially if there is a moon ; the
caravans swing along at a great pace in the cool of the night,
especially if the paths are good and there is not too much
jungle. Caravans leaving Berbera in the evening march
throughout the night, reaching Laferug, thirty miles distant,
before halting.

At Berbera the camels are handed over, by arriving caravans,
to the Esa Musa sub-tribe of the Habr Awal, or other nomadic

38

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

people similarly situated, who tend them till such time as required
for the return journey to the interior.

In Hctga the Esa Musa and similar tribes are to be found at
or near the base of Golis Range, and in Bair they climb up this
step into the Ogo country, which is vacated by the Habr Gerhajis
tribe, who in their turn have retired far into the Haud, where
the pastures are good at this season. In Jildl , the dry season,
the Haud, having neither green grass nor surface pools, is unin-
habitable, and the Habr Gerhajis being obliged to come north
into their Ogo pastures and about Golis Range, the Esa Musa
are apparently pushed down into Guban and the maritime plain,
which is their own country. In the Gu , or heavy rains, the best
season for grass, the Esa Musa have only their own sheep and
cattle to look after. They are then found in Ogo, the Habr
Gerhajis being far out in the Haud, taking advantage of the
green pasture.

All the nomads belonging to the coast tribes go into the
Haud when there are green pasture and surface water, each tribe
moving generally north and south, and keeping to its own strip
of the plateau. Their best pastures are in the Haud, but they
all have to leave in Jildl, and are then sure to be found north
of the Haud edge. Sometimes the Habr Awal cross the Haud
nearly to its southern edge, and at others the Og&den come
northwards till about half-wTay across. In this way what may
be called the “ orbits ” of tribes overlap. In the Gu , or rains,
when the Habr Gerhajis are far away in the Haud, and com-
petition at the coast is at its lowest ebb, the Esa Musa export
their cattle and sheep to Aden. They have agents at Berbera,
and as opportunities offer, batches of, say, ten oxen or two
hundred sheep are brought down for export, marching by easy
stages. Coming from Bur’o, eighty miles from the coast, cattle
or sheep reach Berbera in four to six days, while caravans
generally cover the distance in three days.

Overlooking the Berbera-Bulhar coast track, at a spot about
twenty-four miles west of Berbera, is a low spur of bare sand-
stone hills, called Dabada Jidleh, ending at a single jia thorn-
tree ; it is a spot which has till a few years ago been used by
Esa Musa marauders as a watching-place when on the look-out
for Ayyal Ahmed or Ayyal Yunis caravans passing along the
track. There are similar spots all over the country, known as
watching-places, sometimes a sandy hillock, sometimes a “ boss ”
of rock (dag ah, the South African kopje) ; and many have de-

II

THE NOMADIC LIFE

39

scriptive names, such as “ Dagaha Todoballa ” (rock of the seven
robbers), showing the use to which they have been put.

Annually, when wandering in search of rain, tribes which are
at feud are liable to meet where their orbits overlap, and so
there is often a fight, and a few graves on the scene of action
are left to mark the event. The country is further rendered un-
safe by raiding and plundering parties which surprise caravans,
and gangs of high way robbers, who do not disdain to attack small
parties, or single men and women in charge of a camel or two.

In the Gu, when the coast tribes are in Ogo and Haud, and
there are pools of surface water everywhere and green grass for
the ponies, and the tribes, moreover, have all their numbers
present, a great deal of petty warfare and raiding goes on. Large
mounted bands of young men go out from the tribes and travel
great distances in search of caravans or of grazing flocks. When
out on raid the cavalier ties a grass water-bottle to his saddle-
bow, together with a quantity of sun-dried meat, and thus pro-
vided he will often cross seventy miles of thorn forest to surprise
his neighbour’s flocks and herds. The attack, made at dawn or
in the afternoon, is arranged to take place suddenly, and it is
timed when the male owners are scattered far and wide, sleeping
in zerfbas or under the shade of trees, wrapped up in their tobes,
and the flocks are only attended by boys and girls. The looted
animals are hastily driven off, urged by gentle spear-pricks, and
the raiders return to their tribe to the musical strains of lowing
cattle, bleating sheep, and screaming camels. If the enterprising
horsemen are pursued in force the captured flocks are relin-
quished, but the camels, travelling faster, are clung to as long
as possible, at the risk of a human life or two. A looted horse
is a great prize, and the happy gainer will boast long and loudly
of his deed.

In my several expeditions we were constantly crossing the
tracks of these looting parties, which muster from thirty to
four hundred mounted men. We actually fell in with a
Dolbahanta troop returning from an unsuccessful raid on the
Habr Toljaala herds, having covered a journey of one hundred
and forty miles.

Sometimes when resting at night the men sleep in line on
the ground, the bridle of each pony being passed round the
man’s wrist and the pony standing over him. In fighting order
the troops are in single or double line, extended at an interval
equal to the breadth of one pony.

40

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSS1NLA chap.

The tribes near the northern coast most addicted to raiding
appear to be the Jibril Abokr sub-tribe of the Habr Awal, the
Mahamud Gerad Dolbahanta, and the Eidegalla, Habr Gerhajis.
Late caravans, going into the interior in the beginning of Gu by
the Mandeira route, are liable to be raided by the Jibril Abokr,
parties of whom come from Arabslyo, by Argdn, to the low Assa
Kange, an extensive tract of broken country, and there wait for
several days together on the chance of catching caravans on
their way through the Murgo and Jer4to Passes. The time is
chosen when the Esa Musa and Habr Gerhajis are absent in Ogo
and Haud searching for pasture, and have left unoccupied the
stretch of country below the passes. The marauders, hiding in
broken ground and deep ravines, will subsist for a long time on
stolen camels, picked up here and there, until a sufficiently large
caravan yields a rich harvest of camels and property, with which
the robbers decamp to their own country.

Caravans travelling from Berbera to Hargeisa, Milmil, and the
south-west, fearful of danger, will go directly south by Sheikh,
and thence round by Toyo Plain, to Hargeisa. The Sheikh Pass
is also used by caravans fearing to go into the interior by the
Gaha and other eastern passes, which are annually threatened by
the Mahamud GerJd ; but both the Sheikh and Jer&to Passes
have been greatly improved, both in point of safety and prac-
ticability, by the British within the last few years.

When water and grass are to be had for the horses, the
Mahamud GerM, Dolbahanta, and the coast section of the Habr
Gerhajis organise strong mounted bands, which sweep through
the Duss and Gaha Passes, and raid sometimes as far as
Biyogora and the Berbera maritime plain, carrying off everything
they can steal, and retiring at once. They often make raids in
the Waredad Plain above the Huguf Pass in the Habr Toljaala
country, and fewT are the caravans which have the hardihood to
come through this country by the Halielo route. In fact, the
Mahamud Ger&d raids from the east, across the caravan routes
to the Ogaclen and Mareh&n countries, do, or did, immense harm
to the Berbera trade.

In the Dolbahanta country we found many natives with hides
piled in their karias ready to be taken to Berbera, but fearing to
risk them on the road. One caravan took advantage of the
protection afforded by our escort to pass through the disturbed
Bur Dab district. That caravans have persisted in crossing the
country at all in face of the dangers to which they have always

II

THE NOMADIC LIFE

41

been exposed, speaks well for the value of Berbera as a port, and
for the trading enterprise of the Somalis. The British system of
furnishing armed “ biladiers ” 1 for the protection and at the
expense of caravans has given great encouragement to trade.

Men of two caravans meeting in the jungle will halt to ex-
change the news, and with one’s own caravan it is difficult to
make a guide pass his own karia. I have often been led five or
six miles out of my way because the guide’s karia lay in that
direction. His ambition is to bring the caravan to his home, to
show off his own importance to his relations, and be able to play
the host with a liberal distribution of his master’s presents. On
the march our men have constantly shared their allowance of
food wfith strangers going our way, and we have sometimes been
astonished, when loading up at dawn, to see half a dozen natives
warming their spears over the dying embers of our watch-fires,
who have turned up in the night from no one knows where. In
many cases these are women, and being industrious, they save
the men a good deal of work.

Somehow or other there is nearly always a woman or two in
camp, generally young, pretty, and respectable, with the hair
enclosed in the regulation dark blue bag, denoting that she is
married. When I ask where she has sprung from, I always hear,
“ Oh, one of Mahomed’s cousins,” or “ J&ma’s sister.” Generally
“ Jdma’s sister” was going to a karia on ahead, to see about a
stolen sheep. These relatives are always quiet, cheerful, and
thrifty, eating little and doing the work of two men, besides
inducing half a dozen youngsters to work harder at camel-loading
to show off their muscles. They appear whenever we come to a
karia, and disappear mysteriously at another. Often my men
have told me that the new-comers were people who had been
waiting to make a journey, and had joined us for the sake of
protection, working for us in return.

Sometimes I have been standing over a fire in the cold wind
an hour before dawn, waiting for the cook to bring me my cup
of coffee, when a youth, wdiom I have never seen before, has put
down his shield and spears on the grass, and going to my
bedding, has brought my ulster, saying, “ Oh, Sir cal ! here is
your coat,” in the most natural way, as if I had paid him for a
month.

It is wonderful how quickly these strangers worm themselves
into one’s service. An unlicked cub of a karia dandy comes up
1 Biladiers, i.e. country police (derived from the Arabic).

42

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA ch. n

with shield and spear and joins your caravan. In a few days
he has shown some special qualification, for tracking or camel-
loading, for helping the cook, or carrying the theodolite. An
accident deprives you of one of your men, and he receives the
sick man’s rifle and cartridge-belt, and is numbered among your
escort. In a fortnight he has come to the front as one of your
best men, and on the next expedition he may be head camelman,
and perhaps on a third or fourth interpreter and caravan leader.
When he first joined you a year before he knew no language but
Som&li and a little Arabic, but while in your service he has
picked up a fair amount of Hindustani. A few years later you
meet him again as a merchant, who has in the interim
accompanied half a dozen European sportsmen on shooting trips,
and has now invested his savings in merchandise, trading with
tribes which be would never have dared to visit except in the
service of his white masters. Many a time have I wished that I
could transform the complacent, shaven-headed, sleek-looking
scoundrel back into the original unsophisticated cub with the
mop of hair who came into my camp two or three years before !

CHAPTER III

BIG GAME SHOOTING, 1887

Start from Berbera — The first koodoo — First herd of elephants seen ; elephant
bagged with a single shot — Fresh start with another caravan — Waller’s
gazelle bagged — Mandeira ; delightful headquarters — The Issutugan
river — Herd of elephants found — Elephant hunt at Jalelo, and death
of a large bull — Our night camp — Camp at Sobat — Elephants heard
trumpeting at night — Interesting scene ; a herd of sixty elephants — Two
elephants bagged — Camp at Hembeweina ; lions round camp — A herd
of elephants in the Jalelo reeds — Long and unsuccessful hunt — Tusks
stolen by a caravan — Lions roaring round the Hembeweina camp at
night — Visit of Shire Shirmaki and thirty horsemen — Interesting scene —
Ai row in camp — News of a solitary bull at Eil- Dalian — Exciting hunt ;
horsemen manoeuvring a vicious elephant, and death of the bull — Return
to Berbera.

In January 1887, after having previously made six exploring
expeditions to the interior of Somdliland, I started upon my
first sporting trip after big game, my caravan consisting of
eight Somdlis with four camels. Marching thirty-five miles
inland from Berbera, we pitched our first shooting camp at
Hulkabbba, and the following day ascended the Golis Range by
that Pass, halting in Mirso, a ledge two miles wide, situated
two thousand feet above our last camp, and about half-way up
the mountain, where there is excellent pasturage. We here

44

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

formed our bivouac beside a spring of clear water, and in the
sandy torrent -beds which formed its approaches found many
lion and koodoo tracks. Before leaving the coast I had sent
two Som&lis on horseback to the cedar forests which clothe the
flat top of Golis to search for fresh elephant-tracks. On this
evening they arrived to report having found no recent sign, so I
decided to go to Sheikh, twelve miles to the east, and thence to
try Wagar Mountain.

At about 3 p.m. we loaded up and started on our march.
The path led over rocky country along the side of G61is, through
thick belts of jungle and across sandy torrent-beds, which in
many places showed the fresh tracks of lions and antelopes, but
not of elephants. It was very hot and the sharp stones were
fearfully trying to the camels, nevertheless we had to push on
in order to reach water while daylight lasted ; we failed, and
night overtaking us, were compelled to camp on the hillside
without it.

Next morning our march took us through a maze of ravines,
about the worst ground I have ever traversed with baggage
animals ; then descending abruptly to Lower Sheikh, we found
a plot of green turf bordering a stream and surrounded on all
sides by steep mountains. The Sheikh Pass takes its name
from the tomb of a sheikh built in the form of a sugar-loaf
plastered with a white substance, which forms a conspicuous
landmark at the top of the pass. While forming camp at
Lower Sheikh we were passed by a large caravan, which was
fording the stream on its way with hides, gum, feathers, and
other commodities, from the Og^den country to Berbera, and
soon afterwards my trackers arrived with the welcome news
that they had struck the path of a herd of elephants — a bull
and four cows — two marches to the south of the sheikh’s grave.
They had followed and marked down the elephants to a jungle
where they were likely to stay, at the back of Wagar, and they
further reported the bull to be a fine tusker. I engaged three
horsemen from among the Habr Gerhajis, whose pastures were
at Lower Sheikh, to take up the tracks, and on sighting the
herd to send one of their number back to guide us to the spot ;
meanwhile I waited at Lower Sheikh, looking about for koodoo.
Soon afterwards my people led in a shepherd boy, who had seen
a bull and cow koodoo retire up one of the steep gorges of the
Sheikh valley to take their noon rest under a large tree. A hot
walk along the banks of the Sheikh river, at this time a mere

Ill

BIG GAME SHOOTING , 1887

45

brook, brought us to the karia where the boy had first seen the
koodoo. On the left bank of the river a gorge ran up into the
mountains, and opposite to its mouth stood the karia, a circle of
half a dozen poor-looking huts.

I waited here while my Midgan hunter and the boy went to
the foot of the hills ; soon they reported that the position of
the game was unchanged. The koodoo were still under the
large tree at the head of the gorge some four or five hundred
feet above us. The only way to get at them was to go up
another gorge parallel to the one which contained the tree, and
to leeward of it. On nearing the tree, after a tedious climb, I
happened to crack a stick, and immediately there followed a
crash and stampede below us. All noise soon ceased, but I
caught sight of something moving down the gorge in front.
Stooping cautiously, I looked through a thorn-bush, placing
the muzzle of my Express within the network of twigs ; after
a second or two I could make out one large brown spiral horn
and a bit of striped skin lying somewhere over the shoulder, so
taking a quick aim a little below this, I touched the trigger and
a beautiful bull koodoo rolled twenty feet down into the torrent-
bed in the centre of the gorge, and was stopped by a large mass
of rock. The cow galloped madly away, loosening a shower of
stones with her hoofs, and soon there came from below the
sound of two shots from a Snider as she raced past my camel-
man, Nur Osman, posted at the mouth of the gorge; but
crossing the Sheikh stream, she took to the hills on the opposite
side of the valley and escaped. Leaving orders at the karia
for a camel to follow us with the koodoo meat, we started
home.

The return walk in the evening down the valley was as
wild and picturesque as one could wish. Nur Osman and the
Midgan led the way, carrying the head and skin of my first
koodoo, at which I could not help looking admiringly from time
to time, for it was a great prize. Our path led close to the
stream, over dark slippery rocks, with here and there a plot of
rich turf running down to the water’s edge. At our backs the
sun was setting behind the crest of Golis, and in front rose
gigantic precipices, the hills having been quarried out by the
river into a deep canon. As it grew dusk my reflections were
disturbed by a wart-hog boar, which had come down to drink in
the cool stream after a hot day, but I had no reason for firing
at him, his tusks being poor.

46

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA ch. iii

The next day one of the three horsemen came back to tell
me that he had marked down the herd of elephants, and that it
was being watched by his companions. He carried in his hand
pieces of half-chewed aloes 1 with the saliva still damp upon
them, which the elephants had torn up a few hours ago. Leav-
ing most of the baggage behind in the camp at Lower Sheikh,
and posting Nur Osman and another of the men in charge,
I mounted the Sheikh Pass the next morning at sunrise,
accompanied by two camels and five men. At the top of the
pass I shot a spotted hyaena, to the delight of the mullahs
living at the village of Guldu Hamed close by, as it had stolen
several of their sheep.

Half an hour before sunset two horsemen came racing over
the plain from the Wagar direction, and poising their spears
circled round us at full speed. They pulled up shouting “ Mot! ”
(Hail !) and reported the latest tidings about the herd. I
learned the melancholy news that it had got away in the night.
My men, however, tried to comfort me by saying, “ lush ’ Allah
bukera ” (Please God, to-morrow). We camped at an empty
zeriba in a strip of bush near Soksodi, where there was firewood
and water, intending to search for the elephants next day. We
lit a roaring fire and threw ourselves down on the sand to sleep.
At dawn, while my men were preparing coffee, I took a stroll
round camp, and saw by several broad footprints in the sand
that a large lion had been prowling round our bivouac all night.
Later on my men pointed out old tracks of elephants, broken
branches, and aloe clumps, indicating the course of a herd which
must have passed two or three days before. I sent all the men
into the covert to look for fresh tracks, but at noon they
returned unsuccessful.

At two in the afternoon some shepherds came to water a
flock of sheep on their way to the Berbera market, and said
that they had passed a herd of elephants only an hour ago in a
valley to the south. On my asking for a guide they refused,
hoping to get me to pay heavily for their information, so I
shouldered my double four-bore rifle and started with the two
Midg^n trackers on the back trail of the sheep, hoping to find
the elephants without a guide. The path led past two small
sandstone hills, and we then entered a sloping valley, down the
centre of which ran a sand-river bordered by dense jungle.
Heavy masses of armo creeper draped the branches of the trees,
1 The “Hig” is not really an aloe, the true name being Sanseveira.

ELEPHANTS AT A POOL.

CHAP. Ill

BIG GAME SHOOTING , 1887

49

and as we advanced, fragments of creeper, evidently torn down
by the elephants, lay across our path.

We soon came to the fresh tracks of a herd which must have
passed early in the day, and the Midg&ns began to follow the
footprints with great interest. The signs became every moment
more distinct ; at one spot the elephants had taken a long halt,
rolling in the sand ; and after half an hour’s tracking we found
evidences that we were quite close to them. Sitting down with
one of the Midg^ns, I sent the other up a small hill to look
around ; he soon returned, whispering “ Marodi , Marodi ! ”
(Elephants). Having joined us, he shaded his eyes to have
another look, and then stretching out his hand, he pointed to
two reddish brown spots among the lower branches of a clump
of high trees on the farther side of a glade. As we looked six
large elephants and four calves walked solemnly by twos or in
single file out into the open. Even in this moment of excite-
ment— for I had never seen a wild elephant before — I noticed
the huge ears of the African species, the high forequarters and
quick, active pace, and a beautiful sight it was ! Swinging
their heads from side to side, they crossed the glade and
entered a clump of trees. Here they stopped and began feeding
about, the swaying and snapping of the branches, and the
peculiar low rumbling which they give out when feeding,
indicating where they stood, though we could not see them.

The Midg^ns, who were new to the work of attacking
elephants on foot, did not quite like the prospect of going with
me into the middle of the herd, so taking the four-bore, and
telling them to watch from a low hill, I began creeping into the
jungle alone. In thick forests the chief difficulty of elephant-
hunting consists in picking out the one with the best tusks, and
then getting close up to it without being winded or seen by the
others.

I threw up some sand to try the direction of the wind, and
then advanced very silently for a hundred yards into the thickest
jungle. I heard the rustle of some creepers in front of me, and
then peeping through the underwood I saw three elephants
fanning themselves with their ears under a very large camel-
thorn-tree, whose branches rose to a flat fan shape high above
their heads. It was from this thorn-tree that one of them had
just been pulling down the creepers. From my left came the
rumbling sound made by a fourth elephant, but I could see
nothing there. I had on entering the jungle unconsciously

E

50

THROUGH SOMA LILA ND AND ABYSS INS A chap.

walked into the very centre of the herd, and there was now
no time to be lost in making my choice, because one of them
might at any moment get down wind of me and sound the alarm.

The elephants I had seen were standing about forty yards
away, one being a little apart from the other two, close to a
tree, and I could see that a pair of tusks protruded from its
lips. I advanced to within fifteen yards of the foremost one,
which looked quietly at me for some moments, its trunk feeling
the wind, as if wondering whether I might or might not be the
stump of a tree. Raising my rifle I fired at the centre of the
temple, half-way between the eye and the ear. The smoke
obscured my view, but the next instant I could hear the jungle
stirring all round me as the elephants made off. Then every
living thing seemed to have left the place. As the smoke
cleared away it disclosed, fifteen yards off, the body of the
elephant sitting motionless with its knees tucked under its chest,
a single hole in the temple showing where the bullet had entered.
This turned out to be the largest cow in the herd, and I after-
wards found, by a thorough examination of the tracks in the
neighbourhood, that there was not a single bull.

Satisfied with my success so far as it went, I did not follow
the herd, and in answer to my whistle the Midgdns came up,
astonished to see that a single bullet had done the business.
The camels were brought up, and we formed our bivouac by
the dead elephant, and at dusk the tusks lay beside the camp-
fire. Next day we marched to Sheikh, and found the camp safe,
and in the evening began our march back to Berbera.

Two months later I set out again, beginning by a dhow
voyage of one hundred and fifty miles across the Gulf of Aden.
I hired four camels and two cam el men at five rupees a day,
or about £10 for a whole month.1 I also engaged a caravan
leader, three servants, two Somdli trackers, and a Midgdn, not
a large party with which to go into an unknown country. To
guard against the possible attack by robbers at a time when the
English even at the coast were very little known, I lent my
three servants a Snider carbine each. The remainder of the
men had their spears and shields, and the Midgdn, Adan, carried
his bow and arrows. My “butler,” Niir Osman, had been a

1 This was a mistake, as I could then have bought the camels for £8 the lot
and sold them for £6 at the end of the trip, and on all later trips of any
duration I have bought instead of hiring. The constant and steady rise in
the price of camels may, however, in time give hiring the advantage.

Ill

BIG GAME SHOOTING , 1887

51

camelman in the Nile expedition for the relief of Gordon, and
had become a very fair shot.

By the light of a full moon we started across the Berbera
Maritime Plain, going south-west ; and at 1 a.m. reached a
small tree called “Nasfya” (the resting-place), sixteen miles
from the coast. Early in the night we passed several karias of
trading caravans halted round Berbera for the trading season,
each circle of mat huts pouring out a crowd of Midgan dogs to
give us a surly salute. At the last karia I fired at and missed
a spotted hysena. At Nasiya we threw ourselves down on the
sand, and unloading the camels took a short sleep to refresh
ourselves for the work yet before us, and at 4 a.m. pushed on
again towards the first water, Deregodleh, twenty-two miles
from Berbera. As we advanced the bare-looking Maritime
Plain began to break up into stony watercourses and thorny
bush. We passed, to our right, a detached flat-topped hill of
trap formation called Syene, part of the first low Maritime
Range.

Near Syene I saw two buck Soemmerring’s gazelles, looking
large and white by the light of the rising sun at my back. The
wind was blowing from the front, and I made a careful stalk,
but on raising my head from the last watercourse the aoul had
removed three hundred yards distant, and were stopping to
gaze. They had seen my camels coming along. Then with
whisking tails they trotted away, and I never saw them again.
Soemmerring’s gazelle carries a pair of graceful lyre -shaped
black horns, about fourteen inches in length and well ringed.
When still scarcely clear of Syene, catching a glimpse of dark
red in a watercourse two hundred yards to my left, I walked
towards it, put up a Waller’s gazelle, and bagged him with my
Martini-Henry rifle.

At 10 a.m. we reached Deregodleh, a watercourse which has
cut deep into the limestone rock of the interior plain and hollowed
it out into caves, in which sheep, when waiting at the wells, take
shelter from the sun. There is some very low cover on each
bank, in which hares and the little SaJcdro antelopes are to be
found.

We left Deregddleh and marched to Mandeira, a delightful
headquarters. It is a valley about three miles wide, under G4n
Libah mountain, a bluff of the great Gdlis Range. The mount-
ains overlooking this valley rise to about six thousand feet
above sea-level. The high country beyond them is called Ogo,

52

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

the interior and Maritime Plains below them are called Guban.
The Ogo climate is much cooler than that of Guban, and the
grass and jungle more luxuriant. At Mandeira, all along the
foot of G61is, is more or less dense forest of the large gudd
thorn-tree, with a thick undergrowth of aloes and thorny bushes.
Here are found leopards, lesser koodoo, Waller’s gazelle, and
wart-hog. The pugs of an occasional lion may still, I think, be
seen, and in the gorges of the mountain is to be found the large
koodoo,1 with his splendid spiral horns, and the Alakud or
klipspringer. In the stony interior plains between Golis and
the Maritime Range are found beisa, wild ass, the ubiquitous
Waller’s gazelle, the lowland gazelle, and a few shy ostriches.
Spotted hyaenas are common, striped hyaenas rare.

We camped near the water at Mandeira at mid-day, and
found the valley occupied by a section of the Habr Gerhajis
tribe, who were friendly. While here I shot a buck lesser koodoo
and missed a splendid bull koodoo, which crossed a ledge of
rock two hundred feet above us. The buck lesser koodoo is, I
think, the most beautiful wild animal in Somaliland ; his coat
is fairly long, of a blue gray colour in old males, and nicely
marked with white bands across the body. The horns are
spiral, and about twenty-five inches long, and he has a bushy
tail tipped with white. When disturbed he goes away in great
bounds, flying the bushes and clumps of aloes, and presenting a
most difficult shot.

Hearing that there were elephants near Little Harar
(Hargeisa), we went on to Guldnleh, about twenty miles short
of that place and ninety south-west of Berbera. At Guldnleh
the country became open and undulating, the G61is Range
having ceased, and Guban rising gradually to the level of Ogo.
Hargeisa is situated in the district between Ogo and Guban,
which is called Ogo-Guban. The country immediately north
of Hargeisa is called the Darnel Plain, a vast plateau of rolling
ground covered with gravel or red earth, and low thorny scrub,
and traversed by tributaries of the Issutugan river-bed. The
Issutugan is a sand-river at places from one to five hundred
yards wide, which, rising near Hargeisa, cuts through the
Maritime Range and sends its freshets over the Maritime Plain
to reach the sea near Bulhdr or Geri. The tributaries are
generally dry and sandy, with patches of dense reeds, and are

1 Nearly all the ground for large koodoo is now included in the preserve
for the Aden garrison.

Ill

BIG GAME SHOOTING , 1887

53

bordered by belts of high tree -jungle about a mile wide.
These reeds, generally ten feet high, were at that time infested
by lions, which did not appear in the daytime, but left plenty
of tracks in the sand, showing where they had prowled up and
down the river-beds at night. In May, June, and December
elephants used to come down these rivers to feed on the creepers
and aloes of the forest belts along their banks, often leaving the
shelter of the trees to stand in the patches of reeds.

I had determined to make GuHnleh my headquarters for

elephant-hunting, and to send my two Somali trackers, who
were mounted, together with a Habr Gerhajis horseman who
had joined us at Mandeira, into all the large elephant jungles
within twenty miles. Meanwhile I remained at Gulanleh,
going out shooting every day. Here I was lucky enough to
bag tw’o fine bull beisa and two cow^, all four having long,
straight horns. A few buck Waller’s and plateau gazelles
followed, and on the second day of my stay we put up nine
ostriches, there being two cocks and seven hens. I fired at
them with the Martini -Henry at three hundred yards as they
sailed away, but only knocked up the dust around them. Three

54

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

times we fell in with ostriches, but always found their vision
too good for us. They look like gigantic fowls as they go
streaming away over the plains. At Gulanleh wTe also saw a
herd of wild asses, which halted fifty yards away to gaze. We,
however, held our fire, not considering them fair game. They
were splendid animals, very well marked with stripes on the

legs-

On 13th May my patience wras rewarded by the arrival of
the three horsemen, with the news that they had found a large
herd of elephants at Jalelo, about twelve miles away to the
west ; so we packed a few blankets, axes, tinned provisions, and
other necessaries on a camel, and filling my pockets with dates,
I set out at 8 a.m. for the Jalelo covert, accompanied by two
mounted trackers, the Midgan, and two other men, leaving the
GuMnleh camp in the charge of Nur Osman. The forest at
Jalelo consists chiefly of the heavy guda timber bordering the
Hembeweina river, which lower down is called Issutugan.
There are extensive tracts of reeds in the river-bed, and these
are so dense it is hard work forcing a path through them, and
once inside it is impossible to see anything except at a distance
of a few feet. After a hot march we struck the Hembeweina
river at Jalelo, and, sending the mounted trackers and all the
other men to hunt up the elephants, I sat under a wild date-
palm, and lunched off sardines, dates, and the contents of my
water-bottle.

The mid-day sun had been fearfully hot, and I was just
dozing off to sleep under the grateful shade of the date-palm,
when my head tracker, Hussein Debeli, came bounding up in
a state of excitement, brandishing his big stabbing spear and
dancing round me in circles. I knew at once that his news
was good, and, after a pause to take breath, he said he had
suddenly seen a very large bull elephant in the bed of the
river only half a mile below my palm-tree. Packing everything
quickly on the camel, and leaving orders for it to be brought
on slowly after us, I took Hussein Debeli as guide, and shoulder-
ing my four -bore rifle, which weighed over twenty pounds,
started off to look up the elephant. As we rounded a spur
he came into full view, walking quickly down the centre of the
river-bed below us, turning his head from side to side as he
swung along, his great ears sticking out at right angles like
studding-sails. He looked rather disturbed in his mind, and
as a breeze was blowing from us down the river towards him,

Ill

BIG GAME SHOOTING , 1887

55

he had no doubt winded us, or one of the men who had been
sent to look for him.

Going as fast as we could, we ran along the high bank to
intercept him, and if possible to get below and to leeward of
him before beginning the attack, but as we got nearly abreast
he saw us and broke into a shambling trot. Seeing that he
was escaping, I opened fire with the four -bore, though the
range was at least seventy yards. At the shots he spun round
and turned up-stream again at a great rate. Bathed in per-
spiration from the hot sun, and desperately thirsty, I followed
as fast as I could, and at last, in the distance up the river,
appeared the two horsemen, with red tassels flying and spears
flashing in the sun, galloping down at full speed to head the
elephant. This had the effect of forcing him to plunge into
the broad bed of reeds, where he pulled up, comparatively
secure from attack. It so happened, however, that he had
chosen a spot where the steep river-bank overlooked the reeds,
so that on going to the edge and peeping over, I could see his
head and the ridge of his back just rising above them. The
range was far, over sixty yards, but firing from where we were
was preferable to the impossible task of trying to approach him
noiselessly in the reeds, so, aiming for the temple, I opened fire
again. A right and left wTere answered by an unmistakable
crack as of a big bullet hitting bone, and by a “ swish ” as the
second shot, going over the mark, went innocently through the
tops of the reeds. The first shot, however, had told, boring a
clean hole through the flap of the ear and entering the skull
rather far back. The elephant gave a shrill trumpet, spread out
his ears, and spun round facing us, then he swung back into the
original position.

Another shot, fired at the place where I guessed his shoulder
to be, made him throw up his trunk and subside into the reeds,
but he was up again in an instant, looking very sick. This
would never do, so climbing down the steep scarp to the lower
level, and edging carefully round the margin of the reeds fill
nearly opposite him, and then going in a little way so that I
could see his temple above the reeds some thirty yards away,
I took a very careful aim and fired. The elephant dropped at
once, and when my Somalis, who were standing on the bank
beyond him, raised a hunting-song, I knew that he was dead.
We now went in, following the path he had made into the
reeds, and found him lying on his side ; one tusk was four

56

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

feet long and fairly thick ; the other had lost a foot from the
point, possibly broken off while uprooting a tree. He was a
fine fellow, and when we brought a tape later on, we found he
measured ten feet six inches perpendicular height at the shoulder.

The camel coming up, we got down axes and at once set
to work to cut out the ivory. I found the Som&lis very feeble
at this work, as it was sunset by the time they had removed
one tusk, and they seemed thoroughly exhausted. Then a
heavy rainstorm burst over us, and when it had stopped the
setting sun left us wet through, shivering under a thorn-bush,
the river valley turned temporarily into an immense marsh,
and, worst of all, no moon. We had seen many fresh lion
tracks in the river-bed during our hunt, which fact did not tend
to improve the outlook, and my five men declared themselves
too exhausted to collect dry firewood, and lay like logs, looking
the picture of misery.

After ten minutes wasted in trying to coax them to help
me, during which I was only answered by grunts, I tried the
effect of storming at them, and seeing I was annoyed and fear-
ing for their precious salaries, they sulkily began to look about
for scraps of bark which might have escaped the general wetting.
They considered a fire unnecessary, saying that Allah would keep
the lions away, and that they were too wet and miserable
to care whether they were eaten up or not. Not being bad
fellows, however, they afterwards began to warm to their work,
and collected a goodly pile, and digging out a box of matches
from my bag, we soon had a cheerful blaze, and made a thorn
zerfba round our bivouac. The place now looked fairly com-
fortable, with our clothes hanging upon the surrounding branches.

The Somalis were before long snoring under some of my
blankets which I had to lend them, but I had no intention of
going supperless to bed, and sat up for two hours longer, cook-
ing a formidable dish of soup and a pot of cocoa, and on the
whole thoroughly enjoying myself, with the tusk of my first bull
elephant lying on the grass before me. The consequence was
that when we were roused up next morning by the sun shining
into our eyes, I felt quite fresh, while my companions did
nothing but grunt and shiver under the blankets. By noon we
had cut out the other tusk, and packing everything on the
camel, we set out to march three miles down the river to
Hembeweina.

During our short march we saw lesser koodoo, beisa, and

Ill

BIG GAME SHOOTING , 1887

57

Waller’s gazelle, but I was unsuccessful with these, and we
formed a second bivouac without having found the main herd of
elephants of which we had been in search. Next morning wTe
marched back to GuMnleh, intending to bring away our main
camp which had been left there, and to strike the river again
at Sobat, twelve miles above Jalelo. This plan we carried out,
forming an encampment at Sob&t near the great rocks through
which the Issutugan trickles at this spot. Below our camp
the river-bed opened out into a broad, dry, sandy wadi with-
out reeds, and bordered by dense forest with aloe undergrowth.
The banks of this river from Sobdt to Hembeweina were
carpeted with grass and there was a good supply of water ;
moreover, the nearest Somali karias were those of the Abdul
Ishak, Habr Gerhajis, at least twenty miles to the south-east.
These are the conditions most favourable for the presence of
game.

On the morning after our arrival at SoMt I was rudely
awakened from my second sleep by Nur Osman poking me up
with the butt-end of a Snider, and informing me that elephants
had been heard trumpeting in the forest a short distance from
the tent, where they had been quartering about, afraid to come
to the water. It was still dark, but by the time I had lit a
candle and had a wash and breakfast, a long red line in the
east showed that the dawn was just beginning to break, and
we sallied out. We expected to come on the fresh tracks at
once, but we had searched the jungle round camp for at least
half a mile in every direction before one of the men, who had
gone farther afield, came running back saying he could show
me the herd. Pushing forward to the top of the next rise, we
looked about us, and in the thickest part of the forest saw
several dark masses, which in the growing light we made out
to be the ears of elephants moving backwards and forwards as
they stood listening. Walking cautiously round them, we
reached a small hillock which overlooked the jungle to leeward
of them, and made a careful examination of the herd. While
so doing we discovered that it was a very large one, some of
the cows which we had at first overlooked being actually down
wind of us.

None appeared at first to notice us, but we must have con-
cealed ourselves carelessly whilst moving about looking for a
good tusker, and I think one or two of them later on became
aware of our presence. We had been watching them for

58

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSLNIA ch. hi

nearly half an hour, and a very pretty sight it was ; the herd
numbered about sixty, and seemed to be made up entirely of
cows and young calves. Hitherto they had been browsing
comfortably and had seemed quite at home, as if the forest
belonged to them ; now, however, they slowly but surely began
to prepare to move off the ground. Whether they had discovered
us, or were merely contemplating a change of quarters, was
not quite clear. In a short time a line began to be formed,
and they filed away in full vieAv, travelling down wind, so that
we did not quite know, since we could see no bull, what was
the next thing to be done. They were moving at a steady
walk, and we amused ourselves counting them and examining
each individual, as I did not wish to shoot cows. I regretted
much not having the means to photograph them as they solemnly
went by without fuss or noise, treading carefully, each small
calf hurrying along under its great mother’s liind-legs. All the
cows above medium size seemed to have tusks.

Whilst I stood admiring the herd disappearing among the
trees like a dissolving view, I was reminded by the bloodthirsty
Hussein that we had come to destroy elephants, and not to
stare at them, so, the temptation being too much for me,
we took up their tracks through the heavy timber, with bad
aloe undergrowth, the crash, as an elephant now and then play-
fully broke a tree ahead of us, being carried to our ears. Once
we followed too close, for a prolonged crash in our direction told
that an old cow was investigating the taint in the air. We, of
course, gave her plenty of room, as I wanted to have another
look for a bull before advancing to the attack, and when all
was quiet we resumed our tracking. The jungle was very fine,
so that while we were following the elephants we were generally
in the shade. We found the small Sakciro antelopes very
numerous, standing behind the aloes to gaze at us and then
darting off with their whistling alarm-note. Sometimes we
came on several tortoises, some of their shells measuring quite
two feet long and a foot wide. They seemed to live in small
families of four or five, and are very common in the aloe jungles.

At last, after a walk of little more than a mile, we again
sighted the elephants standing at the edge of the forest belt,
crowded together in three large groups, looking uncommonly
suspicious. Some high ground overlooked the jungle, and
circling round as far as possible under cover, we reached a
position very open and exposed, but otherwise good, being

ELEPHANT AND CALF.

CHAP. Ill

BIG GAME SHOOTING , 1887

61

down wind and sixty yards from the nearest group. We
were standing on a spur of the Darnel Plain, covered with
loose gravel and sprinkled with a few small bushes. After a
rapid examination of the ground I opened fire at the biggest
elephant, when, with indescribable commotion and clouds of dust,
the three groups dissolved into a long string, rushing past us
headlong through the forest, only intent on escape.

The big cow at which I had fired was hidden in dust for a
moment, and then spinning round in a semicircle, she made off
after the others, her stern quite closing up the path. Follow-
ing on in her wake we came up with some of the herd which
were lagging, and I fired at one which appeared to be a young
bull, bringing it down stone dead on its side, the bullet having
caught it behind the shoulders while going by at full speed.
Unfortunately, on inspection it proved to be a cow. Then,
continuing in the direction taken by the herd, we at length saw
the cow first hit standing within forty yards of a large tree ;
and stalking up to the tree, which was to leeward of her, I
fired at her temple. She went down and rolled over on her
side, the men, delighted at my success, running up to jump on
her back. Suddenly I shouted, “ Look out, she’s getting up ! ”
and I had scarcely time to cover her temple with the foresight
from where I stood, twenty yards away, before she was on her
legs again, with ears stuck out at right angles. Another shot
from the four-bore, and she fell dead.

The severe kick of the rifle generally sent me back a couple
of yards, and I must have been standing wrong, for as I fired
something gave way in my right leg, and I came down in a
sitting posture on to a clump of aloes, unable to rise at once,
and wondering whether the elephant was dead or not. I was
laid up in camp for three days, but on the fourth I could limp
about very creditably, and killed a fine wart-hog boar near
camp, besides firing at five striped hyaenas prowling about at
dusk among the rocks. When we had cut out the tusks of the
two cows we resolved to try fresh ground, and getting astride
my mule I marched with my caravan to Hembeweina, sixteen
miles lower down the river. Here we found in the sand the
tracks of six lions of different ages, which had been prowling
about in the river-bed and in the bordering reeds. Close to
camp we found the half-eaten carcase of a spotted hyaena which
they had caught. They must have been badly off for food to
have eaten a hyaena ; indeed, from the absence of fresh tracks,

62

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

we thought the rest of the game must have been frightened
from the vicinity by the lions.

The day after our arrival at Hembeweina I was again
disturbed before dawn by Nur Osman, with the report that a
lot of elephants had been heard trumpeting near the water
during the night, and after a good breakfast we started in search
of them. After going up the river-bank for about three miles,
we came to the large patch of reeds at Jalelo where I had
killed the first bull eight days before, and getting on to the
identical spot on the high bank from which I had fired at him,
examined the expanse of reeds. The air was much tainted by
the dead elephant as we approached the edge of the bank, too
much so to make us care to go into the reeds to investigate
farther. Looking over the sea of yellow stems we suddenly
saw two cow elephants with one large calf in company, standing
under a date-palm well out in the reeds some two hundred and
fifty yards distant from the spot on which we were standing.
Wishing to get a bull, I decided not to attack them.

My Somalis were advising me to advance upon these three
herd elephants, and we were sitting on the edge of the bank
intently gazing at them, when an indescribable feeling that
something was behind made me look round, and there, standing
right over us, not twenty yards away, was an enormous tusker
quietly blinking his eyes at us and balancing his right leg,
undecided whether to go on along the top of the bank behind us
or to take a path straight down into the reeds. He must have
come up very quietly, for no one had heard a sound, and my
looking round seemed to have been accidental. Meanwhile, as
we were in the open on the edge of the scarp, in a bad position
to withstand a charge, especially as I was still lame, we waited,
crouched as we were, keeping as still as mice, and watched the
enormous brute making up his mind. We were so much in the
open that had I raised my rifle he would have made us out at
once. Perhaps I ought to have fired, but when first seen his
head was towards us and his trunk down, so that he offered no
certain shot. After swinging his foot once or twice he took the
path down into the reeds, treading softly, as if afraid of cracking
a stick, and looking curiously towards us out of the corner of his
eye, evidently unable to make out quite what we were ; when he
was round the bank I stood up ready to fire at him as he passed
below.

On reaching the lower level he seemed to scent the dead

Ill

BIG GAME SHOOTING , 1887

63

elephant, and began walking swiftly out into the reeds. There
was no time to be lost if I wanted those big white tusks, so
aiming quickly as he moved, I fired the heavy rifle at the root of
his ear, hiting him just a little too far back. A fiendish change
came over him, until now so calm and solemn. Out went his
great ears, and with his trunk curled up tightly in front of his
chest, giving a shrill trumpet he raised his head and went crash-
ing through the dry reeds, going up the river-bed and presenting
his side to us. Aiming for the shoulder, I again fired, and
struck him fairly in the ribs ; this turned him across the river
straight away from our bank, and he dropped into the wake of
the three cows, which on hearing the shots had left the palm-
tree in alarm, and were already sailing away through the reeds
in fine style.

I was still very lame, and until the mule came up had to
content myself with watching the game disappear into the forest
on the farther side of the river. While they were crossing the
reeds the wounded bull gave an occasional squeal and charged
off at a tangent, pounding imaginary foes, and looking the
picture of annoyance. As the four elephants disappeared among
the trees they were joined by two strings of cows and young
ones which we had not seen before, followed by two very large
tuskers. I felt that I had made a mess of the business, and
regretted then that we had left the horses in camp, as they
would have been most useful in turning the elephants. We had
to wait some minutes for my mule to be brought up, and it was
9 a.m. before we took up the tracks of the wounded elephant.

The sun was beginning to get very powerful, making doubly
hard the work of advancing over the masses of fallen reeds
which obstructed the ground even in the path made by the
elephants. The tracking, however, was not difficult, as a wide
lane had been opened through the reeds, everywhere bespattered
with blood. When we reached the forest on the farther side of
the river the blood had almost ceased, and following became a
difficult matter, as the footsteps of the wounded elephant were
becoming mingled with those of the other two bulls. It was
dreadfully hot, and for more than two hours we toiled along
over aloes and thorns and through tree-jungles, covering about
six miles of ground before we again sighted our game.

The herd was standing taking shelter from the mid-day sun
under three large trees which grew close together, and we
advanced to the attack. We could not make out the wounded

64

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

bull, so I fired at the head of the largest elephant I could see,
and the explosion of my rifle was followed by a loud answering
crack and squeal from the herd, which soon became enveloped
in a dense cloud of dust. We ran on in pursuit, but they
slipped away and crossed half a mile of open stony ground,
passed a group of rocks which overhung a sand-river, and stood
half a mile off, in moderately high jungle. Climbing the rocks
I could see them, but following farther with my lame leg was
out of the question, so my two trackers offered to go round and
drive them to me if I would lend them my Martini rifle and
Express and some cartridges.

Meanwhile I seated myself on a rock and watched the herd.
There was one very sick elephant in it, which seemed to be
continually rolling, surrounded by a group of sympathising
friends. I afterwards found this to be the bull first wounded
— the one which had surprised us on the river bank — and he
appeared to be in a dying state. While I was gazing over the
forest at them they suddenly began to move in my direction
very fast, and a moment later the breeze carried to my ears the
reports of musketry fired at a distance from beyond the
elephants. The herd disappeared for a minute and then
emerged from the high jungle and came over the open, straight
for my position ; they then turned into the river-bed and came
past me at a great pace, at over eighty yards’ distance. I fired
right and left at the shoulder of an old bull, the biggest of the
three, carrying fine long tusks. He fell and kicked about for a
second or two in a cloud of dust, and then turned up-stream
with the others, going very fast. They then passed round my
rock at about a hundred yards, too far for straight shooting with
such a rifle, and got out of range, the badly- wounded bull being
no doubt among them. There was one bull throwing sand over
its back, which I concluded must be the sick one.

My leg was now beginning to feel the strain of the day’s
work, and at the second discharge of the heavy rifle I was sent
flying, and subsided into a sitting posture among the rocks, the
rifle dropping out of my hands. The elephants now sailed gaily
away over huge boulders and torrent-beds with the activity of
monkeys, and soon disappeared over the brow of a low hill,
leaving me sitting on the rocks utterly fagged out. When the
trackers came up we went to examine the place where the largest
bull had fallen. The aloes were crushed to bits and the sand
was much scraped about, but we did not notice any blood. The

Ill

BIG GAME SH0077NG, 1887

65

elephants had quite beaten us, and we made the best of our way
home, reaching camp at dusk after a very tiring day.

For two days I had horsemen dogging the footsteps of the
wounded bulls, but they returned and reported that the herd
had gone past Little Harar and might not pull up for two days,
having been thoroughly disturbed by the hunt. They had
followed the tracks of the sick bull for twenty-five miles, and he
had separated from the herd, halting to roll many times, and at
last his tracks had become mixed with those of a fresh herd of
bulls, cows, and young ones, and they had then left them. Lain
having recently fallen had made the tracking more difficult. 1

On the night after this long elephant-hunt we were awakened
at about twelve by two lions keeping up a deep roaring, repeated
at short intervals, which seemed to be uttered only thirty yards
from our fence, though in reality the distance was at least a
hundred, as was shown next morning by the pugs in the sand.
Luckily, neither my mule nor the three Somffii ponies were at
all nervous, or we should have had them breaking away. One
lion kept up wind, giving at first low grunts, growing louder and
ending in a roar, then dwindling down again to nothing. After
a bit he would be answered by a rumbling sound on the other
side, from a lioness concealed in the reeds down at the river-
bed close by. There was absolutely no moon, so we could do
nothing but replenish the fires with grass and sticks. My men
jeered at the lions, saying they were not in earnest or they
would not make so much noise. We had left some meat out
within twenty yards of our fence, but found it untouched in
the morning, the lions evidently fearing to come so close.

I found Hembeweina very pleasant, and never tired of
wandering about near camp examining the fresh elephant-tracks
in the river-bed. A herd which had lately passed had made
several wells or large holes in the sand, into which water trickled
from the stream, and over these holes they had stood to drink
and throw water over their bodies.

One day I was out quite alone on one of these rambles, and
after crossing the river had ascended to the top of a plateau half
a mile from camp. The summit was covered with black stones

1 Some time afterwards, in Berbera, two natives came down and reported
that they had seen the dead elephant near Hargeisa, and that a passing
caravan had appropriated the tusks on its way to Harar. Through the proper
channels I applied to the Emir of Harar for their recovery, and that is the
last I ever heard of them.

F

66

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABVSSINLA CHAP.

and occasional tufts of very green feathery grass. Finding fresh
beisa tracks I began to cross the plateau, but the tracking was
rendered difficult by the number of stones. All at once I caught
sight of a large animal moving slowly among some bushes,
evidently grazing and unsuspicious of danger ; and thinking
that it might be a beisa, I began to stalk up to it. This was
not easy because of the transparent nature of the bush ; how-
ever, I got up to three hundred yards, and imagine my surprise
to find that the animal was a Som&li pony alone in this bleak
spot. This plateau had a bad reputation — the nearest tribe to
the north-west, seventy miles away, being famous for raiding
and lifting the cattle of the Abdul Ish&k.

By the side of the horse there was something on the ground,
which might be a man or a small ant-hill. Having on a former
trip had my caravan dogged by scouts from a tribe, I thought I
would cautiously investigate. So I crept up and found that
there was no man, while the horse, left to run wild without
bridle or rope, gave a whinny and trotted round me in a circle
with arching neck, nodding his head up and down. He had
evidently been abandoned by his rider, and I determined to
catch him, use him for work with elephants, and then take him
to the coast to be claimed. Returning to camp I brought up
my people, and using the mule as a decoy, we at last got a rope
over the horse’s head and led him quietly to camp. The day
after the capture of the horse two men rode in to give me news
that Shire Shirmaki, one of the Habr Gerhajis wise men, was on
his way from his karia, fifteen miles distant, to visit me, bringing
thirty horsemen with him, who, my informants said, were his
children. Then 1 witnessed the dibdltig , or equestrian display,
given in my honour, as the first English visitor to their country.

In the distance, over the plain, arose a thin wreath of dust,
and from beneath it appeared first one or two horsemen, and
then about thirty, following each other in single file, and coming
on at a trot. Presently, as they approached the camp, they
formed line and broke into a canter, the spears flashing vividly
in the sun, and the bright red trappings of the horses flaring out
against the green thorn- jungle. Each horseman wore a hhaili
— a tobe of scarlet dashed with blue in two shades, the colours
being arranged tartan -wise. They approached to within a
hundred yards of the camp, and then halted. Accompanied by
my nine men, I left the zerfba and advanced to meet them.
Sitting on his pony in the centre of the group was Shire Shir-

Ill

BIG GAME SHOOTING , 1887

67

mdki, a dignified-looking old man with a white beard, and on
either side of him were his sons, two or three fine fellows, in the
prime of life. There were also one or two boys, armed, like
their seniors, with spears and shield, and most of the men had
slung round their waists the bildwa , or short, close -quarters
stabbing sword. All my visitors looked a sturdy lot, up to
lifting cattle or any other kind of devilry.

We exchanged the usual Mahomedan greeting, and one of
Shire Shirmaki’s sons urged his pony up in front of the rest and
sang a long extempore song. When at last it had come to an
end I complimented the old fellow upon his warlike- looking
turn-out, and then waited in silence for him to explain his visit.
He said that, being encamped with his people and their flocks
and herds at a spot some fifteen miles to the eastward, and
having heard of my presence on the Issutugan, he had come
with some of his young men to visit me, sing songs, and have a
good time. “Yes,” I thought, “and to eat our rice!” This
was all very well, but our stock of food was scanty, and I re-
solved to get rid of my friends on the first opportunity.

I now asked the old chief to show me what his children
could do in fancy riding ; and at once two or three impatient
spirits galloped forward and threw their spears, picking them
up again by leaning over the saddle-bow while at full speed,
and then, pricking towards me over the turf, they pulled their
quivering ponies back on to their haunches with a jerk just as
they reached me, the mouths bleeding from the heavy bit. Soon
the plain around my zerfba was covered with rushing ponies,
their excited riders throwing their spears in every direction and
dashing forward to pick them up. Every pony raised a cloud
of dust to himself, and the confusion had reached its height
when the old man raised his hide whip as a signal, and one by
one they galloped up to me, till I was the centre of a semicircle
of horses’ heads, pressing upon me, their eyes aflame and nostrils
distended. Every man as he came up raised his spear and
shouted, “ Mot ! io Mot ! ” (Hail ! and again hail !) and I
answered, with my men, “ Kul-leban” (Thanks).

Many of these fellows can throw the spear about eighty-five
yards from the saddle or seventy-five yards on foot. They guide
their animals skilfully, but ride almost entirely by balance, with
very little grip on the saddle. After the display on horseback
we all went into the zeriba, and I gave orders to have a big
meal of rice prepared for our self-constituted guests.

68

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

Soon from across the plain came two more horsemen, and a
shock-headed boy leading a cow, which was brought in front of
my tent as a present, with Shire ShirnMki’s compliments. We
killed it ten minutes later, and my men joined the strangers in
a big feed, followed by a firelight dance, the men clapping their
hands to the strains of a reed flute, advancing and retiring as
in a quadrille, and jumping up and down like men in a sack-
race. Then followed a few interesting step- dances and songs in
praise of the English or of the Habr Gerhajis. The burden of
one song was, “ There is nobody like us ; our horses are the best
and fly like the wind, and none can fight like we ; our old men
are wise, our young men are brave as lions, and there are no
girls so beautiful as ours.” When I retired to my tent at mid-
night the clamour was still going on, and I was roused at 3 a.m.
by the leave-taking. By the genial glare of our camp-fire Shire
Shirm&ki made an impressive speech, laying great stress on my
having seen his country, and asking me to tell the English that
his tribe, being very good people, never molested caravans ; to
which I replied that, so far as my having seen his country was
concerned, he was perfectly free to come and see mine, and I
promised him a new Idiaili from Berbera and some snow-white
bafta tobes for his men.

They recognised the horse I had caught as one which had
been abandoned by one of their fellows three months before
while engaged in a raid on the Jibril Abokr tribe, among the
mountains to the south-west. I promised, if they would send a
man to Berbera, that I would give up the horse to the Besident
there, and their tribesman might then claim it. Finally, I
apologised for not having shown them any equestrian games on
our part, as the mule was sick ! After the joke had been handed
round and duly appreciated we parted with a great deal of hand-
shaking, and they trotted off into the darkness.

While shifting our camp next day back to GuMnleh, we were
constantly in sight of game, either beisa or one of the three sorts
of gazelle, and caught sight of a leopard sneaking across a nala
three hundred yards ahead of us, but he disappeared among
some rocks, where tracking became impossible. On arriving at
GuMnleh I sent horsemen for a grand tour to all the elephant-
forests around, and remained in camp, ready to march to any
point of the compass at a moment’s notice. Besides my own
trackers I had two parties of Habr Gerhajis horsemen also
searching for elephants, each party consisting of three men.

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BIG GAME SHOOTING , 1887

69

While in camp at Gulanleh I was suddenly roused at noon
by shouts in Hindustani of “ Mdro , Sahib! Mdro!v (Shoot,
shoot). So pulling out my revolver, I looked round the fly of
the tent, and found my whole camp in an uproar ; men were
running for their spears, and backing into one end of the zerfba
stood the Midg&n, fitting a poisoned arrow to his long bow and
glaring viciously at one of my camelmen, who, surrounded by
his friends, stood at the other end of the zerfba poising his
spear. The situation was decidedly theatrical. First I walked
up to the Somali and made him give me his spears, and then
returning to the Midg&n I bundled him ignominiously into my
tent, poisoned arrows and all, and threw him a beisa skull to
clean, telling him not to leave the tent without permission.
Having thus disposed of the centres of disturbance I held an
inquiry, when it appeared that the quarrel had arisen through
my having persuaded my Somalis to allow the Midg4n to eat
with them out of the same dish. A young camelman had,
during a hot argument, told the Midgan that such as he should
not be allowed to eat with respectable Somalis, whereat sturdy
little Adan rejoined, “Who are you to talk? You’re only a
baby ; you have not learned to eat at all yet ; go back to your
mother and drink milk.” The youth, having no more arguments
left, stooped, and picking up a spear which lay beside him, leant
over and prodded Adan gently in the back, causing blood to
flow. Rice, dishes, and men scattered in all directions, and I
had come out of my tent only just in time to prevent the Midgan
sticking an arrow into his assailant. The Midg&n was clearly
in the right, and calling the camelman to my tent, I ordered a
slight compensation to be paid, and then persuaded them to
shake hands. These duels arise out of almost nothing, and if a
man be killed, a blood-feud between tribes, perhaps lasting for
years, is the result. Luckily the Somalis, although quick to
resent an insult, as quickly cool down again.

About nine o’clock one morning one of my trackers rode in
to say that his party had struck the fresh tracks of a solitary
bull elephant in a nala some twelve miles to the westward, and
that they had followed him along its banks for eight hours, at
last finding him, feeding and standing about, at Eil Danan.
My informant went on to say that he had left his twx) com-
panions to watch the elephant. At Eil Danan a sandy river-bed
bordered by high reeds winds through a deep square basin
formed by the sides of the Eil Danan plateau, which is two or

70

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

three hundred feet high, and strewn with black stones like most
of the Darnel Plain. Between the river-bed and the precipitous
edges of the plateau is black stony ground intersected by water-
courses, and sparsely dotted over with thorn-bushes and a few
tufts of thin feathery grass, so that there is no cover for an
elephant to stand in except the reeds bordering the river-bed.
These are very dense and usually ten feet high, some of the side
gullies being choked with them, though in the main channel,
through which a small stream runs, they merely form a fringe
fifty to one hundred yards wide. Here and there near the edge
of the reeds grow a few large trees covered with armo creeper,
on which elephants delight to feed ; the leaves are very green
and juicy, heart-shaped and thick, having a smooth surface like
indiarubber.

Taking with me one camel and two or three men, I at once
set out for Eil Danan, and after a hot march we struck the
ivadi at 2 p.m., and followed in the tracks of the two watchmen
until we found them. Then, after resting for lunch under a
tree, I went forward with my gunbearer, Deria Hassan, to
explore the reeds where the elephant had last been seen. After
some trouble wTe at length saw him standing under a tree on the
farther side of a belt of reeds forty yards wide. He seemed to
be a very large bull, and had a fine pair of tusks. Beyond him
the ground was quite bare. I crept up to the edge of the reeds,
and getting on the roots of a fallen tree, could see his head
above them. He was swinging it slowly from side to side and
looking quietly in my direction, though he did not appear to see
me. At last he presented his temple, and I fired as well as
possible from my insecure perch, hitting him a loud smack,
while Deria Hassan fired from the bank behind me. Instantly
the beast gave a shrill trumpet and charged, coming straight at
me through the reeds. Being in the open I did not wait for
his head to appear, but ran down the edge of the reeds to
leeward and dropped under a bush, Deria disappearing with
equal promptitude in the other direction. Then the three horse-
men, according to previous orders I had given them, rode up,
and seeing them the elephant turned again into the reeds and
made off, keeping down the centre of the belt, the horsemen
riding parallel to him along the outside. I followed on foot at
best pace, and came up, a mile farther down, just in time to see
him charge viciously out at the horses, scattering them. This
manoeuvre was repeated twice, and then the elephant went up a

Ill

BIG GAME SHOOTING , 1887

71

side gully three hundred yards wide, choked by an unbroken
expanse of very high reeds. We here lost sight of him for a
time, and taking up his tracks found a good deal of blood.

On reaching the main channel I sent the horsemen on after
the elephant, and being parched with thirst lay down flat and
drank from the rivulet. Before I had finished drinking Deria
said, “ Look out ! ” and I heard galloping and loud shouts, and
sprang up just in time to see the elephant break back and cross
the stream two hundred yards below me, taking up his former
position in the reeds, and followed by my three horsemen, who
were working admirably. When I came up the horsemen were
collected on some rising ground overlooking the reeds, hooting
at the elephant, which stood with the top of his head just
visible, listening to them.

Advancing to a small knoll in front of the horses, I fired
right and left at his head. He disappeared among the reeds
for a moment, and then some one called out that he was coming.
Out he came, very silently, and I slipped away to leeward and
crouched under a thorn-bush to watch him. Off he went after
the horsemen, and singling out Hussein Debeli, following every
turn of the horse, he kept close behind its tail for two hundred
yards, till it seemed the plucky fellow would be caught, and
they disappeared among the trees together. I soon noticed,
however, that the elephant, having finished his charge, was
stealing back again towards the gully which he had first tried.
Back came the horsemen, and after a short race headed him,
and brought him to a standstill fifty yards from me, giving a
good chance for a shot. I was standing in the open, and
knowing that I should have the watchful and angry brute down
on me at once if I failed to disable him, I fired at his head.
On receiving the shot he dropped his tail and trunk and held
for the gully, looking demoralised, but before he could reach the
shelter of the reeds I ran in close and gave him another shot in
the shoulder at twenty yards, while he was going at a good
pace. Swerving at this he plunged into the reeds, and we
heard him crashing about in them for some time, then a long-
drawn bellow, and everything became still.

Before going in I fired two shots with the Express and
listened, but hearing nothing, we started to examine the reeds.
We were not long in finding the great cutting he had made
through them, and with rifle on full cock and every sense on
the alert, I entered, followed by my two trackers on foot. On-

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

either side rose what looked like an impenetrable yellow wall ;
wherever we looked we saw nothing but reeds, and as we
advanced we had to climb over the mounds of fallen stalks.
Yard by yard we pushed on, now and then stopping to listen.
Along the floor and sides of the lane of reeds blood was plenti-
fully sprinkled, and at length we began to approach the place
where we had last heard him bellow ; then I peeped round an
angle and saw him lying on his side quite dead, and we walked
up to examine our prize. He was an old bull, ten feet six
inches at the shoulder ; we measured him with bits of reeds
which we afterwards laid beside a tape ; and he had a beautiful

white pair of tusks without a flaw, four feet long, and thick for
Somali ivory. Somali elephant tusks are, as a rule, nothing like
the size of those found in the centre of the continent.

By the time the sun had gone down we had cut out one tusk,
and returned up the river to search the plateau for a camping-
ground with good grass for the horses. Leaving the main river,
we formed our bivouac near a small grassy nala. The arrange-
ments for the night were quickly made, and, spreading our
blankets under the lee of a thorn-bush, we were soon all fast
asleep. We had no fence, and at midnight I was awakened
by a lion roaring a short distance up the nala. Bubbing my
eyes, I awoke Deria, and told him to watch and keep the fire
alight, then I dozed off again, and when we awoke next morning

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BIG GAME SHOOTING , 1887

73

Deria was fast asleep by the fire, which was nearly out. We
cut out the other tusk and returned to GuMnleh, when, my leave
having expired, after skirting the foot of Gblis for five days, we
marched by easy stages to Berbera, then by dhow to Aden,
being becalmed for twelve hours in sight of the volcano before
getting in.

CHAPTER IV

GOVERNMENT EXPLORATIONS

Early trips to the coast — Disturbed state of Bulhar — Stopping a fight — Two
skirmishes — First exploring trips — Hostility of the natives — An
unlucky trip — Start with my brother to explore the Habr Toljaala and
Dolbahanta countries on duty — Camp on Golis Range — Theodolite station
at 6800 feet — Enter the waterless plains — Advance to the Tug Der
— News of raiders ahead, and of Colonel A. Paget’s party — Dolbahanta
horsemen — Advance to the Nogal Valley — Constantly annoyed by the
Dolbahanta — Prehistoric tank and buildings at Badwein — Advance to
Gosaweina — More horsemen — Insecure border, and scene of a raid —
Explore Bur Dab Range — Robbers’ Caves — Exploration by my brother
on Wagar Mountain — Lovely scenery — Return to Berbera — Start on a
second expedition to the Jibril Abokr country — The top of Gan Libah
— A new hartebeest — Death of a leopard — Hargeisa — Natives clamouring
for British protection against Abyssinia — Bold behaviour of a leopard —
Advance to the Marar Prairie — Camp at Ujawaji — Extraordinary scene
on the prairie — -Quantities of game — Gadabursi raid — Jibril Abokr
welcome of the English — A shooting trip on the plains — News of three
lions — Vedettes posted over lions — Advance to the attack — Savage charge ;
unconscious and in the clutches of a lioness — My brother’s account
of the accident — His own narrow escape, and death of a fine lion—
Civility of the Jibril Abokr — Abyssinian news — Return to the coast —
Recovery from wounds — Third expedition ; to the Gadabursi country—
Great raid by the Jibril Abokr on the Bahgoba — Curious adventure with
robbers — Betrayed by vultures — Raiding tactics — First meeting with
the Gadabursi — Meeting with Ugaz Nur — The rival sultans — Construction
of an Abyssinian fort at Biyo-Kaboba — Esa in a ferment — Speech of
Mudun Golab — My brother bags a large bull elephant — March to Zeila.

In order to show the state of Somaliland when the British
Protectorate1 was first established after the departure of the
Egyptians, I propose to give a short account of my trips into
the interior prior to 1887.

1 The first treaty between the British Government and the Somalis was
signed in 1827 after the plundering of an English ship by the Habr Awal.
In 1840 another was signed with the chiefs of Zeila and Tajurra. In 1865

CHAP. IV

GO VERNMENT EX PL ORA TIONS

75

Soon after I had joined the Aden garrison in 1884, two
English officers returned from a shooting trip to the G61is Range
south of Berbera ; this was, I believe, the first journey to the
Somdli interior undertaken by any Englishmen since the attack
on Sir Richard Burton’s expedition thirty years before. Ac-
companied by a friend, I was the next to make a short but
unimportant shooting trip to Golis — in January 1885.

The first exploring party — that of Mr. F. L. James — had
preceded us by about a month, and was already at Gerlogubi
in distant Ogaden. The Egyptians had a few months before
evacuated the coast, the Pasha leaving with about half a
battalion of soldiers and a few field-pieces, and Mr. L. P.
Walsh, one of the assistant Residents at Aden, had taken over
charge of Berbera and Bulhar with a few Aden policemen. At
the same time Zeila was, so far as I remember, handed over
by the Egyptians to a British Consul, with a French Consul
also living in the town. My next visit to Somaliland occurred
two months after my return from the shooting trip to the
G61is,

The Egyptian military quarters at Bulh&r had been reported
flooded by a freshet from the Issutugan river, and I was sent
over from Aden to meet Mr. Walsh and go with him to Bulhar,
in order to choose a site for hut barracks, to be put up by
the Indian sappers under my command. I chose the site for
the huts and returned to Aden. I arrived again at Bulhar
on 27th September 1885, with thirty sappers and all the

Sir Kicliard Burton’s expedition was attacked at Berbera, and the blockade
which followed was raised on the signing of another treaty. In 1866 treaties
were made with the Habr Gerhajis, Habr Toljaala, and Midjerten ; and since
1884, when the Egyptians handed over the coast to Great Britain, treaties
have been made with all the northern tribes. By an agreement signed in 1888,
the boundary separating the British and French Protectorates begins near
Loyi-ada, on the coast between Jibiiti and Zeila, and runs by Abbaswein,
Biyo-Kaboba, Gildessa, towards Harar.

On 5th May 1894 a protocol was signed, fixing the boundaries of the
Italian and British spheres of influence. The boundary-line starts from
Gildessa, and, following the eighth parallel of north latitude, skirts the
north-eastern border of the territories inhabited by the Geri, Bertiri, and Rer
Ali tribes, leaving Gildessa, Jig-Jiga, and Milmil within the Italian sphere
of influence. The line then follows latitude 8° north as far as its intersection
with the forty-eighth meridian of east longitude, and thence to the inter-
section of latitude 9° north, with longitude 49° east, along which it pro-
ceeds, terminating at the coast. This line has, however, been since modified
by the treaty of 1897, concluded between Her Majesty’s Government and
King Menelik.

76

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

material for constructing the huts, and camped near the site we
had chosen. For the first three weeks there was no chance of
leaving camp even to go ao^-shooting on the plain. Several
native reports had reached us that the hill tribes, especially the
Habr Gerhajis, were likely to come down and attack us, and
not knowing the nature of Somali information at that time I
was inclined to believe these rumours.

When the work was fairly under way I took a few strolls
into the plain. On one occasion, when out, attended only
by my hunter, Ali Hirsi, wre blundered within half a mile of
a large party of raiding Habr Gerhajis horsemen from the hilis,
whom the police from Berbera were trying to catch. Not
knowing anything about the locality of the band, I fired at a
bustard, with the result that the robbers bolted for the hills,
thinking the police had come up with them.

Bulhdr was now getting full of people, the clans coming down
into the plain. Two of these clans had a feud in active opera-
tion, and a large tree near Elmas Mountain was about this time
the scene of a ghastly murder. Eight men and as many women
and children of one of the clans were attacked by their enemies
when asleep under a tree, and all had their throats cut. My
hunter, Ali Hirsi, who belonged to the clan which had suffered,
promptly asked leave to go to the interior and see his father,
who, he said, had been suddenly taken ill. I afterwards found
that this was incorrect, and that Ali Hirsi, being the son of an
dJcil , had found it incumbent on him to answer the family call
to arms.

Shortly afterwards my friend the late Mr. D. Morrison, Mr.
Walsh’s assistant, arrived from Berbera to take charge of Bulh&r,
and he at once found his hands full with this feud between the
two clans of the Shirdone Yunis, Habr Awal, called respectively
the Boho Shirdone and the Ba-Gadabursi Shirdone. British
interests suffer sadly by these feuds occurring near our ports, as
for the time being all trade is liable to be stopped.

A few days after M ’s arrival a messenger came running

in at dawn one morning to say that the Boho had taken posses-
sion of the Bulhar wells, three miles west of the town, and were
that morning going to be attacked by the Ba-Gadabursi from

Elmas, each side being about five hundred strong. M

at once decided to ride out with his interpreter and try to
dissuade the Ba-Gadabursi from attacking. I accompanied him
on one of the sapper mules, taking with me Khoda Bux, a

IV

GOVERNMENT EXPLORATIONS

77

Panjabi muleteer, also mounted. After going three miles, at
the BullHr wells we came upon the Boho Shirdone halted,

MALE WATER BUCK ( Cobus ellipsijprymnus).
Average length of horns on curve, 20 inches.

awaiting the attack. Here I found my hunter, Ali Hirsi, sport-
ing a Lhaili tobe, with a good nag grazing close by. He came
up cheerily to me, with nothing of the servant about him, and

78

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

shook hands. I asked him after his sick father, and with a bland
smile he said he had got well again, and was going to fight the
Ba-Gadabursi.

We rode on, and crossed a bare undulating plain, which in the
evenings is sometimes covered with sand-grouse, and where I had
often hunted aoul , and a mile beyond the Boho came upon
the Ba-Gadabursi, advancing in line to the attack !

It was a stirring scene. About two hundred horsemen and
three hundred spearmen on foot were advancing in a long line
facing to the east, coming to meet us. The horsemen formed
the left wing, marching along the flat sandy plain stretching
down to the raised sea-shore on our right, which, though we
could hear their roar, hid from our view the white breakers
of the Gulf of Aden. On our left the plain rose to low sand
hillocks covered with grass and scrub, and along these came
the right wing on foot, the men extended at about a pace
apart, keeping a good line, each man carrying his spears and
shield and wearing his white tobe wound round his waist.
Most of the horsemen wore the Jchaili , or red and blue tobe.
The plain over which we had ridden stretched between us and
Bulhar, which lay four miles behind us.

Our little party of four cantered to meet this array. Now
and then a horseman darted out from the line, and galloping
round in a circle, threw his spear, and picked it up again while
at full speed. As we approached they set up a song, but

stopped when M rode up to one of the aukdl , or elders,

and demanded a parley. There was a good deal of angry
shouting at first, and the horsemen pressed round us in a dense
mass, so that we could only extricate ourselves by drawing our
revolvers. Seeing we really had serious business on hand, one
or two of the leading Ba-Gadabursi elders, prominent among
whom was a well-known firebrand called Warsama Dugal,
entreated the horsemen to wait and hear what “the Govern-
ment” had to say. M , by the aid of his interpreter.

quietly explained that if they would only put off the attack
for a day he would try and settle the feud satisfactorily to

both parties. While the interpreter was explaining this, M

asked me to try and bring out the thirty sappers, to be ready
on hand if required. I told Khoda Bux in Hindustani, and,
like the sporting Panjabi that he was, he was delighted with
the errand, and kicking up his mule, started off at a gallop.
A Shirdone galloped in pursuit, shouting and brandishing his

IV

GOVERNMENT EXPLORATIONS

79

spear, but M quickly headed him, and persuaded him to

get back into the line and not make a fool of himself.

The elders, who had seen the force of my friend’s sensible
argument from the first, soon quieted down the horsemen ;
while I rode off with Warsama Dugdl and persuaded the in-
fantry to stop, for they were quietly creeping ahead among the
sand-dunes. When they saw me riding a kicking Panjabi

somXli horseman.

mule, with a revolver which I had forgotten to put in its holster,
and old Warsama in company excitedly yelling at them, they
began to laugh, and good-naturedly squatted down on their
heels, with the butts of their spears planted in the ground,
glowering over their shields at a line of hillocks in front which
hid the Boho from view\ At their earnest request I allowed
them to advance fifty yards to the top of the hillocks, “ so that
they might see the Boho.” They said they were thirsty, and
the sight of the wells would do them good ! The people told

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

us that it was very hard being stopped in this way. They did
not want to touch a hair of any white man’s head, they only
wanted to wipe out the Boho. However, the elders agreed to
send back the clan to Eil Sheikh, and themselves to come into

Bulh&r with M and see what they could do to settle the

feud. The sappers at last came into sight, and about a dozen
of the elders accepted our escort to get them safely through
the Boho lines. I extended my men, a section on either side,

marching in single file, while M and the elders rode

bunched together in the space between. We passed the Boho
line in this order, having first sent the interpreter on to
explain. The Boho looked savagely at our proteges as we
passed, but were too sensible to attack us for the sake of slit-
ting the throats of a few elders, so not a horse was mounted
and all went off quietly. Arrived in Bulh&r, my friend rode
out with his interpreter and brought in the Boho elders. After
two days’ talking the feud wras settled for the time being,

though it broke out again a week later, and gave M an

immense amount of anxiety and trouble. Twice my little
party was called out in aid of the civil power, but not having
to act in self-defence, we were able to keep the peace for a time

without firing a shot. M ordered the tribes to live apart,

the Ba-Gadabursi fourteen miles to the west at Eil Sheikh,
the Boho fifteen miles to the east at Geri, and every few days
or so he would persuade the elders to meet in BulhAr for a
conference. It was only a question of blood-money, but what
a question ! We always knew how things were going, for
when the relations were strained the two semicircles of old
men who were seated on the ground would shroud their faces
in the ends of their tobes, only leaving a slit to look through,
and they would add the supreme insult of shading their eyes
with their hands ; when things were improving they looked
their enemies frankly in the face.

Soon after the cessation of hostilities at Bulhar I was sent
surveying up the Issutugan river with an escort of fifteen
sabres of the Aden troop, a body of Indian cavalry permanently
stationed at Khor Maksar, the outpost near Aden.

After this trip I returned to Aden to prepare for further
explorations in the Habr Awal country, and at the end of
December 1885 I arrived at Bulhar wdth three sowars of the
Aden troop, twelve mounted Panjabis, enlisted in Aden as
policemen for this special purpose, and ten sepoys of the Bombay

IV

GOVERNMENT EXPLORATIONS

81

infantry,- — in all an escort of twenty-five men. Although
we were ready to start the survey by 1st January, the Bulh&r

tribes were in such a disturbed state that M , finding it

necessary to utilise whatever troops came to hand, was obliged,
in his official capacity in charge of Bulhar, to ask me to remain,
and give him the benefit of the services of my escort till the
tribes should become more settled.

The Shirdone feud had broken out again, and some of the
Boho having managed to get into Bulhar to buy food, the Ba-
Gadabursi were reported to be coming in from Eil Sheikh to

attack Bulhar. M sent out notice that if they did come

in they would be fired at. One morning, while at breakfast,
we received news that the Ba-Gadabursi were actually in sight,
and advancing to the attack. I jumped on my pony and rode
out alone into the plain to reconnoitre ; and seeing that this was

true, cantered into Bulhdr again, and on my way to M Js

quarters I called to the daffedar to turn out my fifteen mounted

men. When M and I came out again, both mounted,

we found my police ready and in the saddle, attired rather
curiously, for most of the men had only found time to put on
their turbans, and had their cartridge-belts strapped over what-
ever clothes they had worn when lounging about inside their
huts.

As soon as we had got beyond Bulhar we saw the Ba-
Gadabursi advancing slowly over the plain, about seven
hundred yards away, and reining in we fired a couple of rounds
from the saddle, and returned the carbines to their buckets,
then, drawing swords, advanced at a gallop. The Ba-Gadabursi,
of whom there were over a hundred mounted and about ten
on foot, bolted at the first shots, and the horsemen were soon
lost to sight in the haze of the Maritime Plain, while the men
on foot, seeing themselves abandoned, tried to hide in the grass,
but were all caught by my men and brought in as prisoners,
one being slightly wounded by a sword-point through the arm.
With the men were brought in seventeen spears and some

shields, which M gave to the prisoners when he released

them next day.

The Ba-Gadabursi were quiet for a week after this ; and
then, on another morning, a runner came to report that they
were again coming in force, this time on foot. Our ponies
had all been knocked up by scouting for hill-raiders in the
Selei direction on the previous day, so we called our available

Gr

82

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

men out on foot. M took command of the fifteen dis-

mounted policemen, while I collected my own sepoys and an
infantry guard then stationed at Bulhar ; they amounted to
about thirty rank and file, all belonging to the Bombay infantry.
While the Ba-Gadabursi were still quite a thousand yards aw^ay,

M , having drawn up the police along the sea-shore, gave

the signal we had agreed upon, firing two volleys at the distant
line of a few hundred natives. They bolted at once, and I had
a running skirmish with them for half an hour over two or
three miles of grassy plain, after which we lost touch of them
altogether. We found, however, some fifteen men hiding in
the grass or diving about in the surf, and one wounded man,
and brought them all in, with a collection of some thirty spears
thrown away in the retreat. Most of these were given back
next day.

There was a lull after this, but on the following day half a
dozen elders of the offending tribe came in and called upon

M , and we held a council with them outside his quarters,

a large crowd of spectators coming from Bulhar village to look
on. The elders, led by Warsama DugM, explained that they
had no quarrel with the Government, but only with the Boho.
Their young men had, however, been boasting a good deal, not
seeing why they should be kept out of Bulhar, saying that they
did not care for the Government, and would go in and burn the
town. The elders had then given them Punch’s advice, “ Don’t,”
but they had not listened to it. “Now,” said the elders to

M , “you have fired upon our boys; that was bad of you,

but next time they will listen to our advice.” After we had
shaken hands cordially with them, for they were all personally
known to us, they rode away to Eil Sheikh. The wounded
man, who had only received a bullet through the foot, was put
under medical treatment, and in a few days limped out to his

tribe. Soon after the second skirmish M brought the Boho

and Ba-Gadabursi to a settlement, only to break out again some
months later.

Meanwhile, on 1st February I was free to start for the
interior on my survey trip. I had arranged to go in by So
Midg^n and Eil Anod to the Interior Plains, and thence to
strike through the Maritime Bange to Berbera. My caravan
consisted of eighteen Aden hill camels with Arab drivers, seven-
teen sabres of Indian mounted police, and ten Bombay infantry
sepoys. We drove with us a small herd of Aden donkeys, so

IV

GO VERNMENT EX PL ORA T10NS

83

that the sepoys could either ride or pack their valises on them.
We arrived at So Midg&n, twenty-three miles from Buih&r, at
dusk, and next day marched to Eil A nod, ten miles farther.
We expected to come upon the Habr Gerhajis tribe, which was
supposed to be slightly hostile to the British, and was noted for
raiding ; and as we passed the spurs of the Sarar-awr (camel-
back) plateau, on the way to Eil Anod, we saw the tops of the
hills white with sheep and lined with men, who were in a great
state of alarm, shouting down at us. Later we found a karia
with only a few women in it, who said all the men had run
away, thinking we had come to loot them ! Knowing mounted
men cannot climb hills, they had taken the precaution to drive
the flocks up, taking charge of them for the time being, and
leaving the women to mind the rest of their property below.

We reassured these women, who then ran up and brought
down the men, and after a short conference the flocks were
driven into the plain again. The owners of the karia turned
out to be a jilib or family of the Habr Gerhajis, and soon an
intelligent-looking young man who had lost one leg came forward
mounted on a pony and shook hands. He was Deria Shire, the
son of an important elder of the Habr Gerhajis tribe named
Shire Shirmaki, whom I afterwards met and made great friends
with during the elephant -hunting trip described in the last
chapter. The latest news I have heard of Deria Shire, who,
although a well-mannered young man, is rather a scoundrel, was
to the effect that two or three years after our meeting he speared
his old father in the leg, nearly killing him. I found him very
polite, and he accompanied us to the wells, remarking that he
had not the slightest knowledge why we had come, and that his
tribe were very suspicious. No other white man had ever been
to Eil Anod before, and he did not quite see why we had come
now.

We found a few men at the Eil Anod wells, who received us
with black looks, and we took possession of one of the old
zeribas and put a sentry over a well reserved for our own use.
Deria Shire left us, saying that he could not be responsible for
what his tribe might do ; we had come armed with guns and
were strong, and he hoped we would leave him alone. Mean-
while, as we were pitching camp, my interpreter, Samanter,
went to the wells and got into conversation with some tribesmen
lounging there. He came back to me in a great state of excite-
ment, saying he had reliable information that we were to be

84

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

attacked that night, and that I was to make a strong zertba,
and not leave camp myself nor allow any of the men to do so.

There was plenty of game in the Eil A nod plain, and as I
thought, if I followed Samanter’s advice, the Habr Gerhajis
would be strengthened in their belief that we meant harm, I
decided to fortify the zerlba, and leaving fifteen men inside, to
sally out myself with the ten others, and beat the jungle for
game. We made a circuit of the bush within two miles of camp,
and obtained a mixed bag of three hares and six Sakdro antelopes.
At dusk, carrying our game, we returned to the zerlba, on the
way passing a large tree where about a hundred and fifty men
were collected, all having spears, and a few saddled ponies were
grazing round the tree. These people took no further notice
than to scowl as we passed.

♦ After we had reached the zerlba I came out again with two
sepoys and the interpreter, and walking up to the tree where
the tribesmen were collected, I called out, “ Salaam aleikum ”
(Peace be with you). There was no answer for some time, and
then an old man with a white beard and a wicked-looking, clean-
shaven skull, treated me to a surly stare and mumbled, “Salaam.”
Then he looked down and spat on the ground, and began absent-
mindedly scratching the earth with a bit of stick, and then
smoothing out the marks with his hands. The rest of the crowd
remained silent, all looking sulky and mischievous. Some were
gazing at us with a rude stare, others were shading their eyes
with their hands, or hiding behind their tobes. My interpreter
harangued them, asking why I was received so coldly by the
tribe. There was a long pause till two old men cleared their
throats and looked at each other, and without rising one of them
spoke. “ Wary a ninki Frinji” (I say, foreigner) was the be-
ginning of his speech, and it was translated into Hindustani by
Samanter as the old man went on.

The gist of his remarks was that the tribesmen wanted to
know why I had brought all these soldiers into the Habr
Gerhajis country, and whether we had come to steal cattle, for
if so, we had better go back again, as they had none. There
was plenty of cattle among the other tribes.

We had come, my interpreter said, on a peaceful mission, to
report upon the trade routes, and to ascertain whether they
were safe for caravans coming to trade in Berbera and Bulhdr.
There was a good deal of loud discussion among the assembled
men, and then the old man who had first spoken, becoming more

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85

friendly, said that he and his tribe knew nothing about the
looting of caravans. He accused all the sub-tribes around of
looting, but said the Abdul Ish&k never looted, and I was to tell
the Government. At that time the Abdul Ish&k, Habr Gerhajis,
were well known as the most persistent looters of caravans, but
I promised to convey the message to the authorities, and made
the old man happy. Peace was now restored, and we spent a
quiet night, the Abdul Ishak sending us several vessels of milk ;
and in the morning we parted amicably, and continued our trip,
eventually reaching Berbera.

“ SAKARO ” ANTELOPE.

This incident at Eil Anod, only thirty miles from the coast,
shows how little Europeans were trusted or known in the early
days of the British Protectorate. Many shooting parties have
been through the Habr Awal and Habr Gerhajis countries of
late years, but at that time the country was quite unexplored,
even close to the coast.

About a month after the Eil Anod incident we set out from
Berbera on another trip, this time going to Mandeira, and thence
up the Jerato Pass to Syk, in the high Ogo country.

I heard that the Kdsin Ish4k, a clan of the Habr Gerhajis,
were at Syk, and expected trouble ; but when we reached the
Syk fig-tree we found only a few of the elders, who said that

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

they had received a good report of us from the Abdul Ishak
clan, which had met us on the former journey at Eil A nod, and
so they had been waiting to receive us hospitably. I had left
my camp at Mandeira, about fifteen hundred feet below, and
had come up the Jerdto Pass with seven troopers as an escort.
On reaching Berbera we marched to Bulh&r along the coast-
track, and on 26th April made another exploring trip to the
Interior Plains, returning to Berbera and thence to Aden, where
I completed my map of the Habr Awal country for Government.

In the following autumn, although not sent on duty, I
obtained six weeks’ leave to Somaliland, on condition I would
do a map of my route for Government. I was anxious to go
to Zeila and make an exploration through the Gadabursi hills,
coming out at the coast again at Bulh&r. So far the hills
between Zeila and Bulhar were unknown. On this trip I was
in company with three friends, two of whom, finding game scarce,
soon returned to Zeila. I held on, however, and we struck
without guides through the mountains, finally reaching Dfmis,
near Bulhar, having traversed the last sixty miles with only
three pints of water per man. This caused some suffering from
thirst, which the men were able to partly alleviate at Eil Sheikh
by jumping into the sea and moistening their skins. One
pony died from the effects of this march the day after we
reached Bulhar.

We had timed our trip at a bad season for game, and- the
only satisfaction wdiich I got for fitting out a very expensive ex-
pedition, and for a good deal of hardship, was a map of hitherto
unexplored country.

In 1887 I made the two big-game trips recorded in the last
chapter, and in 1889 a short shooting trip to G61is, which w^as
of minor importance. In 1891 I was ordered to place myself at
the disposal of the Resident at Aden in order to reconnoitre the
trade routes in the Dolbahanta, Habr Toljaala, Jibril Abokr,
Esa, and Gadabursi countries. My brother, Lieut, (now^
Captain) E. J. E. Sw'ayne, 16th Bengal Infantry, whom I will

call E -, was deputed to assist in the survey, and joined me

at Calcutta as I passed through that place on my way from
Mandalay to Aden. We reached the Somali coast in February,
and started with thirty-two Somalis and one Madras “boy.”
There were twenty-six baggage camels, and we each rode a
camel led by a SomMi at walking pace. Going by Dub4r and
Sheikh, we arrived after eleven days at Alla-uli, a watering-

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87

place in a narrow valley just behind the crest of the highest
bluffs of the G61is Range, at an elevation of six thousand feet
above sea-level.

On the following day, after establishing a small camp on the
top of Fodwein Bluff, we chose our theodolite station within a
short distance of the edge of Fodwein, which falls several
hundred feet sheer to the Mirso ledge below. This was the first
of a long chain of stations for fixing the main positions on our
route, by observations of the stars for azimuth and latitude, with
a six-inch transit theodolite.

We remained here four days, and obtained a good azimuth on
to a point on a small hill called Yirrowa, fifty-five miles away to
the east of south, on the main route to the Dolbahanta country.
Looking towards Yirrowa from the top of Golis we could see
only one immense expanse of dark brown bush, becoming quite
blue in the distance and looking like a sea-horizon, broken only
by the small hill Yirrowa, and a long, light blue line, dancing
high above the horizon in the heat haze and mirage, which
indicated the Bur Dab Range, two days7 march beyond Yirrowa.

The whole of the country ahead was unmapped, the first
European caravans to go so far south being those of Colonel
Paget to the south-west of us, and of Mr. Clarke, which had
gone to the interior a few days before towards the south-east.
Eventually we left both these caravans far to the west.

From our elevated position, which was now 6800 feet above
the sea, we had a fine view of the Maritime Ranges and Berbera
Plain, and obtained a back azimuth on the Berbera Masjid
tower, thirty-five miles distant. It was cold at night, the
thermometer going down to 58°, with a chilling drizzle and
clouds of mist which often enveloped us, making observations
impossible.

On the 22nd we marched back to Upper Sheikh, and while
camped near the graves at night, the mullahs from Guldu
Hamed ran to us crying that looters were coming down. Men
were running by, who said they were Habr Gerhajis, and that
their cattle had been lifted by a neighbouring tribe. We
remained under arms for awhile and then turned in. Next
morning it transpired that the camels had been allowed to stray,
and had afterwards been found.

We marched six miles to Dubbur, the last water before we
should reach Ber, about sixty miles farther, and filled our
casks. Here we entered the great wooded and undulating water-

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

less plains, crossing the Habr Toljaala boundary soon after leav-
ing Dubbur, and always holding south-east. On the east a long
low range of hills shut in the view, but west and south of us
was one immense forest of small thorn-trees, except on the
margin of the sand-rivers, where some of the guda thorn-trees
reached a height of fifty or sixty feet. In a river-bed, called
Goite, horsemen of the Habr Gerhajis, from Bur’o, came to hold
a mounted parade in our honour.

On 27th February we reached Yirrowa, and chose another
theodolite station. There were several curious flat hillocks and
cairns of stones, called Taalla Galla, perched about the corners
of the Yirrowa Hill, and here we got an azimuth on to Bur Dab
Bange, still blue in the distance.

At a thickly-wooded pasture called Ber, five miles farther, in
the valley of Tug Der> we found water at a depth of ten feet in
twelve wells. Very heavy floods sometimes come down this
valley, as can be seen by the large trunks of trees everywhere
stranded along the cut banks of the watercourse, which is at
places one hundred and fifty yards broad. The Tug Der
freshets, coming from Bur’o, pass east into the Nogal Valley, and
so to the Indian Ocean.

We were told that there were always from fifty to five
hundred robbers in the Bur Dab Bange, and passing caravans
were often looted. It has been the custom of these robbers, who
belong to the Mahamud Ger&d, Saad Yunis, and Musa Abokr
tribes living near the coast farther east, to loot across this Ber
Plain every year, going right up to Guldu Hamed. When
raiding they only water their ponies once in three or four days.
Near Ber we found tracks of forty horsemen, and ascertained
that they were those of a Dolbahanta force, which a month
before had gone to loot the Habr Gerhajis pastures at Bur’o, but
had been driven back, losing three ponies.

Several ragged-looking Somalis, with the usual spears and
shield, came into camp and insisted on being fed ; they had
gone to Bur Dab to recover some camels looted from them three
days before, but on reaching, the mountain they had first seen
vultures hovering about, and had then discovered the robbers in
great force sitting over a feast of the carcases of the stolen
camels ; and being afraid to attack, they had returned dis-
heartened, hungry, thirsty, and tired. They told us that
Colonel Paget and his brother had their camp near Wadama-go,
ahead of us, where they were shooting lions. The Pagets had

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89

already had one sharp skirmish with Bur Dab robbers, being
obliged, we heard, to use their rifles freely in self-defence.

We reached Kirrit wTell, near Wadama-go, on 3rd March.
There were numbers of old graves here, and the well, supposed
to have been dug out of the gypsum rock by ancient Dallas, is
very curious. At the mouth it is a hole twenty feet in
diameter, narrowing as it descends, with a rude cross quarried
out of the face. To get water, one has to descend twenty feet,
and then crawl along a narrow rocky passage for thirty feet to a
very deep pool, six feet wide and thirty feet long. It is quite
dark, and there is a strong smell of sulphuretted hydrogen, with
which the wrater is impregnated from the gypsum rock. The
water is disagreeable to drink, and causes diarrhoea. Bobbers
from Bur Dab often use this well when on their raids. The
gypsum rock is very smooth and white, and in some places
presents the appearance of the flagstone flooring of a cathedral,
being split up into squares. The graves, which are made of
these rocks, are generally plastered over with powdered gypsum.

Next day we marched across a broad tributary valley of
the Nogal to a flat-topped hill called Daba Dal61, eight miles to
the east. We crossed the tracks of Colonel Paget’s caravan,
and the next day received a note from him concerning some
robbers he had taken prisoners.

Near Daba Daldl was a mullahs’ village named Kob-Fard6d,
with a little cultivation. These people told us that the
Mahamud Ger&d were out against the Arasama, another sub-
tribe of the Dolbahanta, and that there had been a fight, two
days’ march ahead on our route.

Here we had a scare among the camelmen. At noon,
while the camels and horses were watering at the well, two
miles from camp, under a weak guard of three riflemen, one of
them ran in to say they had been attacked and the camels

looted. E went out with a portion of our escort to search

for the missing camels ; but they had only gone half a mile
when fifteen horsemen, the supposed enemy, cantered up and
shouted that they were Arasama, and that they had come three
days’ march to welcome us into the Dolbahanta country. They
told us that more than a dozen caravans were in their country,
afraid to go to Berbera on account of the Mahamud Ger^d.
One caravan had even gone round to Berbera by way of the
Hand, preferring to go through waterless country and carry ten
days’ water on the camels, rather than run the risk of being

90

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

looted. They also declared that we were the first Europeans
in this country, and denied all knowledge of some Italians who
were reported to have already come to Bur Dab. Here we met
gum-pickers, wandering about the jungle, collecting gum in sacks.

The Arasama, to whom we had given presents at Daba-Dal61,
followed us through the Ain Valley, giving great annoyance by
loud-voiced demands for more. Wherever we halted we were
at once surrounded by a crowd of elders, clamouring for tobes.
They were dragged from hand to hand, with a chorus of angry
shouts, the bald-headed old chiefs looking like human vultures.

""t We halted at a steep, flat-topped hill called Kabr Og&den, or
the Og&den graves, where a great Qg&den army once perished
at the hands of the Dolbahanta. The whole country was dotted
with G&lla cairns, one of these curious structures being visible
on every hilltop. From the summit of the hill we got a splendid
view of the broad Nogal Valley, and chose our theodolite station
at a Galla cairn on the highest point.

Next day, followed by the Arasama headmen, still clamouring
for tobes, we marched to their great watering-place, Eil Dab
(rocky well). The tribe was here in strength, with enormous
droves of camels and ponies and flocks of sheep. For a mile
round the wells there were clouds of dust, kicked up by the
thirsty animals. The water in the wells, which are caves in
gypsum rock, was very foul. Vulturine guinea-fowl abounded.
We marched due south, crossing to the south side of the Nogal,
but could not shake off the Arasama, who followed us on their
ponies, continually demanding presents and refusing to be
satisfied with what we gave. One old chief presented us with
a sheep, but not liking my return present of two tobes, he crept
into our zerfba at night and stole his sheep back, while a friend
of his engaged the attention of our sentry.

At our Biyo Ado camp more elders from other tribes joined

the Arasama, and while E and I were up the hill with the

theodolite, they issued forth and looted some camels of the
Allegiri tribe which were seen passing four miles out on the
plain. They also took three men prisoners, but we eventually
forced them to release both camels and prisoners. The Allegiri
brought us news of a fight between the Arasama and Barkad
Gerdd on one side and Mahamud Gerad on the other, in which
the latter were successful.

Next day, while we were away watering our ponies, the
Arasama issued from our camp, and chasing two Allegiri, whom

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91

they had seen from the hill, brought them in as hostages for
exchange with some looted camels. Finding the prisoners on
our return we released them, and after turning all the Arasama
elders neck and crop out of camp, we gave out that we intended
to be friends with all tribes and would not be mixed up in their
quarrels.

Followed by a large number of avaricious elders, we marched
north-east to Badwein, where we found more wells, and a large
tank of water, four hundred yards in circumference, with per-
pendicular sides forty feet deep, supposed to have been excavated
in the limestone rocks by ancient GMlas ; but the water was
utterly unfit for human consumption. Bums, which rise half
smothered from among a tangle of aloes and thorn-jungle close
by, cover an area of forty thousand square yards, and in some

of the houses the walls are still ten feet high. E rode into

a large house or temple, to find it two hundred feet long and
one hundred feet wide, divided by a number of partition walls.
They are built of limestone, much decomposed by rains, and are
supposed to be the work of the G&llas, but no one knows who
built them. Some of the Somalis say they date back to the
time of a race before the GMlas. The people at Badwein had
just come from Gosaweina, driven from there through fear of
the Mahamud Ger4d, and we were assured we should certainly
be attacked by that tribe if we held to our determination of
going to Gosaweina. We were further told that the plains were
very open and the horsemen “ as numerous as the sand,” and
that some years ago a force of natives armed with one hundred
matchlocks had been completely wiped out there by a night
attack.

Marching eastward, we soon entered the open grass plains,
where we saw the smouldering zerfbas of the Arasama and
Barkacl Ger4d sub-tribes, which had fled before the Mahamud
Gerad. The next day we held across the open plains to
Gosaweina, and had scarcely started when a party of horsemen
was seen halted on some low hills to the north ! We, however,
kept straight on, and the horsemen, constantly increasing in
numbers, followed, moving parallel to us on the higher ground.

Without halting the camels, we whistled the men up, and
they formed line, and moved out to protect the caravan. The
horsemen came towards us at a gallop, but pulled up on our
running with a few men towards them. On getting up to them
my men were greatly relieved in their minds to find that instead

92

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA cuAt*.

of the terrible Mahamud Gerad, they were a detachment of the
Arasama and Barkad Gerad, who had been out protecting their
flocks and herds at Eil Dab and Badwein by scouting for the
Mahamud Ger4d. They followed us to Gosaweina, clamouring
for cloth, and hobbling their horses, they made a bivouac on the
plain with us at night. We did not light fires, not wishing to
attract the Mahamud Gerdd. The horsemen told us that rain
had fallen in the plain to the north, below Bur Dab, and that at
Waredad there was a pool full of water.

We had now mapped the Dolbahanta country to the head of
the Nogal Valley, and the time had arrived for our return to
the coast. We ran the gauntlet of the begging Arasama elders
back to Eil Dab, and then struck due south, crossing Bur Dab
Range by a pass called Laba Gardai, which descended into the
Waredad Plain below. While we were in camp at Eil Dab
some of our escort, losing patience, began firing with blank
cartridge at the excited mob of Arasama who wrere pressing
round camp demanding tobes. The elders brought in what they
declared to be a wounded man, and made the occurrence the
text for a further demand that we should pay blood-money or
fight the tribe ; but we found it was only an old half-healed
scar, and laughed at them.

A trading caravan, anxious to go to Berbera, but fearing the
robbers who infest Bur Dab, took advantage of our protection
for the next few days. In this caravan the women were to the
men as six to one, and had it been attacked when alone it would
have fallen an easy prey to a small party of raiders. To place
so much valuable property almost entirely in the charge of
defenceless women is putting temptation in the way of the
robber bands, and often the owners have only themselves to
blame.

We reached Arreged, a deep ravine in the middle of the Bur
Dab Range, and during the night two men were seen skulking
in the bush near camp. On the 20th, taking three men and a
theodolite, I ascended Bur Dab, and choosing a station for star
observations, spent the night on the top of the hill. In the
morning before descending to camp we explored the interior of
the range, and found that all the plateaux of which it was formed
dropped sheer dowrn into a large basin seamed by watercourses
and tunnelled everywhere by caves. The regularity of the
strata and their water-worn appearance led us to believe Bur
Dab to be composed of limestone, and not a volcano, as stated

IV

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93

by some Italian travellers. Possibly they confounded Bur Dab
and Bur D&b, the former meaning “ rocky hill,” and the latter
“ hill of fire.” The caves inside afford a retreat for robbers, who
are said never to leave the mountain.

On going down to camp I found that E- and his followers

had been kept on the alert throughout the night by men
prowling round. They were visible in the moonlight, but

E would allow no firing, as they made off whenever he

went to see who they were. On our return to Berbera we
heard that fifty robbers had reconnoitred our Arreged camp,
and had made off westward for Kirrit, thinking we had come
to Bur Dab to look for them. Having been severely handled
in their attack on Colonel Paget’s party, they did not care to
come into collision with Europeans again. Further native
information was given us regarding this attack, it being re-
ported that the robbers had lost three killed and ten wounded.
As we did not visit Colonel Paget’s camp, we could hear no
reliable account of what happened.

Marching through the Habr Toljaala country, we reached
the eastern continuation of Golis Bange and descended by
the Huguf Pass. Near Huguf we divided our caravan into two

parts ; I marched to Berbera via Karam, while E ascended

Wagar Mountain, two days’ march to the west of Huguf, to
take observations. He marched over steep rolling ground,
gradually ascending, and then through a narrow gorge to Sisai,
at the back of Wagar. Sisai is a grassy hollow between the
two principal peaks of Wagar, which are called by different
names, the peak to the east being Bak4wa, and the one to the
west, and highest, Taw&wur (nearly seven thousand feet).
Everywhere the hills are clothed with thick vegetation, and the
grass is succulent and green, and many fat cattle of the
Mahomed Esa were seen. The trees are chiefly mountain cedar
and hassadan , a kind of euphorbia, affording a dense shade.
The party ascended Tawawur from Sisai by a good path,
passing through heavy timber of cedar and hassadan , the soil
everywhere being hidden by the rich vegetation. About half-
way up the party reached a long glade of green grass two feet
high, which wetted them to the knees as they walked through.
At the side of this glade the cedar-trees were straight, and
starting with a girth of from ten to fifteen feet, rose to a height
of ninety to one hundred feet, the hassadan trees attaining a
height of about seventy feet. Opening out from this glade in

94

THROUGH S OMA LILA ND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

all directions were excellent paths through the forest made by
elephants, and plunging into one of them, they reached the top
of Tawdwur. They climbed on to an enormous boulder capping
the top. Looking over a vast expanse of white clouds, they
waited for them to clear away, but after four hours a fog came

up and necessitated a retreat. E saw countless varieties

of birds, and heard the voice of a panther in the valley, and at
times koodoo could be heard crashing through the jungle as the
party advanced. About thirty varieties of flowers were gathered,
of great beauty.

E made two ascents of Tawdwur and one of Bakawa,

and working down the spurs of Bergeli, he reached camp at
Asseil. It was very cold at night at Sisai, and the temperature
throughout the day was 70°, except at noon, when it rose to 78°

Fahr. E then descended again with his caravan to the

plain below Huguf, and marching to the coast, reached Berbera
a few days before I arrived by the coast route from Karam.

The expedition to the Dolbahanta country was followed by
a second to the Jibril Abokr sub-tribe of the Habr Awal, living
in the hills north-west of Hargeisa and in the open plains near
the Harar border. We took twenty-three men, of whom sixteen
carried rifles, and twenty-four camels. The caravan left Berbera
on 21st May, going south-west. We made a moonlight march
to Nasfya tree in the Maritime Plain. Next day we came upon
an immense cloud of locusts, which were seen daily till the
26th, often darkening the sky.

On the 28th we ascended a plateau under the crest of Gan
Libah,1 which is the farthest west of the Golis bluffs, and a
conspicuous landmark ; it was on the highest point of Gdn
Libah, at an elevation of six thousand feet, that we chose our
theodolite station. We climbed the mountain to a point some
four miles south of the edge of the bluff, and camped ; and next
morning I made an exploration through the cedar-forests to the
highest point, from which the whole of the low country to the
north can be seen, including Berbera and Bullidr. I found,
however, that owing to the steep nature of the ground, it would
be impossible to get the theodolite uninjured to the station we
had chosen. We subsequently found the three points, Berbera,
Bulhdr, and Gdn Libah, nearly formed an equilateral triangle,
with a side of about forty-two miles.

The distance covered by the exploration was only eight
1 Literally “Lion Hand Mountain.”

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95

miles, but it occupied five hours, as the mountain was cut up by
deep ravines, while the high trees, growing close together and
festooned with creepers, obstructed the path. At the edge of
the bluffs are cliffs on every side, and a beautiful jungle with
a great variety of flowers and plants, especially luxuriant
maiden-hair fern, and mosses. We struck camp and made for
the lower plateau, losing ourselves among a network of steep
ravines, but eventually reached a plain from which stood out a
rounded rock called Dagah Kaburaleh, and we camped in a
grassy hollow at its foot.

Later on we struck south through the khansa jungle to Ber

in Khansa. E saw a lioness, but she bounded into the

long grass before he had a chance of getting a shot. Leaving
him at the Ber camp, I made a reconnaissance into the open
prairie of Toyo, sleeping out two nights without a tent, and
shooting for the first time two hartebeests, afterwards described
by Dr. Sclater as Swayne’s Hartebeest ( Bubalis swaynei).

Returning to Ber, and finding E gone, I followed in his

tracks, and halted for the night at a pasture called Tal4wa-yer,
among the karias of the Kasin Ish&k, Habr Gerhajis. As I was
riding ahead of the caravan, towards sunset, looking out for a
dead tree near which to camp, and so save labour in collecting
firewood, some karia people came running to report that a
panther had just struck down a goat, and been driven off by the
herd-boys. 1 ordered the men to pitch camp and walked over
to the body of the goat. We built a screen of boughs two feet
high, taking ten minutes over the work, and then, with the
setting sun scorching our backs, I sat down with my two
hunters behind the screen, and only five yards from the goat.
Several men, who had helped us to make the brushwood screen,
then walked away towards camp, purposely talking aloud to
lead the brute to suppose we had all gone together ; when they
were only a hundred yards away I looked towards the goat and
saw the panther standing over it, his tail towards me. I fired,
and hit him high on the left side, the bullet raking forward,
when he rolled over. On looking under the smoke I finished
him with a second shot as he lay twisting and growling in the
grass ; and we carried him to camp and skinned him by firelight.
This was the first panther I bagged, though I had seen many.
At dawn I continued the march, and arrived at my brother’s
halting-place before noon.

We made several marches westward, and on 8th June

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSS/NLA chap.

reached Hargeisa. This town is built some five hundred yards
from the right bank of the Aleyadera nala, and at an elevation
of thirty or forty feet above it. Round the place is a patch of
jowari cultivation, two and a half miles long and a quarter of a
mile broad. Quantities of live stock of all kinds graze on the
low undulating hills for half a mile from the Aleyadera nala on
either bank. Hargeisa is situated on two important caravan
routes, one from Ogaden and the other from Harar. There are
good direct camel-roads to Berbera and Bulh^r. Supplies of
rice, tobacco, and dates can sometimes be bought here in the
trading season. Some four hundred people are employed look-
ing after the jowari fields, and may be seen sitting on platforms,
shouting and throwing stones to scare birds from the crops.
There is abundance of good water in the bed of the river, and a
masonry well has been built, and is kept in order by an Arab
from Aden. The town is full of blind and lame people, who are
under the protection of Sheikh Mattar and his mullahs. The
soil is red alluvial earth with a thin layer of fine sand on the top,
and is no better than what we had seen in the Tug Der valley,
at Ber, and in the Haud. Jowari crops flourish here as they
would in most of the higher tracts of Somaliland, if the people
were not in a chronic state of petty warfare, and cared to cultivate.

At the time of our visit great anxiety was felt because the
Abyssinian s occupying Harar had threatened to attack Hargeisa,
and had already exacted tribute of cattle from some clans of
the Jibril Abokr, Habr Awal. Sheikh Mattar told us that he
thought if the Abyssinians came down they would choose the
time of the harvest, six weeks later.

From Hargeisa we continued our journey westwards, camping
at AbMrso. Our tents were pitched five yards apart at this
camp, and as I was sitting outside in the balmy air, enjoying
the quiet moonlight scene, I observed a panther crouching under

the outer fly of E ’s tent, evidently stalking something in

the centre of the camp. Diving quickly into my own tent for
a loaded rifle, I came out again, only to find the panther had
sprung into the centre of the camp and seized a milk-goat.
There had been a crowd of men sleeping round the goat, and
to get at it he had leaped over them, placing his paw upon the
face of my brother’s cook, without, however, injuring him. On
the sentry running towards him with the butt of his Snider rifle
raised to strike, the brute dropped the goat and discreetly
sprang over some men and out of the zeriba, and then sneaked

IV

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97

away. The same goat was killed by another panther springing
into camp a few nights later.

We separated our caravans on 14th June, meeting again at
UjawJji on the 17th, among the karias of the Her Yunis Jibril,
Jibril Abokr. The great subject of conversation among the
natives here was the expected approach of an Abyssinian force,
mounted scouts having been thrown out by the tribes, and news
coming in daily.

Near Ujaw^ji the country gradually became more grassy
and open, the thorn-bushes being only thinly scattered about
the plain. We passed a tree called “Mattan,” which was a
conspicuous landmark, and two miles beyond a long hazy yellow
line marked the commencement of the ban or open grass plain,
called the Marar prairie. It was first crossed by Burton, and is
mentioned in First Footsteps in East Africa. A conspicuous
rock, called “Moga Medir,” or “ Jifa Medir” (Moga’s eye-tooth
of Burton), lay ten miles to the west of us on the edge of the
bush. On the evening of our arrival at Ujaw&ji we went out to
shoot hartebeests to provide meat for the men. As we left camp
the bushes gave place to low scrub, and this soon ended also. Then
a curious scene presented itself. As far as the eye "could reach
was an unbroken plain of rolling yellow grass, rising gradually
toward the north, and bounded twenty miles off in that direction
by a waving blue line of hills running along the horizon, and
here and there disappearing below it.

The plains were covered with the camels and ponies of the
Rer Dollol and Rer Yunis Jibril sub-tribes, the number of animals
giving one the idea of a swarm of locusts moving over the
ground. Everything showed up dark against the background of
yellow grass, and single bull hartebeests, knee -deep in grass,
were wandering between the droves of camels, looking like
black dots in the distance. Beyond the masses of domestic
animals we could see, far out on the plains, long dark lines,
which, by using the glasses, we made out to be vast herds of
hartebeests, beisa, and Soemmerring’s gazelles. The rich soil,
of a reddish brown colour, is here and there undermined by
burrowing animals and caved in, making galloping dangerous.
The white ants had built up the earth into ant-hills, whose spires,
from ten to twenty feet high, were dotted over the plain. We
shot two hartebeests, both good bulls, and returned to camp with
the meat and trophies, being caught by a heavy downpour of
rain on the way.

H

98

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

Early next morning we had to witness a great equestrian
display by the Ker Dollol and Yunis Jibril horsemen, given in
our honour. After the dibaltig they told us there had been
fighting at some wells near us the day before, the Gadabursi
having attacked them from the west, killing one man and
wounding another ; and also that an elephant had been killed,
not far away, by Midg&ns, with poisoned arrows.

We had promised the Jibril Abokr that we would wait at
Ujawdji to hear further news of the Abyssinians, and to record
the complaints of the elders, for submission to Government ;
meanwhile, having been told by the horsemen in the morning
that lions were numerous in the Jifa bush, we resolved to go and
look for them there, taking with us the camp. The Jibril Abokr
lent us horsemen to help us search for lion-tracks, and we started
ahead of the caravan, sitting on camels led by gun-bearers.

We got away from camp late in the morning, and besides the
men we had engaged, we were followed by a crowd of horsemen,
anxious to witness our shooting, and to come in for a share of
any venison we might obtain on the plains between Ujaw&ji and
Jifa. Soon we found ourselves in the open, masses of game
giving way before us as we advanced. The size of the party
prevented our coming within close range, but we wounded a bull

hartebeest, and E , mounting one of the Somali ponies, gave

chase, with a hog-spear in his hand. The hartebeest is known to
be the most enduring of the antelopes, having a long and un-
tiring stride, and though E circled round the horizon,

followed by two horsemen, at a great pace, it gradually increased
its distance, and finally disappeared into one of the wave-like
dips of the ground.

Presently a party of horsemen appeared galloping towards us,
nowand then hidden by the rolling ground, and arriving in front
of our party they circled their ponies, and giving the com-
plimentary “Mot!” came up and shook hands. They informed
us that they had marked down three lions in the grass, on the
plain, eight miles away in the Jifa direction ; and assured us the
lions would be found in the same place, as six horsemen had been
placed to form a cordon round them, and they would be afraid to
move from the shelter of a patch of rather high grass. The men
said that these lions must have been living within the edge of the
Jifa bush, prowling out on the great plains at night in order to
stalk the herds of antelopes, and that they must have killed some-
thing the night before, and being gorged and lazy, the break of

IV

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99

day had caught them while still in the open, on their way back
to the bush to lie up for the day. These horsemen had been on
their way to Ujaw&ji from Jifa to perform the dibdltig at our
camp, but seeing the lions, and knowing that we were keen to
get at them, they had circled them in, and compelled them to sit
down on the plain and wait for us. Posting six vedettes, they
had then come to give the news.

It was now about one o’clock and very hot, but we pressed
on, resisting all temptation to fire at any of the game around for
fear of disturbing the lions ; for a shot can be heard at a great
distance on these plains. Towards four o’clock we saw one of
the vedettes looming out of the haze, and then another. It was,
however, a long time before we could make out the lions, which
the men were pointing out. They were five hundred yards away,
trying to take shelter from the pitiless sun in a patch of grass
about two feet high ; all we could see being two indistinct dark
spots half hidden in grass, and on one of these moving slightly,
we recognised it to be the head of a remarkably fine lion. Beyond
the lions, more than half a mile away, was another horseman,
sitting motionless in the saddle, and looking like a waving palm-
tree, the horse’s legs appearing elongated in the haze and mirage.

The Somalis who had been watching the brutes said they had
been in this spot all day, getting up to roar now and then, but,
knowing by experience the powers of the Somali horsemen in
the open, they had not attempted to make a bolt towards the
bush, which loomed up in a quivering blue line some ten miles
to the north. Considering the heat of the sun, and that they
had neither food nor water, these horsemen had stuck to the
lions with great perseverance, and we felt that we owed it to
them to crown their hard work by straight shooting.

We guessed that the brutes must be in an uncommonly bad
temper after having been kept out in the full glare of the sun
for ten hours : for lions like to sleep under the shade of dense
bush during the heat of the day. The grass in this part of the
plain was fresh and green, and looked almost like an English
lawn, there having been rain about three weeks previous. We
dismounted, and my brother and I, each accompanied by a
Somali, walked towards the lions.

The account of what followed is taken partly from what I

saw, and partly from E -’s verbal description ; for, being

unconscious part of the time, I was not in a condition to know
all that passed.

100

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA ch. iv

As we approached within two hundred and fifty yards there
was a commotion in the grass — a fine black-maned lion sprang
out, and was immediately followed by another, nearly as large,
but with a yellow mane. They both stood up and looked back
at us for a moment and then trotted away. We walked after
them, hoping they would lie down again ; but as we passed to
the right of the patch of grass where they had been lying, at
about a hundred yards’ distance, I saw a lioness stretched out
flat, with her head between her paws. She was facing us, and
as we passed she rose for a moment, and then glanced towards
the retreating lions, but crouched down again, her head just
visible above the grass, and never ceased growling savagely.
We went straight on at the same pace, till we were between her
and the line of retreat. She was growling louder and louder,
and I walked across her front to get a chance at her left shoulder,

while E stood ready, when she rose, to fire at her chest.

We stood seventy yards apart, the lioness being seventy yards
from each of us, our three positions thus forming an equilateral

triangle. The lioness moved, and E -, calling out that he

could see her chest, immediately fired.

The bullet hit her too high, and, as we afterwards found
out, in the withers clear of the spine, the wound causing her
to spin round like a top several times in a cloud of red dust,
as if hunting her own tail, so that I could see nothing to fire
at. From the disturbance in the grass and the savage growls,
we decided she must be mortally hit, and were preparing to
walk up to her, when suddenly from the obscuring dust she
came out, charging for me at full speed. She ran extended
along the ground, like a greyhound, and came so fast that I
had only time to raise my rifle, and when the bead of the
foresight was somewhere under her chin, I fired. Quickly
shifting my finger to the left trigger when she was only
five yards away, I pulled again, and then jumped to one
side, the rifle still at my shoulder. I remember nothing more,
except that her head came through the smoke and I was half
conscious of being lifted off my feet and sent flying through
the air, with the lioness hanging on to my shoulder, growling
horribly !

On coming to, I found that I was standing up streaming

with blood, and E and the two hunters were helping me off

with my shirt, the lioness lying dead on the grass at my feet.
There were eight deep fang wounds in my right arm and

JUNGLE OF HIG” ALOES AND GU DA ” THORN-TREES.

Henweina Valley, Gan-Libah Mountain in the distance. ( From a Photograph by the Author.)

CHAP. IV

GOVERNMENT EXPLORATIONS

103

shoulder.1 My brother probed them with a bit of stick wrapped
in a shred of tobe ; and then we looked around for the lions,
and saw that they were no longer visible ; but E — — said that
all the horsemen had followed them, intending to ride them to a
standstill and force them to come to bay.

My wounds, owing probably to the severe shock and weak-
ness from loss of blood, gave me no pain, and when a Somali
came galloping back and offered my brother a pony, saying that
the lions had come to a standstill, I begged him not to bother,
but to try and bag the big black one. I remember hearing
E — — gallop away, and then I must have fainted.

When I came to again, I saw my hunter, Jhma, sitting near
me on the body of the lioness, unconcernedly scrubbing his
teeth with a bit of athei stick. He said he had been waiting for
me to wake, and to tell him what was to be done next. The
other “ Sahib ” had gone away, but J4ma had heard a distant
shot, and concluded he must have come up with the lions again.
But he advised me to wait for the caravan, which he could see
coming over the plain from the east, and mount a camel before
trying to go any farther.

When it came up, all the men crowded round, with horror
on their faces, and asked which of the Sahibs had been killed,
but I got up and said, “ Neither,” and mounting a camel,
directed the camelman to follow the hoof-marks of the ponies
in the turf. How I managed to sit on the camel in my weak
and dazed condition, I do not know. I must have dozed, for
the next thing I saw was a group of dismounted horsemen in
front of my camel, and my brother standing over the most
splendid black-maned lion I have ever beheld.

I attribute my not having stopped the lioness to the fact
that I had been shooting with a very good .577 double rifle,
but in the course of our journeys the triggers had become rather
stiff, making me jerk them off ; and both bullets, going low,
had passed through the brute’s right foot, making small clean

wounds, without expanding. E •, who had his gun open and

was pushing in a fresh cartridge, had been horrified to see both
my shots strike the ground beyond the lioness.

Our two hunters, unlike most Somhlis, who are not generally

a bit afraid of lions, had retired to a little distance. E said

that after firing the second shot I had jumped to the right in a

1 Although at the present time I am not much inconvenienced by the
wounds, my right arm and shoulder are very deeply scarred.

104 THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

CHAP.

perfectly collected manner, but the lioness had slewed round her
tail like the rudder of a boat, and slightly changing her course,
had hit me like a battering-ram and sent me head over heels.
The stock of the rifle was afterwards found to be badly smashed,
either against my shoulder or by falling on the ground, and a
patch of skin off her nose showed where the muzzle had
apparently caught her as I held the gun at the “ present” after
firing. There was also an extensive bruise, about the size of
the recoil pad, on my right shoulder. The lioness lay on me,
shaking me savagely and grabbing at my arm, and E , find-

ing he could not fire without the chance of hitting me, decreased
his distance at a run from seventy yards to only five ; she then
came for him with a grunt, and he stretched her dead at his feet
with a bullet in the chest.

When my brother, having left me in the care of my hunter
Jama, galloped after the other horsemen, he found them halted
round a tuft of high grass, having run the lion to a standstill.
The horse was the one he had ridden when chasing the hartebeest,
and had become lazy from the heat of the sun. The saddle was
an uncomfortable double-peaked Somali one, and the stirrups
being only intended for the big toe, were of course useless to him.

Thus sorrily equipped, E walked the horse forward

cautiously towards the tuft of grass, and while he was still sixty
yards off, the lion poked up his great head to have a look at

him. E pulled in, and, dropping the reins, took a shot

into the grass where he judged the lion’s chest to be. The brute

promptly came on, and E had only time to pick up the

reins in a bunch, turn the pony round, and try to get him to
move by belabouring him over the quarters with the barrels of
his rifle, when the lion arrived ! My brother escaped, however,
unharmed, for before he could get into position to fire, the lion
pulled up, and fell over on his side gasping ; and the next
moment he was dead. When we cut him open we found that
the shot fired when in the tuft of grass had entered his chest,
and when we held the heart up to the light a jagged hole showed
where a piece of lead had passed through it. Yet he had
galloped fifty yards, and nearly made good his charge before
giving in.

We sent a camel for the lioness, and laying the two carcases
side by side, pitched camp close by. Some starving people, who
had wandered from Harar, were glad to make a meal off the
carrion. The third lion escaped, as the Jibril Abokr horsemen,

IV

GOVERNMENT EXPLORATIONS

105

feeling that while we were in the country they were responsible
for our safety, and shocked at the state I was in, refused to take
my brother after him. On the day after the accident we were
delayed in the morning by the bandaging and doctoring wdiich I
had to go through. The only thing we had with us was cocoa-
nut oil, which we had brought for the lamps of the theodolite,
and I do not think its application did the wounds much good.

In the plain round the tents, a quarter of a mile away, were
brown and gray masses entirely composed of hartebeests and beisa,
and nearer were a few solitary bulls, which loomed up on the swell-
ing ground and disappeared in the hollows; their shoulders being
much higher than the quarters, and the legs hidden in the grass,
they appeared to be sitting up. We counted seventeen ostriches
as they suddenly appeared out of the haze, and passed in single
file, at a great pace, half a mile off.

In the evening, the sky being overcast and the air cooler, we
marched five miles towards Bottor wells, on the direct road to
Gebili. Next day we got off the open ban into the thorn-jungle,
and descended into a grassy hollow at the head of the Bottor
Valley. Here there were numbers of high birch-trees covered
with kites’ nests — a noticeable feature of this valley and easily
seen from a distance, the upper branches being bare and the
nests looking like globe signals.

The Ujawdji people, on hearing of my accident, sent several
messengers to inquire how I was getting on, and horsemen came
from most of the Jibril Abokr clans pasturing in the neighbour-
hood, to dibdltig to us before our start for the coast. We held
a council of elders, when the complaints against Abyssinia were
taken down for transmission to Government.

All these elders professed great personal friendship for our-
selves. They said they had been asked for tribute by the
Abyssinian leader Banagiise and had refused it, and were now
expecting that a force would be sent against them. The tribe
had therefore retreated across the Marar Plain from their
pastures, near the curious conical Subbul hills, which could be
seen twenty miles away rising out of the plain ; and they had
been obliged to graze their animals on the poorer pasture at
Ujawaji. The elders said that the Abyssinians had pushed out
and built a fort at Jig-Jiga, about forty miles south of us,
within the farther edge of the Marar Prairie.

On 21st June we passed through Gebili, and reached a spot
in thick jungle with aloe undergrowth, called Armadader. On

100

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

pitching camp here in the evening we found fresh elephant

tracks, and E followed them, returning after dark, having

killed a bull with one shot from my four-bore.

We continued our survey through the mountainous Jibril
Abokr country towards the coast, running the gauntlet of the
Her Hared clan, at that time very turbulent and defiant towards
the British. We had several night alarms, being surrounded
by Rer Hared spies during our march, but were not attacked.

By the end of June my wounds were beginning to become
very troublesome, my right arm swelling to the size of a small
sand-bag, from the shoulder to the wrist, and giving me great
pain. Travelling became almost unendurable, the sterile, broken
hills being fearfully hot, the temperature rising to over 110° in
the shade at certain places. We had now descended to the low
coast country, where the south-west wind of the Hag a season
was at its height, blowing day and night with great fury. It
was impossible to put up a tent at night, and the sand got into
eyes and ears, and stung our faces and necks in a most disagree-
able manner as we marched. The only way to obtain any sleep
was to pile the baggage into a heap and lie under the lee of it.

Since leaving Ujawfiji E had sole charge of the survey,

as I was unable to take observations. When we were still ninety
miles from Bulh4r, fearing that any longer delay in getting
medical help might bring on blood-poisoning, I left E — - in
charge of the expedition, and mounting a camel, accompanied
by a few of my servants, made for Bulhfir by forced marches,
reaching the village on 1st July, twelve days after the accident.
Here I was glad to find a hospital assistant, a native of India,
who looked after the wounds and put me in a fair wny to re-
covery, so that the necessity of going to Aden was obviated. I
was never under the care of a qualified doctor, and was able to
go on with the mapping at Berbera, and to start on an expedi-
tion to the Gadabursi country on 10th September, the wounds
having just healed. This record of our Jibril Abokr trip shows
what an advantage it is to have another European with one in
the interior, for I feel sure the lioness would have finished me
if my brother had not come promptly to the rescue, and but for
his unremitting care after the accident I think I should never
have reached the coast.

On our next expedition for the survey of the Gadabursi
country, our route, skirting to the north of Hargeisa, passed
through Gebili. We crossed the path taken by a powerful force

IV

G 0 VERNMENT EX PL ORA T10NS

107

of the Rer Hared, Jibril Abokr, who were out raiding the
Bahgoba sub-tribe, and I came upon some of the robbers in
rather a curious manner.

Our caravan was marching from Gebili to a small hill called
Bohol-KAwulu, while with four hunters I took a short-cut across
a deep valley, the direct distance being four and a half miles.
We had passed the Gebili sand- river and were working our
way up some low foothills, intersected by deep narrow ravines
having perpendicular sides, and choked with thorn-jungle, when
I observed about fifty vultures circling over a tributary gully.
Thinking a lion might have killed a koodoo, we made our way
towards the place, and found ourselves at the foot of a platform
of ground with nearly perpendicular sides, about forty feet high.
It was above this little plateau that the vultures were circling,
and climbing noiselessly up I peeped over, expecting to see some
dead game.

Instead of this, about thirty yards away were some fifteen
men sitting in a circle round a fire eating camel meat, which
they had been roasting, the carcase of a camel lying close by.
One of the men saw my head above the edge of the platform,
and all of them, giving a look of horror, snatched up their spears
and shields and bolted, only a few having the presence of mind
to take away pieces of meat ! I jumped up and shouted to them
to stop, but they disappeared ; and soon afterwards we obtained
a glimpse of their white tobes as they topped a crag a mile
away, still running hard, after which we never saw them again.

We saw vultures several times during the next two marches,
and once again I came to a smouldering fire and roasting
meat, which had been thrown down in a hurry. The vultures
had been circling and screaming above the place, but as we
approached they all slanted down one after another, wings
extended and motionless, and legs hanging perpendicularly,
showing, in the language of the jungle, that human beings, or
perhaps a lion, had been keeping them from the meat.

Two of our men, who had lagged behind the caravan, saw
another party of twenty men running along with camel meat
slung over their shoulders. All these parties were Rer Hared
robbers who had been engaged in the late raid, and were retiring
in groups with the stolen Bahgoba camels. The raiding tribe
always attacks unexpectedly in a concentrated force, but on the
return journey through the enemy’s country splits up into
small parties, taking to the most hilly ground, and hiding in the

108

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSS /NLA chap.

deepest gullies to avoid observation. Our men were always
very nervous while in the neighbourhood of these robbers ; and
at our night camp at Bohol-K4wulu our Jibril Abokr guide,
rattling his spears together, shouted out a long speech into the
darkness, telling any lurking robbers that we had guns and,
being very powerful, were not fair game. The performance was
gone through quite gravely, all the other men maintaining silence.

When we entered the Gadabursi country we were visited in
camp at Egu by a party of elephant-hunters, who rode up and
said they had taken us for looters and had come to reconnoitre.
We reached the Harasdwa Valley, which was very beautifully
wooded, the undergrowth of red and yellow flowering aloes
harmonising with the light green masses of the ergin plant,
the dull yellow-ochre of the dry grass, and the darker blue-green
of the thorn and hassddan 1 trees. On the evening of 25th
September we passed, near SatUwa, the karias of Ugaz Nur,
till lately the paramount chief of the Gadabursi tribe. This
was the most suitable place we had yet seen for experimental
cultivation, the Sattawa Valley having a fertile appearance,
with deep alluvial earth and very rank vegetation.

As we halted at Sattawa, at sunset, to form camp, there
appeared on the scene Ugaz Nur, his son, and forty spearmen.
He stayed in camp all night, and told us not to go to Biyo-
Kabbba in the Esa country, which lay ahead of us, as he said
the place was full of Abyssinian soldiers, who w7ere building a
fort there, and wTould be likely to attack us. Nur was believed
to be an arch -scoundrel, and intriguing with the Abyssinians,
and w7e were inclined to think he gave us this advice to prevent
our inspecting the fort. He was then in disgrace with the
British authorities because he had captured an Italian traveller
and held him to ransom. He had just been displaced from the
Ugazship, and his brother Elmy had been made paramount
chief of the Gadabursi in his stead. While w7e were in his
camp we heard that his brother Elmy was marching against
him with a force from Zeila ; and soon afterwards I received an
Arabic letter from Elmy himself asking me to help him attack
Niir, or, at any rate, lend some rifles. One of the Ugaz’s sons,
a youth with a large shield, a mop of hair, and tw7o shovel-
headed spears, gained some importance in camp by strutting
about taking frequent oaths that he would kill Mr. Sala, an
Italian traveller, wdien he met him.

1 Euphorbia.

IV

GO VERNMENT EX PL ORA TIONS

109

We left the Gadabursi and entered the Esa country,
cautiously skirting Biyo-Kab6ba without going to the wells.
We found the Esa tribes in a state of ferment because of the
fort the Abyssinians were building.

At 3 p.m. on 30th September, at Arroweina, there arrived
a grizzly-bearded old patriarch called Mudun Golab, an Akil
of the Odahghub, Her Gedi, Esa Ad.1 He made an impressive
speech, saying, “ It is a lie that any of the Esa countenance the
Abyssinian occupation of Biyo-Kab6ba. We all hate them
and do not want them. The English and the Esa are brothers,
and we are the subjects of your Government. So we ask you
now to rid us of these intruders. They wish to treat us as they
treated the Geri, to seize our flocks, kill our people, and burn
our karias. They wish to settle in our country and oust us.
We wall not have it.5’ He said that the Esa were encamped
round the Biyo-Kaboba fort, and that they were holding a
council, one party, consisting chiefly of young men, wishing to
attack at once. He asked us to wait and hear the result of the
council, and convey news to the British authorities.

On 2nd October, the council not yet having come to a
decision, we continued our journey through the sterile trap
country to the north, and then turning to the east, skirted the
Bur Ad Bange as far as Ali Maan before again turning north
for the march to Zeila.

On 5th October, as wre were arriving, late on a dark night,
at Hemdl under the Bur Ad Bange, we got into very dense
and high gudd forest, bordering the edge of the Hemal sand-
river. Our camels were pushing their way through the centre
of this when we heard the scream of an elephant about a
hundred yards to our left, followed by that of another a little
in front. The caravan bunched up in the narrow path, and we
all held our breath to listen. Our elephant-rifle was carefully
packed up in one of the camel-loads ; the jungle was stirring all
round us as the herd moved off. They seemed to have gone
away, and the camels had begun to resume their march, when
we were thrown into confusion by hearing a crash, as some old
cow — for it is generally these that are the most vicious— charged
towards us with a scream, and then stood a short distance
away behind a tree. Some of the men whispered that they could
see her, but though my brother and I strained our eyes to the

1 The Esa sub-tribes are grouped into two great divisions — the Esa Ad or
White Esa, and the Esa Madoba or Black Esa,

110

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA ch. iv

utmost, we could see nothing. At last we moved away from
the uncanny spot, and as no further incident happened, we
concluded the elephant which last trumpeted must have been
covering the retreat of the herd, and have stolen away silently
after the others.

Next day my brother went after these elephants, and
stalked in amongst them by creeping through a high grass
glabe, but finding they were all cows and young ones he did
not molest them. Meanwhile half a dozen sword-hunters, of
mixed tribes, came to our camp. One of these was a Gadabursi,
another a Habr Awal, and the rest Og4den. Their ponies
were excellent, and better than any we had yet seen among the
Gadabursi. They were after the elephants which my brother
had been stalking ; and while in our camp they described their
method of working. Like the Hamran Arabs described by
Sir Samuel Baker in his Nile Tributaries , they ride after the
elephant and hamstring him with a sword, one man keeping in
front on a white horse to attract the elephant’s attention. I
believe the SomMis use the sword while at full gallop, without
springing to the ground, but of this I am not certain. The
sabres we saw seemed to be light single-handed ones, an old
Egyptian blade being strapped to a bone handle by means of
raw hide. These men said they had killed twelve elephants
during the last two months, — eleven bulls and one cow, — and
that since their party began hunting the year before, two men
had been killed by the elephants.

We continued our journey from Hem&l to Ali Maan, where
I shot a fine koodoo bull. At Ali Maan we separated into two
parties. I marched to Bulhar by Kebri Bahr, while my brother
marched to Zeila, reaching that port on 19th October. At
Buk Gego he bagged, with one shot, a bull elephant, a fine
tusker.

The record of these Government explorations undertaken
between 1885 and 1891 shows how steadily British influence
has been advancing. At the time of my first visits to the coast
none of the routes in Guban was safe to travel on without a
powerful escort, except the track along the sea-shore from Bulhar
to Berbera. All this is changed now, for such is the confidence
which Sonkdis have in our countrymen, that Englishmen explor-
ing in the interior make small payments for sheep, milk, or
other supplies, by writing on scraps of paper, to be afterwards
presented at the coast ; and these “ chits ” have all the value

ON THE MULE-TRACK, NEAR HARAR,

From a Photograph hy the Author.

CHAP. IV

GOVERNMENT EXPLORATIONS

113

of money, although they may have been given by an English-
man who is a perfect stranger, at a distance of two hundred
miles inland. The possession of a bit of paper written on in
English is believed to guarantee the safety of the bearer’s life,
and we have often been begged for scraps of paper by men
who wished to go alone by a short cut through disturbed
territory.

The Somalis have no quarrel with the English ; even should
a serious cause of dispute arise, there is far too much hereditary
jealousy between tribe and tribe for them to combine. It is
true the Esa caused trouble a few years ago by their raid on
Bulh&r, but this raid was directed against the Habr Awal,
and not against the British. The punishment which they
received from us, by their own showing, turns out to have
been greater than was at first supposed, and they now declare
themselves to be our firm friends.

In the surveying trips the opposition to our progress by the
tribes was practically nil , unless the extreme avarice and rapacity
for presents on the part of a few Dolbahanta chiefs may be
called opposition. In fact, the only occasion on which I have
been treated with the slightest want of cordiality by Somalis
was on my second surveying trip in 1886.

I think there are three reasons why the British Government
is so much respected in the interior of Somaliland. The first
is undoubtedly the possession of Aden, about half the population
of which is composed of Somalis, who return to their own
country after a time and spread the fame of the Government
far and wide. Also, a few Som&lis go to London as firemen
in English steamers. Another reason for the rapid extension
of British influence is the wise and impartial way in which our
coast ports have been administered by experienced political
officers from India. The third reason is constant contact with
English sportsmen, who visit the Somali tribes in their own
homes.

i

CHAPTER V

A RECONNAISSANCE OF THE ABYSSINIAN BORDER, 1892

First news of Abyssinian aggression — Start for Milmil — Unfortunate Bulhar
— Across the “Haud” waterless plateau — Extraordinary landscape —
Sudden meeting with the Rer Ali — Their consternation and pleasant
greeting — News of a raid — Water-supply statistics— Great display at
Milmil in honour of Au Mahomed Sufi — Agitation against Abyssinia —
Unsuccessful lion-hunt — Display in honour of the English — Interesting
scene — The vulture-like elders — Success of an Arab pony — Our camp
at Tuli — The “Valley of Rhinoceroses” — Two rhinoceros-hunts — Four
bagged — Death of a bull rhinoceros — The Waror wrells — Abbasgiil
complaints against Abyssinia — First meeting with Abyssinians — Dis-
turbed country — English sportsmen met at Hargeisa — Fresh start from
Hargeisa — Incessant rains — Thousands of hartebeests near Gumbur Dug
— Scouting for the Abyssinians — Visit to the Abyssinian fort at Jig-Jiga
— We approach Gildessa — The caravan imprisoned by the Abyssinians — •
Embarrassing situation — A letter to Ras Makunan of Harar — Exciting
time at Gildessa — We retire by night — The answer of the Ras — March
to Zeila.

The capture of Harar by the Abyssinians in January 1887 was
an important event to the Somdlis, because, under the Emir
Abdillahi, Harar had hitherto been a very effective little “ buffer
state ” against Abyssinian encroachments. When the British
Government first took over the Somdli coast in 1884 there was
no Abyssinian question, and the authorities had only to deal
with the Somdli tribes, which, although turbulent, were in fair
equilibrium as regards power. Of late years, however, the
Abyssinian question has risen into some importance, as will be
seen by the narrative of later trips. The Abyssinians import
large quantities of breech-loading small-arms from ports west of
Zeila and outside the British Protectorate, while the Somdli
tribes are only armed with spears or bows and arrows, and are
not allowed to import firearms, of any sort whatever, from their
own coast, which is administered by the British. Hence the

ch. v RECONNAISSANCE OF ABYSSINIAN BORDER 115

equilibrium of power is affected, the Abyssinians help themselves
to Somfili cattle when they like, and the owners, who are all
Mahomedans, turn their eyes towards us for protection against
their natural enemies. They place the most implicit faith in
the British, and are persuaded that our Government will never
stand by and see them seriously pushed by the Abyssinians
without giving them, at any rate, moral help of some sort.
They turn to us as their natural protectors, as they would have
turned to the Egyptians had that Government continued to hold
the coast.

As related in the last chapter, we received the first news of
Abyssinian interference with the Jibril Abokr when surveying in
June ’91. A chief named Banaguse had demanded tribute in
cattle, and had also sent out marauding parties from Jig-Jiga,
the fortified post which had been pushed out by the Abyssinians
into the Marar Prairie, to lift cattle from the Jibril Abokr.
This tribe, which is really a sub-tribe of the Habr Awal, who are
under British protection, appealed to us for help from Aden, at a
meeting of the elders held by me at Ujawaji, June ’91, in front
of my tent. The elders there told us that the principal authors
of the trouble were Banaguse and Basha-Basha, two Abyssinian
generals, the former being the responsible person at Jig-Jiga and
the latter in western OgMen.

It appears that these two chiefs had been using the Bertiri
tribe, who live in the Harar highlands, as a “cat’s paw” in
making requisitions for cattle on the Habr Awal and Og&den
tribes. The tribute of cattle was always collected at Jig-Jiga
and then sent up in a great mob to Harar, where the people
were reported to be starving, and where the large number of
Abyssinian soldiers occupying the place required to be rationed.

The fortified post of Jig-Jiga was also a constant menace
to the large village of Hargeisa, within the British Protectorate,
and the elders said that every year the trouble between the
outlying Abyssinian chiefs and the nomad Som&li tribes near
the coast would increase, unless something could be done to
make the former cease their buccaneering raids.

The substance of the statement made by the spokesman at
the meeting in my camp was as follows : —

“The Bertiri come from Jig-Jiga armed with rifles and
demand tribute of cattle from us, and in certain cases have
looted our live stock when out grazing. We cannot make
reprisals on the Bertiri, as they are protected by the Abyssinians.

Ii6 Through soma l/l and and abyssinia

CHAP.

Ordinary feuds with our neighbours we think fair- play, but
these Bertiri raids are a losing business for us all round. We
are not allowed to import firearms, the only effective weapons
against the Abyssinians ; and we ask the British, who have
occupied our ports, either to protect us, or to allow us to import
guns with which we can protect ourselves.”

Owing, I believe, to action from Aden, the trouble was
stopped, to the lasting satisfaction of the tribes on the northern
side. On the east, however, in Og&den, the Abyssinians
became more active than ever; and on another journey, in
1890, this time through Milmil, we again had to listen to
complaints against them.

We arrived at Berbera for the Milmil trip, which was the
first exploration of the eastern Abyssinian border by Europeans,,
on 1st July 1892. The Hcigci wind was at its height, and as
nothing could be done during the first half of each day, owing
to the storms, it was fully a week before we got our caravan
under way. The day before we left Berbera an enormous column
of black smoke, which we estimated to be over two thousand
feet high, was seen to rise from the sea-level in the west, over
the site of Bulh^r, forty miles away. Soon the news arrived that
Bulhdr had been burnt to the ground. It has been burnt three
times since the British occupation, and in 1892 was depopulated
by cholera ; and three years before that it was raided by the Esa
in a dust-storm, and sixty-seven of the people killed.

We marched by easy stages to Hargeisa, by following the
Aleyadera nala, the home of the beautiful lesser koodoo, of which
I managed to bag a couple of bucks the day before we reached
Hargeisa, which we entered on 17th July and found deserted.
Sheikh Mattar had gone to Haraf, four miles up the river,
according to his custom at the Haga season, because of the
better pasture there ; he, however, came with a number of
mullahs to meet us, and was very pleasant, giving us letters
of introduction to the chiefs of the Ber Ali and Abbasgul,
Og4den tribes to whose country we were bound.

For the first time we had to face the crossing of the waterless
Haud plateau, there being a hundred miles between Hargeisa
and Milmil without a drop of water. To accomplish this we
took up two hundred and fifty gallons in the ham of plaited
bark we had brought for the purpose. I have traversed it many
times since, and the description of our first crossing will give an
idea of the peculiar nature of the country. I will not give an

RECONNAISSANCE OF ABYSS/ NIAN BORDER 117

account of our daily sport, but I may mention that in feeding
our thirty men we shot many beisa and Soemmerring’s gazelles
in the bush country, and hartebeests when crossing the open ban.

On the 20th of July we marched to the level of the plateau
behind Hargeisa village, over thorn-covered rolling ground, the
soil being red earth. We did eleven miles and halted at Bombos,
in a splendidly grassed hollow, just beyond some Habr Awal
karias. Hearing from the karia people that there had been rain

at Garabiss, near here, at about 9 p.m. we sent a camel with four
bans, and the men returned with the water at 1 a.m.

The next day we made a morning march of twelve miles
to Dobbya, over rolling ground, which is stony on the elevations
and has good grass in the depressions, the whole country being
covered with Hat-topped thorn-jungle about twenty feet high.
Near our mid-day camp some Midg&ns were skinning a beisa
which had been killed by a lion the night before, and at Garabiss
we crossed the tracks of a number of Eidegalla horsemen, who
had come north to loot the karias we had passed through the
day before.

In the evening march, after going a little over five miles, we
came to the end of the thorn-trees, and emerged on to an open
plain of short grass called Ban-ki-Aror, about five miles across,

118

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

and stretching far away to the east and west, without a bush.
Our caravan travelled through abundance of game, chiefly beisa,
hartebeests, and Soemmerring’s gazelles, which followed our steps
while we were in the ban.

Our caravan had now swelled to a long procession, as a
number of people had come with us from the last karias to
take advantage of our protection past the Eidegalla country.

We camped on the farther side of this great plain, near
some Samanter Abdalla karias. Here we heard that a lion

roareji nightly round them, and next evening, at Gudaweina, we
saw his pugs in the path. Thus we had found lion, ostrich, beisa,
hartebeest, and Soemmerring’s gazelle, all living at least forty
miles from water. The effect of thirst on our domestic animals
was to make them abnormally tame. Often as I lay in my tent
at the noon camp the donkeys and ponies would force their
heads within the tent door, and the goats would walk straight
in, putting their muzzles into every cup to look for water. As
we arrived at one halting-place at dusk, a wild fox came trotting
like a dog behind the caravan, a few yards from the last camel,
having smelt the water which we carried in the hdns on the
camels’ backs.

V

RE CONNAISSANCE OF AB YSSINIAN BORDER 119

Travelling constantly over rolling, densely-wooded country,
we were now entering the part of the Haud which is grazed over
by the Ogdden from the south, and struck the Warda-Gumared,
one of the great trade arteries between Berbera and the Webbe
Shabeleh. The track here, for thirty miles at least, over red
powdery earth, is so well worn and smooth that a bicycle might

WALLER’S GAZELLE.

easily be ridden at full speed on it. On either side of the path
all was thorn-forest and grassy glades. The grasses were chiefly
the dciremo , growing in tufts to about a foot, and durr , growing
to six feet, both very fattening for live stock. The umbrella
mimdsa, called Tchansa , grows to a height of ten feet, the bushes
spreading out till their tops meet, forming shady tunnels which
are the favourite haunt of lions and leopards during the heat of
the day. The animals come out at night into the great plains
and feed on the herds of game which live in the open. Sometimes,

120

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

when gorged and lazy, the lions are caught in the early morning
returning over the plains, and are ridden to a standstill by the
Somalis, and killed with poisoned arrows and spears.

After passing Garodki Mayagbd, an ancient clearing in the
thorn ^forest, we came to the usual caravan halting -place, a
zerlba of thorns, occupied occasionally by the nomads or by
caravans as they pass along the road. At the side of the track
were shallow depressions in the soil where rain-water had rested,
and round these dry pools w7ere rows of small pits six inches deep,
dug by Somalis in order to stand up the water hdns to be filled.

The jungle now began to get more open and the glades
wider, the durr grass growing in beautiful feathery clumps.
Huge red ant-hills appeared at every hundred yards or so, often
twelve feet thick at the base, and with a pinnacle twenty-five
feet high, looking like a giant hand and beckoning forefinger.

On the evening of the third day wTe got on to high ground
almost imperceptibly, and camped at the southern side of an
old fire clearing near Gudaweina. Looking back we could see,
in the clear air of the elevated Haud, beyond the tops of the
nearer thorn-trees, the various gradations of tint — yellow, brown,
green, or blue — on the several bits of jungle or grass glades
which wTe had come through ; and beyond all a high rim of
deep indigo blue, looking like a sea-horizon, running without a
single landmark, showing the great expanse of the Haud forest
stretching in every direction in everlasting dips and rises of
ground. All the hills about Hargeisa had long ago sunk out
of sight.

On the fourth day we marched on to KheidubWyeyu. For
a mile we went slowly in the dawning light through thorny
jungle, and then came out into a glade of durr grass, the camels
swinging along faster as the path became more visible. We
passed a chief’s grave, encircled by a stockade of trunks of
thorn -trees twelve feet high. We afterwards emerged on to
open rising ground, where we saw beisa and Waller’s gazelles
feeding, and in the centre of the path a wart-hog had been
rooting up the ground.

The open pasture here was dotted with the old zerfbas of the
Samanter Abdalla, Habr Awal, who come from the north for a
season every year. They were here six w^eeks before us, but the
rain falling, they had returned to Aror, where we had seen them
a few days previously when crossing the open ban. These wrere
also the most northern pastures of the Ogaden tribes, none of

V

RECONNAISSANCE OF ABYSSINIAN BORDER 121

which we had ever visited, and we were doubtful as to the
nature of our reception.

We entered a patch of bush, when suddenly the jungle be-
came alive with camels and sheep, and several young women
rushed at the caravan with their hands spread out and eyes
flashing, screaming loudly for help, while others plied sticks and
stones to drive off the flocks, in a deafening clamour and clouds
of dust ; and boys ran off in haste to summon the fighting men
of the tribe.

I sat down in the path, trying to look as amiable as possible,
for I realised what our sudden appearance must have been to
these natives. Several of my men, more ready, raced forward
and caught the flying messengers, and brought them back to me
as prisoners. The women were sure we were Abyssinians, for
we carried guns ; but finding we were English, a revulsion of
feeling set in, and the boys went off to tell the tribe the joyful
news, and the women to get milk for our men.

The mounted guard soon galloped up, a sturdy-looking lot,
some twenty of the Rer Ali tribe ; they expressed their delight
by circling their horses, shouting, “ Mot ! Mot! io Mot!” and
coming up again and again, bending down in the saddle to shake
hands with us ; and their steaming ponies formed a dense circle
round us as we endeavoured to do justice to the hands.

The people asked us to stop for a few hours to shoot rhino-
ceroses, but we were unable to spare the time, as we were
carrying on a rapid survey, and also had too little water to be
able to loiter in the centre of the Haud. We passed enormous
flocks of fat sheep, and near camp met a pretty young woman
driving her dowry of a hundred camels. Our men said this Rer
Ali wealth was good to look at, and that a few determined horse-
men armed with guns could have taken off ten thousand camels
at one swoop.

While camped at Kheidub-Ayeyu we observed a long strip
of jungle-fire creeping along the ridge of thorn-forest in our
front. Clouds of smoke were floating far ahead of the fire, and
it must have been driven by a strong south-west gale, judging
by the pace. The Habr Gerhajis and two sub-tribes of the
Habr Awal had at different times taken advantage of this
solitary occupation by trying to loot the karias, but were always
driven off. Although living in only two, there were a large
number of fighting men in proportion to the women and children
in this clan ; and they were some of the best mounted of the

122

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

Her Ali, always a warlike tribe. The chief of the clan was
called Mahomed Liba.

We marched through patches of burnt jungle, with the trees
still smouldering, and pits left in the ground full of white ashes,
where the roots had been burnt out.

Near Yoaleh we came to stony ground, the first since leav-
ing Aror. On 25th July we left the Haud and descended into
the valley of the Tug Milmil, a sandy nala wooded with gob 1
trees about eighty feet high, fringing the river-bed and growing
on islands in the centre of the expanse of sand, some seventy
yards wide at this point. We found ponies, sheep, and camels
of the Her Harun and Eer Ali, Og&den, watering at Milmil
wells. One continuous stream of camels marched up and down
the river-bed, and we must have seen some twenty thousand in all.

There had been a quarrel just before our arrival between the
Eer Harun here and Mahomed Liba’s clan we had met at
Kheidub-Ayeyu, in which two men had been killed and two
hundred camels had changed owners.

On the day of our arrival at Milmil, at the end of the Haud
crossing of one hundred and five miles, I had still seven full
hans in my portion of the caravan, nine having been expended,
say forty gallons of water for fifteen men for five days. About
fifteen gallons of this had been spilt from various causes, so that
fifteen men, one Arab fast camel, and two goats drank only
twenty-seven gallons, or a little over five gallons a day, including
cooking water. I attribute this moderation partly to the coolness
of the weather in the elevated Haud. We had crossed in five
days, thus doing twenty-one miles a day ; this fact will indicate
the good state of the caravan track over the red stoneless soil.
Indeed, as I have stated before, a bicycle might have been
ridden at speed over nine-tenths of the distance.

The Haud ends at Milmil in a succession of bluffs a hundred
feet high, and as one descends between these to the Milmil nala,
one emerges on to the general level of Ogdden, and farther on
at the wells the country opens up, disclosing several hills ; two
of these, called Firk-Firk, resemble the remarkable twin hills at
Hargeisa called “N&so Hablod,” or the “Maiden’s Breasts.”

Soon after we had pitched camp at the part of Milmil called
Gagdb an important travelling sheikh arrived. The Somali so-
called sheikh is a mullah who has gained a great and widespread

1 A large rounded tree producing quantities of edible red berries. They
look like cherries, and have a stone inside, but taste like half- dried apples.

V

RECONNAISSANCE OF ABYSSINIAN BORDER 123

reputation for piety, and being intelligent, even among mullahs,
can often read and write Arabic, although he is generally as
black or brown in skin as any other Somdli.

The horsemen of the Eer Ali came down in scores, attired in
all their finery of red-tasselled saddlery and red and blue khaili
tobes, to go through the usual dibaltig before the great man,
whose name is Au Mahomed Sufi. They formed a large crowd
on the sand of the river-bed below our tent, which was pitched
under some large trees overhanging the Milmil nala. The
sheikh’s own bivouac was on the same bank of the river, about
five hundred yards to the north of us. I joined the crowd of
onlookers with my brother, and Au Mahomed Sufi, the recipient
of the honours of the day, came forward and shook hands with
us, and gave us a place by his side.

This man was travelling through OgMen, and was, I after-
wards learnt, part of an organised plot for rousing the Somali
tribes to combine against the Abyssinians. After the dibaltig
he lifted his spear and addressed the assembled people, beginning
by himself singing what appeared to be a composition of his
own.

In the evening, taking my hunters, I followed the tracks of a
lion which had stolen a sheep from the Eer Ali flocks in broad
daylight. Getting into broken country at the base of one of the
bluffs, we put up two lions. We could not see them, although
we heard them roar significantly, as though they had seen us.
We found their lair, and part of the carcase of the sheep, close
by, and within a yard of it was a dead vulture, which the lions
had just killed, no doubt, by springing out of the ambush from
which they had kept watch over the meat. Several vultures
were perched on the branches of the trees around, looking wist-
fully down, but not daring to come to the feast. The lions
eventually got on to stony ground and we lost them.

Next day a large number of horsemen came to welcome us
at our own camp, and said they had come to dibaltig to us as
representatives of the English Government. We appointed mid-
day for this ceremony.

Meanwhile I went after a lion, climbing one of the bluffs,
which are two or three hundred feet high ; and after hunting
through thick high grass for some time, sat down to rest below
the edge of a bluff. While my men were wandering about, the
lion got up with a low grunt, a few yards above the rock on
which I sat, and made off into the grass. Following, I found

124

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

his lair, and the half- eaten carcase of a young camel, about as
large as a donkey, which the lion had dragged to the top of the
hill, afterwards going to sleep by its side. It was within a few
yards of the sleeping lion that I had been unconsciously sitting
for ten minutes. He went down the stony, bush-covered hill,
and eventually escaped us.

It was during the early part of the afternoon that some
five hundred horse and foot came to our camp for the promised
ceremonies. Au Mahomed Sufi attended, and we gave him a
place beside us. On a signal being given, the horsemen drew
up in line in front of us, and the chief tribal minstrel of the
Rer Ali, while sitting in the saddle, sang a refrain in honour of
the English, and of myself and my brother, who had “deigned
to visit their poor oppressed country.” A splendid array they
made, well mounted and warlike, the biceps standing out on
some of the men’s arms in a way that is seldom seen on these
sparely-built Somalis.

On the conclusion of the song the horsemen gave a series
of shrill yells, and with arms and legs flying, started off at
full gallop in pursuit of an imaginary enemy up the river-bed ;
and the pounding of the hoofs could be heard long after they
had been lost to sight in clouds of red dust. Presently they
came back again, the glinting of the sun on their spears being
first fitfully seen in the pall of dust ; and darting up furiously,
they brought their ponies on to their haunches with the cruel
bit, forming a dense semicircle of horses’ heads within a foot
of me, the riders crying, “ Mot /” and being answered by “ Kul
leban ” and a hand-shake.

Au Mahomed Sufi began a long speech, which was heard
in dead silence by the crowd, saying that now the white men
had come it was time to attack the Abyssinians, and that if we
would lead them with our thirty rifles, they could soon collect
a large force and march on the Abyssinian chief, Basha-Basha.

We interrupted him, broke up the meeting, and retired to
our tents, saying we had come to survey caravan routes and
not to be mixed up in their quarrels.

In the evening we gave a performance in return, parading
the thirty camp-followers in line, armed with their Snider
carbines, advancing and retiring in skirmishing order, and
forming rallying groups ; and we fired off blank cartridge, each
volley being echoed by an answering yell from the delighted
tribesmen.

V

RECONNAISSANCE OF ABYSSINIAN BORDER 125

They said that now the English, their masters, had come
the Abyssinians would leave off raiding their camels and
carrying off their women. Many of the chiefs came to our
tents begging for written testimonials, saying that they were
sure a scrap of paper written on by an Englishman was enough
alone to keep back an Abyssinian army. The women and
children hung round my camel and my brother’s pony in
crowds, crying out, “Now it’s all right; the English have
come.”

Then came the question of presents. The people had
brought us a few sheep and a donkey, and long rows of their
milk -vessels, which are prettily decorated with white shells.
We picked out an akil to whom Sheikh Mattar of Hargeisa
had given us a letter of introduction ; then we put into his
hands several white tobes and two khaili tobes, and asked him
to settle with the chiefs of clans. There arose a tremendous
clamour, each clan having sent an advocate to represent it in
the scramble for tobes, which occurred in the river-bed below.
An indescribable uproar continued until nightfall, the clamouring
“ wise men ” squatting on the ground in circles, looking for all
the world like vultures with their skinny necks and shaven
skulls, clawing with lean fingers at the presents spread out on
the sand. There was a scuffle down at the wells, across the
river, where two men had retired to settle an old feud. After
throwing their spears, they closed and stabbed at each other,
the spears striking the shields with a hollow thud, which we
could hear from our tents three hundred yards away ; but
they were subsequently parted by a posse of relations.

One of the things which pleased the Rer Ali most was my
Arab pony, which I had taken from Abdul Kader’s stables in
Bombay to test the Somffli climate. My brother mounted him
and tried a friendly gallop with one or two of the tribesmen in
succession, and he proved, to their great wonder, faster than
any pony which the Rer Ali could bring against him. He
afterwards beat many Somali ponies all over the country, and
gained a great reputation, although I had only bought him as
a useful animal up to weight, and he would be considered
quite slow among Arab ponies of his height, which was about
14.1. I have often since been identified by SomMis as the
owner of “ that Hindi pony which could gallop like the wind.”

By nightfall we were glad that the long dusty day of
ceremony was over, and next morning, when a number of Rer

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

Harun horsemen arrived and asked to be allowed to repeat the
show, we found ourselves obliged to decline the honour, and
continued our survey westward towards the Abyssinian border.

Our men, on the night of the Her Ali dibaltig , went to the
karias and danced till nearly daylight, the women clapping
their hands and jumping up and down, keeping up a monotonous
refrain. Next day half our men were ill, having gorged them-
selves upon the mutton and camel-meat generously provided by
the Her Ali.

We passed the deserted village of Dagahbur and reached a
rounded grassy hill called Tuli, and it was while encamped here
that we shot the first Somali rhinoceros, an animal which for
many years we had expected to come upon, but which up till
then had never been seen or shot by a European. We found
plenty of game at Tuli, and as I rode up to the rounded hill to
choose a site for my camp, a troop of ostriches went racing
away into the sea of bush and grass to the north-west.

To the west of Gumbur Tuli lay a valley covered with
dense dark mimosa forest, called Dih Wiyileh, or Rhinoceros
Valley. Between Dagahbur and Waror, an interval of fifty
miles, the country was waterless at this season, and hearing
that Waror was occupied by Abyssinian soldiers, I deemed it
advisable to arrive there with a supply of water on the camels ;
so finding the hdns rather low, I had to wait at Tuli a couple of
days while we sent back to Dagahbur for more water.

The time had come when I hoped to make the acquaintance
of the long -sought rhinoceroses ; and I left camp in the early
morning with my two gunbearers Geli and Hassan, and another
man called Au Ismail, who led our one camel and acted as
guide. Taking a line to the south-west across the Dih Wiyileh
from Tuli Hill, we presently came on fresh rhinoceros-signs.
These we took up till nearly mid-day, the two beasts we were
following having made a maze of tracks there while feeding
in the morning. At last Geli pointed to our game — two
rhinoceroses standing, apparently asleep, under a shady thorn
bush. I advanced to forty yards, and opened fire with the four-
bore, putting a four- ounce bullet into the shoulder of each with
a right and left, making them tear away at a gallop through
the jungle. I followed at best pace, putting in two more
cartridges as I ran, and so finishing one of the rhinos. Passing
this one, I found the other standing in thick bush broadside-on,
listening and looking for its fellow. Feeling for cartridges, I

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RECONNAISSANCE OF ABYSSINIAN BORDER 127

put my hand into empty pockets, the rest having fallen out in
my haste, so I ran back to the camel to snatch more out of a
haversack. Au Ismail saw me running back away from the
rhinoceros, and jumped to the conclusion that I was running
away ! So he began to bolt with the camel. I ran harder
and harder, shouting to him to stop, and at last I got hold of
him and explained what I wanted. Then, re-armed, I returned
to the rhinoceros, which had been standing meanwhile in the
same place, apparently unable to make out what I was about,
and too sick to charge. Another shot finished it. Unfortun-
ately they were both cows, but I was very pleased at the result
of my first rhino hunt.

I returned with the two heads to camp, and sent half a dozen

' A. Vriol of

C

men to cut off the shields, of which we obtained thirty-five from
the two skins. These men arrived in camp next morning, and
said that while they had been cutting up the rhinos by the light
of torches, several more had come round them, and a lion had
roared to the westward.

On our second day at Tiili we were unsuccessful with the
rhinos, and when the water came from Dagahbur we marched
to Gumbur Wedel, a small hill four miles to the north-west
across the Rhinoceros Valley. Here we found beisa, ostriches,
and Soemmerring’s and Waller’s gazelles very plentiful, and
rhino tracks numerous.

At 5 a.m. on 6th August we left Wedel, and for three miles
struggled through thick grass and jungle, and then struck a
good path running north-west. After going a mile along this
I saw fresh rhino tracks where a pair had crossed the path
during the night, and so going on with the caravan, I left my

128

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

brother to take up the pursuit. At our evening camp he
arrived with the heads of both, a very tine bull and a cow, and
we skinned them by firelight.

On the morning of the 7th August the caravan marched
sixteen miles to a karia of the Rer Gedi, Abbasgul, sub-tribe, at
a place called Haddama. Early in the day, while walking along
the path, I came on the fresh tracks of a large bull rhino, so,
placing the caravan and traversing work in charge of my
brother, I left the path on these tracks followed by Geli and
Hassan. The rhinoceros had taken a straight line for a ridge
of low hills to the south, which are a continuation of the Harar
highlands, and after following for several miles through thick
jungle and over burnt clearings, the sun getting hotter and
hotter, we at last put him up about noon, making him rush off
through the forest without our even getting a sight of him. I
took up the tracking patiently for an hour more, and then we
heard the trampling and snorting and smashing of thorn-trees
again. Following at a run, we saw him standing broadside-on,
listening, in the centre of several acres of very transparent but
dense and thorny wait-a-bit cover. We at once lay down. Not
hearing our footsteps any more, the rhino trotted forward, head
held high, for fifty yards, and then stood and listened again.
He looked decidedly vicious. We crawled up to a small ever-
green shrub, and I sat up behind it, and taking a steady rest upon
my knees, fired for his ear at a range of seventy yards with my
ten-bore rifle. The bull dropped in his tracks, an inert mass.
Going up, we found that the ten-bore bullet had hit him exactly
where I aimed, entering under the left ear and stopping under
the skin of the right temple.

It was twenty-five miles from camp, and as the camel was
fully occupied in carrying the massive head and a few shields,
I had to tramp the whole way. This, added to the hot track-
ing work of five hours before we got the rhino, and the fast
run after putting him up, made a long day’s work, and I was
right glad at sunset to meet some men whom my brother had
considerately sent back with water and dates to bring us on
to my half of the caravan, which he had halted for me at
Haddama. He had gone on to Warer, for we never allowed
shooting to delay the rate of progress, and I came up with him
there next morning ; as usual we re-formed the double camp,
with our Cabul tents side by side. The camp was pitched near
the wells in a beautiful glade, covered with green grass, kept

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RECONNAISSANCE OF ABYSSINIAN BORDER 129

short by the Abbasgul herds. We found an immense number of
cows watering here, the chief wealth of the Abbasgul being in
cattle. The wells at Waror are narrow, circular funnels seventy
feet deep, sunk through the red alluvial earth of the Jerer
Valley. Steps were cut all the way down, and water was passed
to the surface by a chain of nine naked men, standing one
above the other, their feet resting on these steps, the full and
empty leather buckets being passed up and down from hand to
hand to an accompaniment of singing in chorus. We showed
the Abbasgul how to do it with a large bucket and a long rope,
whereat they were greatly pleased.

The Waror pasture, with its closely -cropped grass, under

A CROUCHING LION.

open thorn -jungle, looked like an English orchard ; and the
wind blowing coldly with a leaden sky, heightened the resem-
blance. Round the base of a small rock called Dubbur, perched
on the top of some high ground five miles from Waror, beisa
and ostriches abound. At one place, near Waror, my brother
found the ground pounded up, where some Midgans’ dogs had
brought a beisa to bay, and in the grass the blood of the
animal and a broken arrow ; close by were the pugs of a lion.
A lion roared at night while we were at Waror. The people
said one was in the habit of showing himself about once a
day in broad daylight, and that he had killed twelve men, the
last of whom fell a victim the day before we halted at the wells.

The Abbasgul headmen came and gave us quantities of milk,
calling us their protectors. They said that their tribe was once
rich, but was now poor, because of the Abyssinians. They were

K

130

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSS/NLA chap.

unfortunate in being next to the east of the Bertiri, whom the
Abyssinians had already absorbed.

The only Somali tribes which may be said to be under
Abyssinian influence are the Geri, Bertiri, Abbasgul, a few of
the Esa, and Malingur. But they are all unwillingly so, and
have at various times clamoured for help from the British.
They all trade with Berbera. The Her Amaden and the
riverine negro population of the Webbe are well disposed to
the British, though not much connected with Berbera except to
the east in the Shabeleh district, whence a large proportion of
Berbera caravans are derived.

These headmen said that the Abyssinians every now and
then came from Jig-Jiga with rifles, and did what pleased them
best ; that they killed Abbasgul sheep and cattle for food,
entered the karias and used the huts ; that they forced even
the old chiefs to hew wood and draw water, and interfered with
the women ; and that many Abbasgul who had tried to defend
their homes had been shot down.

This tribe seemed utterly cowed, and quite unlike the war-
like and independent people we met at Milmil. I noticed very
few horses, and the tribesmen said that all their best had been
taken by the Abyssinians.

The Abbasgul told us that, three years before our trip, the
Abyssinians came from Harar and overran all this country,
even as far as the Sheikh Ash and Ber Ali tribes; and going
into the Ber Harun country beyond Milmil, they came back
by way of the Ber Amaden and Adan Khair to the far south,
to Ime; here they were among the Gdllas and the Adone, or
riverine negro population of the Webbe Shabeleh. The
Abyssinians are said to have obtained by threats or violence a
tribute of camels, cattle, or sheep from every tribe passed
through on this far-reaching raid. One of our men stupidly
told a crowd of people at the wells that we had come to attack
Banaguse, the commander of the Jig-Jiga outpost, and it was
not till we heard shouts of delight from the men, women, and
children collected, that we discovered this foolishness, and put
a stop to it.

An Abbasgul dlcU,1 to whom Sheikh Mattar had given us
an Arabic letter, came to our camp. He said the Abyssinians
were at Jig-Jiga, about thirty miles in our front, and that there
were quite a hundred soldiers and a disorderly mob of Harar
1 “ Wise man ” or chief.

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RECONNAISSANCE OE AB YSSINIAN BORDER 131

people there. So, as the object of our journey was the
construction of a route map, without coming to blows with
any one, we decided to defer our visit till a more fitting
opportunity.

So far we had done three hundred miles of route in twenty-
nine days, or ten and a half miles a day including halts, all of
the road having been carefully traversed with prismatic compass,
the main points being fixed by observations of the stars with
a transit theodolite. We had travelled sixty-four miles without
water between Dagahbur and Waror, so that between Hargeisa
and the latter place we had gone over two hundred miles of
unexplored route with only two intermediate watering-places ;
yet all this country had been very fertile and subject to a con-
siderable rainfall. With a proper system of tanks, involving, of
course, a great initial outlay, combined with a steady, cultivating
population, instead of the lazy, strife-loving Som&li nomads
who now own the soil, much of this tract could, I believe, be
made to rival some of the best parts of India. People who
visit only the arid sandy Maritime Plain of the low coast
country near Berbera, or see it from ships, get little idea of
the fine soil, good rainfall, and cool, healthy climate of the
interior plateaux.

About the middle of August we broke up our Waror camp
and marched to Abonsa, in the Harar Highlands, the elevation
being six thousand feet, whence a fine view was obtained over
the distant Marar Prairie to the north. On the way, at Koran,
we passed six men carrying Kemington rifles, three of whom
were Abyssinians, the first we had seen. They were very civil
and shook hands. Our guide said this was a party going to
Gerlogubi, in Central Og&den, to get “tribute.”

We had now gone as near to Jig-Jiga as we dared, and
proposed to return to Hargeisa to pick up the stores left with
Sheikh Mattar, and to make a fresh start for the Harar border
on the Oildessa side, hoping to be able to include Jig-Jiga in
the map if it should turn out to have been vacated by the
Abyssinians.

The whole of the country south of Waror and Abonsa was
much disturbed by a feud between the Ahmed Abdalla, Habr
Awal, and the Her Farah, Abbasgul. We divided our camps
at Dubbur in order to survey more ground, and my brother, in
returning to Hargeisa across the Marar Prairie, passed through
the fighting tribes, and saw many of their mounted scouts, who

132

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINLA chap.

were uniformly civil to him. Meanwhile I struck across the
Haucl bush, forty miles to the east of my brother’s route.

While I was encamped on 16th August among the Ahmed
Abdalla karias at Kangri, in open jungle, a surprise was
attempted on them by the Rer Farah, Abbasgul. A hue and
cry was raised, and the plain was soon swarming with men,
who came out of the karias with spears and shields to repulse
the attack. The enemy upon seeing this retired. The affair
was so sudden that the Ger&d or Sultan of the Ahmed Abdalla
was with his headmen drinking coffee in my camp at the time.
On the first news their horses were brought up ready saddled
from the karias, and they mounted without delay and rode
to the south, disappearing in the clouds of red dust raised by
the flocks and herds which were being driven in by the women.

We again met and formed the double camp over the wells
at Hargeisa, and during the few days we were there we had
pleasant company ; for two sportsmen’s caravans — those of Col.
R. Curteis of Poona, and of Captain Harrison, 8th King’s — passed
through Hargeisa on their way to the Haud hunting-grounds.

The first fifty miles from Hargeisa being perfectly safe
country, we made our fresh start on 24th August in two half-
caravans, and as the climate during this part of our wanderings
was somewhat peculiar, showing that the Haud and Marar
Prairie share in the great rainfall of the high Abyssinian plateau,
I will give a short account of the first portion of the journey,
the facts being taken from our Diary.

24 tli August. — We had only gone three miles when a deluge
of rain came on, and having taken refuge under some very thin
bushes for half an hour, we were drenched through. The storm
showing no signs of abating we went on again, splashing through
water up to our ankles ; and so on for another mile, till we came
to the banks of a small watercourse, down which rushed a yellow
torrent which we tried to cross, but were obliged to beat a
retreat. One camel rolled over and over, and the bags of rice
were scattered along the bed of the stream, and fished out by
the men going breast-deep. So we looked out for a little sandy
rise, and camped under pelting rain, which continued till 7 a.m.
next day. By 10.30, having waited for the stream to become
passable and for our kit to dry, we were able to march, reaching
Dofare at 3.30 p.m. The karias of the Rer Samanter were found
all along the way from Haraf, and we met hundreds of cows

V

RECONNAISSANCE OF ABYSSINIAN BORDER 133

and thousands of camels. It rained all night long ; and another
storm, with thunder and lightning, came on at 8 a.m. next
morning, just as things were beginning to get dry.

2 6th August. — We started off in pouring rain at 9 a.m. It
rained more or less the whole day, and everything was soaked.
My brother wTent on ahead with his half of the caravan towards
Dubburro, but the caravan twice lost him and the guide, and
he was on foot from 9 a.m. till 4.30 p.m. in a deluge of rain.
Luckily we had before surveyed this ground. At last he gave
up trying to find the tracks, and walked to Dubburro, where he
found his caravan halted, after a march of twenty-five miles
under continuous rain. I had halted some miles in rear of him,
but had not the least notion where I was. The whole country
seemed flooded.

27 th August. — My brother arrived at 7.30 p.m. at my camp,
his own having gone on. He had lost his caravan, so I lent
him my pony, and he at last reached his men, after having gone
thirty miles, all but the last two miles being on foot, in rain-
soaked boots, with violent toothache added to his other miseries.
The last hour was in the dark, but he was kept from falling
asleep at the roadside by the roaring of a lion.

Elinta Kaddo, 2 St/i August. — It rained during the night.
We had a few days of pleasanter weather after this, but it
rained, more or less, daily during the whole of this trip till we
reached Grildessa. We marched across the beautiful Marar
Prairie, to Qumbur Dug, halting at several of the high conical
hills which rise out of the elevated plain to nearly seven thousand
feet above sea-level, as we wished to get a base from which to
triangulate in points of the Harar Highlands which we were not
able to visit.

We reached Gumbur Dug on the morning of 1st September.
It is a low, grass-covered hill of white limestone. Jig-Jiga was
close to us. Next morning herds of hartebeests were seen on
the plain, comprising several thousands ; and when we shot one,
the plain was covered with a line of swiftly galloping animals,
a mile or two in length, half obscured in clouds of red dust and
flying turf.

To the south was a karia of the Bertiri tribe, and we sent
two scouts on in the evening to find out whether Jig-Jiga was
still occupied by the Abyssinians. These men returned late at
night, reporting the karia deserted, but that they had found
men tending camels. The Bertiri karias were all at Jig-Jiga,

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

134

and the Abyssinians were encamped some miles off in the Gureis
Hills, coming to Jig-Jiga every morning to water cattle and
horses, and returning to their villages at night. The scouts
reported that they met some Midg4ns near the water, and that
these men ran at them and would have attacked them, but were
afraid of the two rifles. It afterwards transpired that my men
had been telling a lie ; they had really met a large crowd of
Bertiri, who had run at them, thinking they were robbers ; and
my two scouts, in their fright, had fired a round of buckshot
into their faces. They afterwards confessed to having knocked
down a woman with a pellet in the lip. On my instituting an
inquiry among the Bertiri next day, the elders said, “It is so,
and she is dead ; she is only a Midgdn woman, and has no
relations, so it doesn’t matter.” Asking them to show me the
grave, they said it didn’t matter, and that the Abyssinians
would have killed fifty instead of one, and that the English
were good people ! Failing to get any sensible answers to my
questions, I explained the heinous nature of the offence, and
advised them to complain at the Besident’s Court at Berbera.
But no complaint was ever made, so I think that though a woman
was really knocked down by a spent pellet, she was not killed ;
and that the elders reported her death in the hope of a present.

On 2nd September we marched over rolling and open ban to
the Jig-Jiga Valley, and camped at the water within three
hundred yards of the ill-famed Abyssinian stockaded fort, which
had been such a thorn in the side of the Jibril Abokr tribe.
We found it untenanted ; and as the Bertiri made no objection,
we went over it and took some photographs.

The Jig-Jiga post is a work pushed out by the Abyssinians
into the Bertiri part of the Marar Prairie, and commands the
route from Berbera to Harar. It is a strong redoubt surmounted
by a rough stockade, the thin tops of the interlaced branches
being about thirteen feet from the ground outside. The earth-
work is a banquette four or five yards wide, rising in two steps
to seven feet above the ground. The banquette and stockade
are continuous round the enclosed space, which is a circle of
about one hundred yards in diameter. It is strong enough
against attacks by spearmen, but would give imperfect cover
against musketry fire. On the outside the small branches of the
stockade are bent outwards to form very flimsy chevaux de frise.
There is one doorway, with a platform above on which a sentry

V

RECONNAISSANCE OF ABYSSINIAN BORDER 135

can stand. Inside the enclosure were some good circular huts,
with perpendicular sides and conical thatched roofs.

A small watercourse, about eight feet deep, which would
give cover for men running along the bottom, goes half-way
round the stockade on the east side, at about fifty yards5 distance,
so that men could collect there at night, and with the help of
straw and kerosene oil the place might be burnt down and the
inmates stabbed while trying to put out the fire. The work
stands on the southern side of the Jig-Jiga Valley within three
hundred yards of the usual wells, the Jig-Jiga Valley here being
merely a depression in the open grass plains of the Marar Prairie.

The Abyssinian garrison varies in strength ; sometimes the
work is left deserted, as on the occasion of our visit, when the
garrison had gone to the Harrawa Valley for a few days, leaving
the wells to the Bertiri and their cattle.

We were glad to have hit off our visit to this post so
fortunately, and without having come into collision with the
Abyssinians. Our men w^ere disinclined to come, but we had
been cautiously feeling our way since leaving Milmil to avoid
any chance of a hostile attack. The Bertiri were very civil to
us, bringing us more milk than our men, with all their great
capacity, could drink. Crowds of the people came to our camp
and begged us not to go away, but to stay with them, as they
said the Abyssinians would never return while we were camped
here. Having satisfied our curiosity, in the evening we marched
to Eil Bhai wells, arriving there as night closed in during a
rain-storm. Hartebeests abounded everywhere, and between
Jig-Jiga and Eil Bhai I shot a beautiful wild goose, which I
afterwards found common in Og^den.

On the 3rd September, having halted for two hours to let
things dry a little, we marched at 8.30 to Makanis Hill, arriving
there at mid-day, the whole march being over the open grass
plains. Vast squadrons of hartebeests and of Scemmerring’s
gazelles, and some herds of beisa, were passed by us. We also
saw thirteen ostriches. It rained as night fell, and on the 4th
of September a high wind blew, with rain and sleet, keeping us
in camp all day. On 5th September we descended into the
Harrawa Valley in the Gadabursi country, and back on to the
high ban again at Sarfr, four days later. We then marched
along the base of the Harar Highlands, reaching Sala Asseleh
on 13th , September. We experienced heavy thunderstorms
with deluges of rain daily, and found the country deserted.

136

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA ch. v

At Sala Asseleh we met a few Esa Somalis who had just
left the Abyssinian post of Gildessa, now only half a day’s march
distant. They said that the Abyssinians were there in force.
We could get no one to go forward to warn the garrison of our
approach and peaceful intentions, the only native who knew the
country being required as a survey guide.

The next morning we made our final march into Gildessa.
We started early, and winding up a watercourse entered low trap-
hills, and after going four miles came in sight of an Abyssinian
sentry-hut, perched on the top of a rocky hillock, at a place
where the path emerges from the hills and makes an abrupt turn
to the right into the Gildessa Gorge, down the side of which it
runs towards Zeila. On the rocks around us was a large troop
of dog-faced baboons ; but there was no evidence, beyond the
small hut, that we were approaching a town.

I was marching a little ahead of the caravan, with my brother
and five or six camelmen ; and turning to the right, round a
shoulder of the hill, we suddenly found, only one hundred paces
in front of us, the town of Gildessa — a group of some hundred
fnat-huts, with a few thatched ones and stone houses. In the
middle of the town is a stone zerlba sixty yards square, with
walls ten feet high, having an opening five yards broad to allow
of the ingress and egress of laden animals.

The hut we noticed was the Abyssinian guard-house, on a
mound overlooking the two converging roads from Harar and
from Abosa to Gildessa, the latter being the road we had traversed.
On the west of the guard-house was the bed of the Tug Gildessa,
by the side of which wound the road to Zeila, and this channel
now contained a stream of running water, which flowed to the
east of the town.

The village through which we walked was very dusty, and
a swarm of people of mixed Eastern races blocked the way,
bartering cloth, tobacco, coffee, and other articles of trade ; and
among the Abyssinians, Gallas, Somalis, and Hararis I observed
several men of the black Soudanese type. We found the
assembled crowd very entertaining, and although the people
looked surprised at our sudden arrival they evinced no want of
friendliness. We sat down under some large shady trees on the
north side of the town, and were presently joined by the elders,
who were followed by several villainous-looking retainers carry-
ing Remington rifles and swords.

Taken up with this interesting crowd, we did not at first

GREATER KOODOO ( Strepsiceros kudu).

Length of horns on curve, 52£ inches. Straight, 37 i inches.

">

ch. v RECONNAISSANCE OF ABYSSINIAN BORDER 139

notice the non-arrival of our caravan, which had been only a
few hundred yards behind us during the march ; at length
missing the caravan, and inquiring the reason of delay, we
were told that the men and camels had been seized by the
Abyssinian soldiers who garrison the place, and taken into the
stone zerlba ; they had been made to unload inside, and a sentry
put over the entrance to stop them from coming out again.

This would not do ! So running to the spot, we entered a
small house on the right side of the entrance ; and there we
found, seated on carpets, writing, one Dago, who was pointed
out to us as the Abyssinian in authority over the town. We
demanded an explanation, and Dago said that he had seen our
caravan coming, and had decided that this would be a suitable
spot for our camp, and he had therefore ordered our men to un-
load the camels.

We now strolled in to look at the place. Outside the zeriba
entrance, to the left, was a barrack ; and on a wheezy bugle
sounding, about twenty soldiers, in white Soudanese uniforms and
armed with Eemingtons, ran out and fell into line. Another
bugle, and they presented arms in a rather fantastic fashion.
They were then dismissed, and stood loafing about outside the
entrance.

We looked into the stone square and found our camels lying
unloaded, our kit and boxes scattered about, where they had
been thrown from the camels on to the ground. Our men were
standing about, looking sullen and sheepish. The zeriba was
quite bare, without tree or shelter, exposed to a powerful mid-
day sun, and the ground was caked with camels’ dung. We were
told that this camping-ground had been chosen for our advantage,
that we should be received with honour, and that water and
camels’ milk would be brought for the use of the caravan. We
thanked D&go for his kind intentions, but said we preferred
camping under the trees by the river.

Dago and his friends made a thousand objections, and the
native officer in charge crowded the soldiers in front of the stone
enclosure. Our caravan had meanwhile been quietly loading
up the kit by our orders, but upon the camelmen trying to lead
out the camels, they were stopped by the soldiers, each of whom
carried his rifle loaded, with a few more cartridges held between
the fingers of the left hand, taken out of the belt ready for instant
use. One big Soudanese soldier stood across the entrance with
his rifle at the “port.”

no

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

We now saw the intention of the Abyssinian leader, and, as
it would never do for our Somalis to suppose that we could be
detained against our will, we decided to take the next step ; and
going up to D4go, who was still sitting on the carpet inside the
little hut, I threatened to complain to Ras Makunan, the Governor
of Harar, if this attempt at our arrest should be persisted in.

Dago said that we ourselves might go where we liked, but
that our Somalis, camels, and property must remain inside the
enclosure. We refused this separation, and told the officials
simply that we were going out, Some of the soldiers became
excited, and began shouting, but were silenced.

Again I walked over to Dago, and he said the caravan could
not go without the order of the Ras ; that it would take till to-
morrow at noon for a horseman to go to Harar and get this order,
and our party must be detained in custody till then.

I stayed talking to him for a moment, while my brother
quietly told off an advance and rear guard, passing the word
round for each of our followers to mark his man, and to put a
bullet into him should an attack be made upon us. I then
finally told D&go that we were going, and walked to the
entrance, where my hunter Geli silently put into my hands the
double four-bore elephant rifle, loaded in each barrel with four-
teen drams of powder and fifty SSG slugs. This rifle, so loaded,
scatters a good deal, and would have been quite equal to the
occasion.

We had not mistaken our friend Dago. The forces were
exactly equal, not counting the Gildessa crowd, some of whom
would have been for, and some against us, and seeing we were
capable of carrying our point, and being afraid of the responsi-
bility he would incur by using force, he called me back and
consented to our leaving, with our men, our camels, and our
baggage, provided I would write a letter to Ras Makunan, to
state why we had come to Gildessa. With my brother and
half a dozen men, all having their rifles ready, I entered Dago’s
hut, and we sat down on the carpets in a circle, and he pushed
me a reed pen, ink, and paper.

I wrote a short note to the Ras in English, stating that we
had come to examine caravan routes for the Aden authorities,
and meant no harm. That we had also had some shooting,
and wished to go to Zeila ; and I begged him to accept, as an
accompaniment to my letter, a pair of rhinoceros horns, those
of one of the two cows I had shot in the Dili Wiyileh.

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RECONNAISSANCE OF ABYSSINIAN BORDER 141

The Abyssinian DAgo said he was sure Makunan would be
pleased at the trophy, which would be a very suitable compli-
ment, because only important Abyssinians are allowed to be
in possession of rhino horns. They make sword -handles and
drinking-cups of them ; the latter being supposed to neutralise
the effect of any poison poured into them. He sent our letter
to Makunan at once by a mounted messenger, at the same time
begging that we would wait encamped here till noon the next
day, when the answer might be expected.

We said we could leave Gildessa whenever we chose, but
that, as we wished to be on friendly terms with the local
authorities, and to respect their rules, we would camp under the
trees outside till the afternoon of the next day. We now
marched out and camped half a mile to the north of the town,
on the right bank of the river, at a spot where it was overlooked
by some low hills from a distance of a hundred yards.

In the afternoon the Abyssinian officials took us into their
own huts, in the town, and gave us tea, sitting on rugs. The
soldiers also were very friendly, and, now that business was
over, they forgot the late akwardness, and tried to show us
that they bore no ill-will, but had only tried to do what they
believed to be their duty to B4s Makunan. In the evening 1
received them in my hut, giving them tea, which they seemed
to prefer to coffee.

When the Abyssinians were gone a large concourse of Gil-
dessa people came to camp, amongst them many Esa and Arab
merchants. They carried presents, among which were three
large sugar-cane stems, with spreading leaves, Indian-corn cobs,
potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce, and two sheep ; all the vegetables
having been grown at Gildessa by the Abyssinians. Some of
the Arab merchants were Aden people ; they came clad in their
best yellow and green silks ; and being versed in the tastes of
the white man, heading the procession, they brought us gravely,
as an acceptable gift, a bottle of absinthe carefully wrapped up
in a wet cloth ! Apparently this and breech-loading small-arms
form the chief articles of commerce between the French port of
Jibuti and Harar. Neither Abyssinians, Esa, nor Arabs would
accept any return present, saying that we were their guests and
not expected to give anything.

The Esa insisted, before the Abyssinians, that they were
British u subjects.” One old man had been to London and
Bombay as a ship’s fireman ; he advised us to send down to

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

Zeila and let the assistant Resident, Mr. Walsh, know of our
whereabouts, as “ something might happen ” if we were to try
to leave Gildessa.

Next morning a score or two of young warriors, with the
large Esa spear and shield, gave us a dance in honour of the
British Government, but it was cut short by a mounted
Abyssinian, Dago’s son, who rode up on a pony from the town
and ordered them to desist. My own men all flew to arms and
stood ready for a row, and Geli handed me my four -bore,
suitably loaded as usual.

The Esa were silent for a moment ; then, giving a derisive
roar of laughter, they went on with their dance, which was the
dibditig , or acknowledgment of sovereignty, in our honour.
The Abyssinian galloped back to Gildessa, and returned with
the soldiers, marching two deep with loaded rifles ; so the Esa
suddenly stopped dancing. A young Esa, of splendid physique,
came forward and asked whether we would like them to go on,
for, as he courteously put it, “the Esa were the obedient slaves
of the English.” Thanking him and his comrades, we said they
were under Abyssinian control here, and must do as they were
bid.

They replied that they were sorry, for they felt great friend-
ship for us. The situation was for a moment awkward. The
Abyssinians and my own men stood drawn up opposite to each
other near my tent, the young Esa warriors in a sullen group
between the two, and a large crowd of Esa, Abyssinian, Arab,
and GMla townspeople, armed with long guns, swords, and
spears, had collected on one side.

The Abyssinians were satisfied by my answer that I had
no intention of insulting them, and without further word the
commander marched them back to the town.

This was already the second hitch, and we were anxious to
get from Makunan the answer to my letter. We could not
foresee what trouble might arise with these sensitive Abyssinians
if we stayed long in Gildessa. We also thought that instead
of a letter reinforcements might be sent from Harar, and our
camp was in a spot difficult to defend.

By noon on the day of the Esa dance no answer had as
yet come from Harar ; we had delayed over twenty-four hours
to please the Abyssinians, but now, the stipulated time having
expired, at 2 p.m. we began loading up.

Some Abyssinian scouts, who had been posted along the

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RECONNAISSANCE OF ABYSSINIAN BORDER 143

road between our camp and Gildessa, reported our prepara-
tions for departure to their commander, and a crowd of Arab
merchants and Esa elders came in haste to our camp to prevent
a quarrel ; for they said that if we went without permission
we should certainly be attacked by the Abyssinians. They
put our staying so much in the light of a personal kindness to
themselves, that we agreed, not to stay, but to march a mile or
two to a more defensible position, and camp for the night,
going on in the morning towards Zeila. If a large force should
by any chance come from Harar, our present camp was very
unfavourably situated.

The Esa elders said they were sorry, as if they were ordered
to seize our camels, and we used force, a fight would ensue ;
and a fight with the English was the last thing they wanted.
We answered that we should also deplore this, but would not
allow our free right to go to Zeila to be questioned. So we
marched off, with most of the men formed into a rear-guard
thrown across the camel-track and extended at about two paces.

We followed the path which goes to the north between the
low hills and the forest fringing the right bank of the Gildessa
stream. My brother afterwards crowned the hills with part of
the rear-guard, while I kept with the remainder in the fringe of
the woods covering the retreat till the caravan should be clear
of Gildessa. A number of the Abyssinian and Soudanese soldiers
ran out with their rifles to stop us, but when they had come a
quarter of a mile they were recalled by a bugle from the barrack.

We camped after two miles, as we had promised our friends
the Esa and Arab merchants. It rained as we halted, but we
spent the first two hours of the night in fortifying our camp
with piled boxes of stores and rough timber from the thorn-
trees, so as to make them bullet-proof. We sent back word
notifying to the Abyssinians that we had camped, but that we
should make a very early morning march for Zeila, and asked
that the Harar letter might be sent after us.

The messenger, on his return, reported that there had been
high talk among the Abyssinians of punishing our Esa guides
Boh and Hadji Adan, who had shown us the way to Gildessa,
but the other Esa in the town had said that if a hair of their
heads were touched, the Abyssinians would have to deal with
them also. The Esa had then been driven out of the town by
the soldiers, who had formed line and charged them.

The Esa are accounted the bravest of any of the SomMi

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

tribes ; they seldom or never use light throwing-spears, but run
up and stab at close quarters with the large, heavy, broad- bladed
spear. On a certain punitive expedition which occurred in
1890, they managed to get into a zerlba full of regular troops,
and, although beaten off, to leave their mark inside ; and as
fighting men they are by no means to be despised. But having
no guns they are obliged in Gildessa to give in to the well-armed
and numerous Abyssinians. My brother and I watched by turns
at this camp during the whole night, and with the transit theo-
dolite took several pairs of stars for latitude.

Sending three men half a mile back along the road to Gil-
dessa, to keep a look-out, we loaded by moonlight and marched
at 4 a.m., and by dawn had gone five miles along a good track
through thick jungle. At daylight we came to Arrto, where
Count Porro’s scientific expedition, including nine Italian
travellers, was destroyed in 1886. We crossed a wide nala to
the foot of a small hill, which was the last camping-place of
Porro’s party. Half a mile farther we came to the Garasleh
stream. The banks were beautifully wooded on both sides by
large thorn-trees covered with creepers, with an undergrowth of
aloes.

At dawn next day, at our camp at Warrji, where we had put
twenty-five miles between our caravan and Gildessa, a number
of Abyssinians came after us on mules, bringing letters from
R&s Makunan of Harar. The letters were written in Amhhric,
and couched in the most polite terms. The Bi,s expressed him-
self glad to hear of the nearness to Harar of British officers,
and invited us to come to see him. The bearer of the letter,
who was the commander of the guard at Gildessa, further said
that one Gobau Desta had been sent to Gildessa to arrange for
the journey, and that by Gobau Desta the B4s had courteously
sent his own riding mule, with embroidered state saddlery, for
my use on the way. The Ri,s thanked me also for the rhino
horns. Alluding to our affair with the Gildessa soldiers, the
B4s significantly wrote, “ If they have been discourteous to you
they shall reap their reward.”

I sent an answer to this, saying our time was not our own,
but that I hoped at some future opportunity, when on leave, to
pay him a visit. I said that the soldiers had naturally rather
lost their heads at our sudden arrival, but had treated us with
great hospitality.

On 20th September we arrived at Biyo-Kabdba fort, the

RECONNAISSANCE OF ABYSSINIAN BORDER 145

small post pushed out by the Abyssinians into the Esa country.
And as we approached the guard of fifteen men fired a salute in
our honour. Strict orders had come from Harar that we were
to be given sheep, milk, and vegetables, that we were not to be
molested in any way, and above all, that the Odahgub White
Esa might dance to us if they liked. This they did, and I took

Female SCEMMERRING’S Gazelle (Gazdla scmmerringi).
Length of horns on curve average 16 inches.

a photograph of them. I have never seen finer men in any
Somali tribe than some of these Esa. At So Madu, on 22nd
September, a mail -bag arrived from Mr. Walsh, from Zeila,
about a hundred miles distant. News contained in these letters
necessitated my leaving my brother to finish the traverse. I
started for Zeila with two attendants and my three Arab trotting
camels. We slept on the side of the track for two nights, arriving
in Zeila on the evening of the second day.

My brother marched down to Loyi-Ada, between Jibuti and

L

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSLNIA CH. v

Zeila, to have a look at a palm-tree supposed to mark the
boundary between the French and British spheres of influence.
Here he had an amusing conversation in the pitch darkness with
a French officer, who thought he was trying to break the cholera
quarantine, the two parties of twenty men or so standing oppo-
site each other under arms ; this awkwardness was followed by
explanations, my brother expressing regret that, through long
absence in the interior, he had no knowledge of the quarantine,
and the Frenchman apologising for having received him en
troupier under a misapprehension ; and there followed a pleasant
breakfast with this official, who said he lived at Jibuti.

A few days before reaching Zeila my brother’s caravan was
struck down with sickness, caused by bad water, several men
having to be left at Ambos police-hut, and many more coming
into Zeila strapped on camels. I rode fifty miles on a very hot
day, with a native Indian hospital assistant and medicines, in
pursuit of my brother, but found he had come to Zeila by
another route. Arriving at Zeila, we paid off the caravan and
returned to Aden. This was the last trip made in company with
my brother.

SCE MM ERRING'S GAZELLE.

CHAPTER VI

A VISIT TO HAS MAKUNAN OF HARAR, 1893

Project to explore Gallaland — News of Colonel Carrington’s party — A Bulhar
feud — Start from Bulhar — Gadabursi dance to the English — Esa raid —
A rival sportsman — Awale Yasin breaks his leg — Native surgery — Ad-
ventures with leopards — Following a wounded leopard by moonlight — A
plucky home charge — Exciting encounter — A beisa hunt — On the Marar
Prairie again — Quantities of game — Arrival at Jig-Jiga, and visit from
Abyssinians — Attempted arrest of the caravan by an Abyssinian general
— Exciting adventure — Arrival of Gabratagli — Character of Banaguse —
A letter to the Ras — Interviews with Banaguse — Bertiri complaints against
Abyssinians — An answer from the Ras — Picturesque journey to Harar —
Hospitality of Basha-Basha, an Abyssinian general — Enter Harar —
Meet Signor Felter — First interview with the Ras in the audience-room
— Entertained by Allaka Gobau Desta — My servant wounded — Meet
Count Salimbeni, M. Guigniony, and the Archbishop of Gallaland —
Interviews with the Ras and exchange of presents — Farewells in Harar —
Leave Harar for the Webbe.

In the winter of 1892 I found myself able to undertake a
project I had long formed, — that of spending my long leave in
Somaliland, and penetrating through the country to explore
Gallaland and the sources of the Juba, five hundred miles
inland. Having thought for several years of undertaking this
journey, when I was at last in possession of the opportunity I
had all the arrangements in my head. It occurred to me that

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

Ras Makunan’s invitation, received by me at Gildessa, might be
very useful, because such a visit would ensure respectful treat-
ment from any marauding Abyssinian soldiers whose path I might
cross on my route to the Webbe. On the other hand, there was
a chance that Ras Makunan might put obstacles in my way ;
but as he would get news of my journey in any case, whether
I went to Harar or not, I considered it best to visit him, and
laying before him my project, trust in his intelligent co-operation.
I thought, moreover, Harar would be an interesting place to
visit, and I knew that RAs Makunan would be glad of such a
chance of exchanging ideas with a British officer. I mentioned
my project to the political authorities, who, though not in a
position to use my services, kindly allowed me to go in from
British ports. Eventually I started for Harar, armed with
eighteen Snider carbines ; a letter of recommendation to “ all
tribes whose countries I might pass through ” drawn up at the
Residency, Aden ; a note to Ras Makunan from Signor Cecchi,
the Italian Consul-General ; and a “ round robin ” in Arabic,
from Sheikh Mattar of Hargeisa, to all the mullahs, widads, and
chiefs of the Malingur and Rer Amaden SomMis, and of the
Gerire G&llas beyond Ime.

The caravan, which I got together at Berbera on this
occasion, was the best equipped and manned that I have ever
done work with. The men were twenty-four picked Somalis,
all of whom had been under my command on many expeditions,
and they were chosen from among some two hundred applicants
for this particular trip.

In Aden I bought three Arab trotting camels and at Berbera
thirty-three Somali baggage camels. I engaged Adan Yusuf as
caravan leader and interpreter, Geli and Hassan as hunters,
Eaura Warsama as guide, a cook, butler, and eighteen camel-
men — in all twenty-four men.

To Adan Yusuf I lent a Martini-Henry carbine, my hunters
carried my own spare big-game rifles, and the rest of the men
carried two Martini and eighteen Snider carbines. I took one
hundred and fifty rounds of ball ammunition per man, a box of
buckshot cartridges, and a box of blank ones for firing salutes
and signals, and for skirmishing drill. Fifty rounds per man of
the ball ammunition I expended in Bulh&r and during the
journey in field-firing at targets.

Organising the caravan at Berbera, I marched to Bulhar, and
there remained a week to drill the men and put them through

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A VISIT TO RAS MAKUNAN OF HARAR , 1893 149

their target practice, during which time I was the guest of
Mr. Malcolm Jones, the political officer. While I was at BulhJr
Mr. Seton Karr arrived on a shooting trip, arid left for the south-
west on the same day ; I also heard that Colonel Carrington of
Poona was starting from Zeila into the Gadabursi country to
look for elephants.

My own private weapons were a double four-bore elephant
rifle carrying fourteen drams of powder and a spherical ball, and
weighing twenty-one pounds ; a double eight-bore Paradox, a
double ’577 Express, all by Holland and Holland; a long Lee-
Metford magazine rifle, a Martini-Henry, and a double twelve-
bore pistol.

There was a row going on among the coast people while we
were at Bulh&r. Near Eil Sheikh, on the shore, fourteen miles
west of Bulh^r, two men had fought in the jungle, a man of the
Ayyal Gadfd being killed by a member of the Ker Gedi section
of the Ba-Gadabursi Shirdone clan ; after the duel the Shirdone
man had run away to his karia.

The whole of the Ayyal Gadfd sub-tribe who were in Bulh&r
at once assembled to drive the Shirdone out of the town, and
Mr. Jones promptly shut up five of the slayer’s relatives in the
lock-up to prevent their being lynched. Next day he sent half
a dozen police, mounted on fast camels, to catch the murderer,
and in the evening I walked out with my host to a crowd of
Gadfd, who were burying the dead man wrapped up in a white
tobe : we found that he had already been partly eaten by hyaenas
before being brought in, as one fleshless arm-bone was standing
out from under the tobe.

We left Bulliar on 16th February, marched about twelve
miles, and camped at Eil Sheikh, between Elmas Mountain and
the sea. We took up eighty gallons of water at Eil Sheikh
for the waterless march of fifty miles to Kabri Bahr. On the
following day I shot an aoul buck with the Martini-Henry while
on the march, the meat being very welcome. I saw a good
many beisa and followed a pair of ostriches, but both without
success, the flat-topped khansa bushes being very thick and
thorny, and difficult to get through. We reached Kabri Bahr on
the 19th, and Digan on the evening of the same day.

Here one of Colonel Carrington’s men came into camp from
the west, having been sent to look for elephants. I sent a note
to the Colonel, whom I had met in India, giving him notice that
I was on a trip to the far interior, and should not interfere with

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

his hunting-ground ; and I marched to Ali Maan, where I found
the country much dried up, and water scarce, owing to a dry
Jildl season and the failure of the Dair or winter rains. The
Her Nur, Gadabursi, gave a dance of fifty men, on foot, with
spear and shield, in my honour ; and, as a return courtesy, I took
a photograph of them. There were two large karias here. The
men professed themselves, as usual all over Somaliland, to be
English ryots (subjects),1 and they made complaints against their
neighbours, which they wished me to settle. While I was at Ali
Maan the Esa attacked some Gadabursi and killed one of them,
and in leaving I passed a party of young men going out to try
and find an Esa to kill, and so square off the score.

In the Dibiri-Wein country, by a beautiful reed -margined
river-bed, in the wet sand I found the footmarks of a herd of
elephants which had passed about twenty-four hours before.
Following these for a mile I discovered, to my horror, imprinted
over them the uncompromising outline of a European boot !
The herd had been followed, not by Colonel Carrington, but by
another traveller. I left these footprints in deep disgust, with-
out even inquiring the name of their owner, and marching on in
haste I reached Gebili a few days later.

I wras riding at noon ahead of the caravan, and had just
stopped to look at some old stone ruins half buried in rocks and
grass, when my guide Daura ran up and reported, “Awale is
killed,” and when the caravan came up it was headed by Aw&le
Yasfn strapped on a camel, in great pain, with his leg broken
below the knee, the tibia sticking out of the flesh for two or
three inches. He had been fixing a loose load when the camel
had fallen on him, crushing his leg. I gave him chlorodyne to
try and alleviate the pain. Then as we neared the camp we
lifted him off the camel, and four men bore him down the steep
descent of fifty feet to the Gebili watercourse, to the south of
which I pitched my tent. Following a sheep-track, we soon
found a few shepherds of the Jibril Abokr, who were returning
from watering their flocks. They sent a mounted messenger
to their karias, lying ten miles to the south, and next morning
a native expert at bone-setting arrived on the scene. I explained
I was not a doctor, and that the sick man might choose between
us ; and he chose the Somali, while I stood by to help and see
fair-play. I am not responsible for the following method —

First they washed the leg with warm water. There was a
1 Adapted by Somalis from the Hindustani.

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A VISIT TO RAS MAKUNAN OF HARAR , 1893 151

gasli some two inches wide, where the bone had come through.
The limb was pulled violently to get it straight, and the knee
was then bent till the calf pushed against the back of the thigh ;
more pulling was done to get the broken bones in a straight
line, and then the bandaging began.

Cutting a tobe into strips we wound it round and round
the bent leg, a neat hole being made with the point of a spear
wherever the bandage came over the gash in the flesh, so as to
keep the wound exposed and thus allow of future inspection.
The whole of the bandage was covered with subug , or clarified
butter, as the work progressed. Over the tobe bandage was
wound a final wrapping of soft heirdn leather. The whole of
this dressing was to remain on for seven days, and then to be
opened ; if the bones had not joined at the end of that time they
were to be reset by the aid of a wooden splint. If they had
joined, a light bandage would be again put on, and in a month
he should be able to wTalk.

Awale bore the pain without a sound, under circumstances
which would probably have caused an Asiatic or European to
yell, and next day I sent him off to the Jibril Abokr karias
strapped on a camel, with about twTo months’ rations of rice and
dates, and plenty of cloth to buy more ; but it afterwards tran-
spired that the hakim , native-like, had bolted with the whole of
this and left Aw&le to shift for himself. However, he managed
to get attended to by a good Samaritan from a passing caravan,
in the shape of a distant relation, who took him to Berbera,
wdiere I found him four months afterwards ; he was then able
to walk, but rather lame. A broken leg may not seem a great
matter, but happening away from any transport except a
baggage camel, and perhaps miles away from water in an
uninhabited wilderness, it becomes a terrible misfortune.

I went out for a stroll on the evening of 1st March from
Camp Gebili, quite alone, and walked along the sandy river-bed,
wdiich is surrounded by rocky and bush-covered country ; and
here I saw a hyaena rolling about in the sand, one hundred and
fifty yards away ; and pitching up my rifle I hit him, breaking
his back, and walking up finished his struggles with a ball
from my pistol. As I reached my tent a large panther was
heard coughing in the jungle to the east, no doubt prowling
round camp looking for one of my goats ; so we tied up a kid a
hundred yards from my tent on the slope of the river bank, and
raising a small screen of thorn-branches, I sat up with my

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

hunter Geli, five yards from the goat, to watch for the panther
by the light of the rising moon. After an hour, just as we had
begun to get tired of watching, and were nodding off to sleep,
the panther charged and carried the goat away. The loop-hole
we had prepared in our brushwood screen had been too small,
allowing no room laterally for a moving shot.

The panther carried away the kid at a gallop, and we rushed
after him in the moonlight over the rocky ground and scrub, and
made him drop it when he had gone some two hundred yards
from camp ; we then dragged the carcase back and secured it in
the same place, tying its leg with a stout rope to a stake
hammered into the ground, the rope being smeared with muddy
water to make it less conspicuously white. We also fastened a
live goat by the side of the dead one.

After another wait of half an hour Hassan the Midgan, who
sat on my left, touched me gently and pointed. Looking up I
saw a panther’s head five yards from the goat, gray and ghost-
like, and next second in a flash he had sprung on the live goat’s
neck, but finding it fastened to the stake he let go and bounded
on, giving no time for a shot. I searched all next day in the
thick ergin jungle round camp, but failed to put him up, although
we found a cave which had evidently been his lair.

On the next night I again went for a walk along the river-
bed alone, and saw the mate of the hyaena I had killed the
night before | but I held my fire for fear of driving away any
leopards from the neighbourhood.

I sat up again, and at eight o’clock, while it was still nearly
dark, a large leopard charged the goat at full gallop, and I fired
without looking along the sights, the light being too dim to see
the platinum bead. I fired a snap-shot with my eyes thrown
upon the bait as the gray silhouette of the leopard pounced on
to it, and pulled the trigger at random as it for a moment
obscured the white form of the goat ; the leopard left the goat
struggling and bounded away across the river. The smoke
hung heavily, and even when it had cleared away I could only
make out the white outline of the goat in front, lying in its
death-throes ; beyond that the black silhouette of the bush-
covered hill, and the white light in the sky which would soon
be replaced by the disc of the rising moon. I distinctly heard
the leopard spring up the hill on the other side of the river ;
and then she stopped, growling at intervals, and evidently
badly wounded, for I could hear the cracking branches of the

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A VISIT TO RAS MAKUNAN OF FAT AT, 1893 153

thorn-bushes and the sound of displaced stones as she rolled
about.

I went to camp and fetched a lantern and several men ; and
taking up the tracks, holding the lantern close to the ground,
we found a great deal of blood and shreds of her stomach which
had been dropped as she had galloped across the river-bed. We
held a whispered conference, and decided that if we waited till
the morning to follow her up, with this fearful wound she might
die in the night and hyaenas would spoil the skin. Several men
then began throwing small stones up on to the hillside amongst
the bushes where we thought she must be lying, but she refused
to show her hiding-place.

The Somalis offered to form line and drive her out by the
light of the moon. I tried to show them the foolhardiness of
this ; but as they wTere bent on it, and further hesitation on my
part would have been misinterpreted, I arranged a line of twelve
men with Snider carbines, and placing myself at its head, we
cautiously worked up the hillside. The leopard was very quiet
now, and gave no sign. The moon was getting brighter, as it
had risen well above the horizon clear of the hill and bushes,
shining down into our faces as we ascended.

The men wrere straggling and would not keep proper line, in
spite of my constant directions. We had made three unsuccess-
ful casts up and down the hill, when the leopard charged down
from the top, with a coughing roar, right in our faces. The
men crowded up round me and I could not fire, — indeed no one
had time to fire. She came down the hill in three or four
tremendous bounds, and the next second her shadowy form had
sprung on Esm&n Abdi, who was next to me on the left, and
leopard and man, locked together, rolled down the hill, brushing
past my leg. Liban Guri, the man on the farther side of
Esm4n Abdi, placed the muzzle of his carbine against the
leopard’s shoulder, actually singeing the skin, the bullet passing
through the leopard and ricochetting within a few inches of my
foot, scattering the gravel over me ; the brute let go Esmdn
Abdi, or rather Esman let go her, for he had her safe by the
throat from the first ; and she rolled over in her last agony,
fixing her claws into everything within reach, until I fired with
the muzzle against her ribs and settled her.

Esm&n ran down the hill, and we all followed him, calling
out to know how much he was wounded ; and when we over-
took him he said he wasn’t running from the shabel , but was

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

very much afraid of our bullets ! He was badly clawed about the
arms, but having caught the leopard by the throat in the first rush,
and never let go his hold, he got off without feeling her teeth,
although he had several abrasions from falling among the rocks.

We took the leopard to my tent and skinned it by firelight,
while by the same fire I dressed Esman Abdi’s wounds with
carbolic oil. The first shot fired at the leopard as she charged
the goat had taken her in the centre of the belly, and torn quite
half of the intestines away, and with this wound she had waited
quietly for us, and died game !

On the 3rd of March we left Gebili, and at the end of an
afternoon march of three and a half hours halted at noon on the
northern edge of the great Marar Prairie, at Ujawhji, near the
spot where I had been mauled by a lion a few months before.
A glorious view lay before us, the row of conical hills called
Subbul rising out of the plain some twenty-five miles away ; and
another twenty-five miles beyond could be seen the long blue
line of the Harar highlands, at the edge of which lay Jig-Jiga,
the Abyssinian post by which I must pass before marching to
the city of Harar. By the evening of the 4th of March we
reached Juk, a grassy bottom in the undulating bush-covered
country leading up to Subbul Odli, which is a dome-shaped hill,
the top being two or three hundred feet above the surrounding
ground and some six thousand feet above the level of the sea.
Between Bulh&r and Juk the whole country passed over had
been under the influence of a very severe Jilal , or dry season,
but at Juk we found that recent rain had fallen, and young
grass was just shooting up all over the plain, the thorn-bushes
being already a mass of green.

On the evening of our arrival at Juk I left the three trotting
camels in camp and strolled out on foot ; I found beisa abundant,
and after a careful crawl through old high grass, hit two
mortally with a right and left, but night closed in while I was
following, and I had to leave them to die in the bush.

At dawn the next morning the caravan marched on for
Subbul Odli, while I went back on foot with Oeli and Hassan
to look for the beisa wounded the night before. I found one, a
large cow, still standing, and gave her a finishing shot ; and
two or three hundred yards farther I found the other, a bull,
already killed and eaten by hyaenas ; but the skull, carrying a
very fine pair of horns, I took away, and as much of the meat
of the cow as we could carry.

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A VISIT TO RAS MAKUNAN OF HA RAR, 1893 155

Soon after overtaking the caravan I started a large herd,
followed by what is perhaps the greatest meat delicacy, a young
calf beisa ; and as the meat of the cow was scarcely enough for
my followers, I shot him. At noon we reached Subbill Odli
and camped half a mile from the hill, in open park-like country.
There was at the foot of Subbul Odli a beautiful forest of the
wadi , a thorn-tree with an upright light gray or lemon-yellow
stem, bare to about ten feet from the ground, and then spreading
out flat at the top into small stems in the form of an inverted
cone. It is a tree of great beauty, and covered with thorns
two or three inches long. This tree gives out a gum the
Somalis eat. It was now the Kalil , or great heat before the
monsoon, and we experienced the first thunderstorm while at
this camp.

Continuing our journey towards Jig-Jiga, I saw immense
numbers of hartebeests on the open plains, one herd contain-
ing quite a thousand individuals, and three herds about five
hundred each ; also smaller herds and solitary bulls were
scattered about near the horizon. All the game was rather
wild, but I shot two buck Soemmerring’s gazelles by a right
and left, as a long line of these animals galloped past me
extended at full speed, the setting sun glancing on their sleek
hides. We camped where they had fallen, on the short grass
of the open plains, my tent being within half a mile of Gumbur
Dug, a small rounded hillock which takes its name from the
Dug , or large gadfly. Four Ayyal Yunis traders came here to
lay before me, as a representative of the English, complaints
against the Abyssinians ; and some of the Jibril Abokr tribe
joined us, with their flocks, for protection wdiile passing the
frontier.

Marching into Jig-Jiga on the side of rising ground, opposite
the Abyssinian stockaded earthwork, I was promptly visited by
a Shum , or petty officer, and twenty Abyssinian soldiers, who
all carried sabres and Remington rifles. Rumours were afloat
that the Abyssinian leader, Banaguse, having heard that an
English force was marching up to take Jig-Jiga, was bringing
an army against me from his place at Gojar in the hills. The
Bertiri said that the soldiers at Jig-Jiga had been on the point
of leaving in a fright, but that we had come unexpectedly early
in the day, and so caught them in the stockade.

I sat up for a panther in the evening, in a wrretclied shelter,
when it was pitch dark ; and a spotted hyaena charged my goat

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND AB YSSINIA chap.

and took it away from under my very nose, but the light was
too bad for me to fire, and I returned much disgusted to camp,
picking my way home in the dark.

At midnight my caravan leader, Adan Yusuf, woke me up
to say that he had received news that Banaguse was coming to-
morrow with two hundred soldiers, and had sent for a rein-
forcement of two hundred more ; and that Banaguse had said
to his people that he would arrest me, whoever I was, and find
out the reason of my coming afterwards.

Accordingly, next morning iBanaghse marched into the Jig-

HARTEBEEST ( Biibalis swciynei).

Jiga Valley with the large escort of nearly four hundred horse and
foot, armed chiefly with Remington rifles. The force was one
of organised troops, so far as the Abyssinian military system
goes, and the rifles were superior to the Snider carbines of my
escort. I watched them for many miles as they advanced over
the plain, by the aid of a large astronomical telescope, which we
set up on a tripod in camp. The force halted outside the
Abyssinian zerfba, eight hundred yards from my camp, a dip of
open grass-land, forming the Jig- Jiga Valley, lying between us.
Banaguse went into the zerfba, the bulk of the soldiers squat-
ting down outside, gossiping and holding the horses of those
Abyssinian chiefs who had been mounted.

Soon Banaguse’s headman or Shum , Abadigal, came spurring
across the valley to my camp, mounted on a beautiful gray

VI

A VISIT TO RAS MAKUNAN OF HARAR , 1893 157

Abyssinian mare, with a message to the effect that the great
man was “ at home ;; in the zeriba, and that he had sent for
me. Remembering what had been told me of Banaguse’s
intention to arrest me, I sent back- Abadigal to say I would
meet Banaguse half-way if he would go into the valley with a
few men only • and I pointed out a conspicuous red ant-hill
where we might meet. Abadigal soon returned, saying his
master expected me to go to the zeriba, and that he would
wait for me there.

Mounting my Arabian trotting camel, and followed by all my
nineteen men, leaving only one sentry in camp, I rode out to the
ant-hill, and sat there for ten minutes ; but Banaguse not
arriving, being tired of the hot sun, I trotted back again ; and
on Abadigal coming on one of his frequent errands across the
valley, I sent him to tell Banaguse that he might go back to
Harar if he liked, but that I should stop where I was, and unless
he behaved civilly I should prefer not seeing him at all.
Moreover, I w7arned him that my men were few, and that if he
brought his crowd with him to my camp I should take it as a
hostile act, but that if he came with only a small party I should
be glad to welcome him, and give him a reception befitting a
man of such rank.

I waited another half-hour, and then I saw through the
telescope that the people squatting round the zeriba began to
stir, and Banaguse and his chiefs came out and formed the
whole force into a long line facing my camp. The chief mounted,
and the line began to cross the valley in my direction ; and very
picturesque they looked. I longed for a shot at them with my
“ Ideal ” hand camera, but not anticipating such a subject I had
put in no plates the night before. As they got nearer I could
see the silver-mounted shields and black sheepskin capes of the
men, and the rich trappings of the horses, some of the bridles
being hung writh rows of silver discs, glittering in the sun.
Banaguse rode in the centre on a w7hite horse, and the line
w7as an irregular formation about two or three deep. On my
right a large crowd of Bertiri Somdli horsemen had assembled
to watch the expected disturbance, and the whole picture was
one of the brightest and most exciting I have ever seen in
Somaliland.

I was determined that if Banaguse wanted to arrest me he
would have to use force ; and I knew he could not do this,
because, after the attempted arrest of my brother and myself at

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

Gildessa the year before, Ras Makunan had given strict orders
to his frontier generals to treat British travellers with courtesy ;
so on the whole I decided that if in the game of “ bluff” I
preserved a tolerably firm attitude, Banaguse would simply have
to give in, and my expedition to Ogaden would be saved from
failure.

Calling my men, twenty in all, and forming them into an
irregular line, I went out on foot into the valley to meet
Banaguse, hoping devoutly that he would halt his people and
come on with two or three in a proper manner. But the
Abyssinians continued to advance ! I was intensely annoyed
that Banaguse should insist on bluffing, and we all determined
not to give in. A few seconds only would decide the matter
now, as the array had come to within a hundred and twenty
yards, and was every moment getting nearer. I now ordered
my men to lie down, and advancing with two of them I waved
to Banaguse to come forward to meet me, and to halt his people.
My signs being taken no notice of, I blew a whistle, and the
men ran up and formed round me into a rallying grouj;), outer
circle kneeling and inner circle standing, and a cartridge was
shoved into the breech of every rifle. Several of the Abyssinians
dropped down ready to fire at a word from their chief, and my
Somalis made ready, on the order, to aim at the little man on.
the white horse, riding in the middle of the throng.

Banaguse wheeled his horse quickly and addressed his people.
He had at last been beaten in the game, and a wave passed
along the opposing line which we had been watching with
such concentrated interest, and they all sat down. Banaguse
trotted forward on his white horse, followed by Abadigal and
two others, and I walked towards him with my interpreter,
Adan Yusuf, and two men. Banaguse took the sheepskins
from the shoulders of the two soldiers and spread them on the
ground ; and we sat down side by side on the open plain, near
my original ant-hill, the dark Abyssinian force being eighty
yards in front, and my camelmen ten yards behind ; and about
a hundred Bertiri horsemen, sitting in the saddle, formed a
picturesque group on my right.

Banaguse complimented me on my military movements, and
asked the reason of them. I asked why he had advanced with
all his force, against my wish, distinctly made known to him
through Abadigal. “ Oh ! 55 he said, “this crowd was brought
in your honour ; it is the custom.5’ So, not to be behind him

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A VISIT TO RAS MAKUNAN OF HARAR , 1893 159

with a soft answer, I said, “ This is also an English custom, to
do you honour ” ; and so we parted, shaking hands ; and I
marched back my own men to my camp, and Banaguse crossed
the valley to his zerfba, followed by his little army.

In the afternoon an Abyssinian named Gabratagli came to
me with a small escort, having just arrived from Darima, a
village in the highlands about a day’s march distant. He was
an agent of Menelek, and had been appointed to inspect routes
and regulate caravan fees. He reported that Ibis Makunan
had just arrived at Harar after his visit to Shoa, but had not
yet had time to hear of my coming. Gabratagli had, however,
heard of it, and had come in haste from Darima to bid me
welcome to the country on his own responsibility, as he knew
of my correspondence with the Rds at Gildessa last year, and
of Makunan’s wish to know British officers. Gabratagli be-
haved with great courtesy, and assured me that Rds Makunan
would be delighted to hear that I had come at last. He said
that the people on the frontier were all mad, and suspicious of
the English, but that now he had come all would go well with
me. Gabratagli and his friends finished my small stock of
whisky and cigarettes ; and cheered by the comforts of my
table, became very friendly and communicative.

It appears that Banaguse is a Taurari, or ‘‘general command-
ing the advance guard.”1 He is in some ways an able man,

1 The following titles were explained to me by an Abyssinian, and, though
I cannot vouch for their accuracy of spelling, I jot them down : —

Negusa Negust, the Emperor ; literally the “ king of kings.”

Negus, King.

Rds-Bitodet and Rds, high titles ranking next to Negus.

Dejasmatch, General of Division.

Kanyasmatch , General of the Right.

Gemsmateh, General of the Left.

Fi Taurari, General of the Advance.

Balanbaras , Commandant of a fortress.

Turk Baslia, General of Artillery.

Yeshi Alaka , Chief of a thousand.

The combined camp of a large Abyssinian army is so arranged that the
Emperor and various kings occupy the central camp. In front is that of
several Rds, Dejasmatch, and Taurari ; to the right several Rds, Dejasmatch,
and Kanyasmatch ; to the left several Rds, Dejasmatch , and Gerasmatch.

Some idea of Ras Makunan’s importance as Governor of Harar may be
gained from the fact that he has under him four Dejasmatch , eight Balanbaras,
four Kanyasmatch, nine Gerasmatch , and five Fi Taurari.

Any of the kings has apparently a chance of becoming Emperor. The
present Emperor, Menelek, is also King of Shoa.

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

and is setting up a place for himself at the advanced post of
Gojar under Gureis Mountain, just inside the Harar highlands ;
it is said he wishes to found another Harar there. He has the
reputation of being disobedient to his superiors and tyrannical to
the Geri and Bertiri Somalis. He is unpopular in Somaliland,
and, if all reports are true, he is not likely to forward British
interests. He is the worst of those who extract cattle from
Somaliland without paying, under the pretence of collecting
tribute for the Emperor ; he has made many requisitions on the
Habr Awal tribe, which is under British protection ; and his
raids on the Og^den cattle are likely to damage our meat-supply
at Aden in the near future.

According to a story I have heard on fairly good authority,
Banagiise’s history is as follows : — A few years back, in Shoa,
he somehow incurred the displeasure of the Emperor Menelek,
and the latter ordered that he should be disgraced and punished.
When the Abyssinians took Harar, Banaguse so distinguished
himself that K4s Makunan gave him charge of Jarso District, in
which lies the village of Gojar, commanding the Hilindera
Pass; and the fort of Jig-Jiga, dominating the Karin Marda
Pass, both of which lead from Berbera and Hargeisa to Harar.
He appears, however, to have done nothing for the country,
taking numbers of horses and cattle away to feed the troops,
and exacting double road fees from Berbera caravans. The
Emperor Menelek, who had in the meantime almost forgotten
Banaguse’s existence, hearing the Somdli complaints, sent Gabra-
tagli to Darfma to check the caravan fees ; so naturally the two
officials were not exactly friends.

Gabratagli was a cheery old man, wearing a tobe, a pair of
white calico drawers, and an immense straw hat. He kept a
piece of calico soaked in butter over his shaven skull, under
his hat, “to keep his head cool,” as he said he was a martyr to
neuralgia. He rode a white mule, and had an athletic soldier,
dressed in calico drawers, constantly at hand with his drinking-
cup and a mysterious bottle, which did not contain water. I
took a great liking to this old man.

Gabratagli had travelled much, and had often visited Aden ;
and he asked me concerning the health of English officers whom
he had met many years before, whose names I had never heard ;
and on my admitting this, he remarked, “ If you don’t remember
these you must be very young.” Before he left my camp he
sent a mounted messenger to Harar with a letter from me to

VI

A VISIT TO RAS MAKUNAN OF HARAR , 1893 161

the R4s, and he asked me to stay at Jig-Jiga for three or four
days till the answer should arrive.

It was not till nearly sunset that Banaguse came over,
bringing his whole force across the valley to my camp. I fired
a salute as he came in, my men being pleased, and thinking
themselves great soldiers after the morning’s display. I insisted
on his halting his people two hundred yards from camp, and
bringing only twenty men with him ; and to show him that I
did not like his methods, I ordered my men to squat down in
a circle round the door of my reception tent, and leading
Banaguse and a few chiefs through a lane of my men, I sat
down among them wTith my loaded rifle leaning against a chair
and my revolver on. The few soldiers whom Banaguse brought
with him were allowed to wander about the camp at will, one
sentry keeping a watchful eye over them. They treat their
long Remington rifles shamefully, leaning on them with the
muzzles half buried in the earth. Their custom is to keep
these rifles loaded while on the Som&li frontier, but not, I
believe, in Harar.

I found Banaguse very intelligent, and his features are well
cut and regular, unlike those of the coarse -featured soldiers.
I noticed the Som&lis have much better features than the
Abyssinian solders, and smaller hands and feet. I should
think Banaguse must have Arab blood in his veins. Although
polite, he was not at all disposed to be friendly to me ; he
knew that I had taken photographs of his stockade on my last
visit while he was away, and complained of him to the British
Government.

There was a report in my camp that the force he had
collected at Gojar was getting ready to attack an Italian who
was said to have settled down on the Milmil-Ime route at
Sassamani, in Og^den. At the time I thought of Prince
Ruspoli, but subsequently found that the object of the attack,
which never came off, was Colonel Paget, who had, I afterwards
heard, with great justice restored some looted camels to the
Ogdden while on a shooting trip in their country.

During my interview with Banaguse, Mahomed Ahmed,
the poor Ger&d or Sultan of the Bertiri Somdlis, sat in my tent
looking dejected and never daring to utter a word. It appears
his dignity had suffered at the hands of the Abyssinians during
the last few months, he being obliged to “trot about like a
dog” between the karias to fetch cows for the soldiers to eat.

M

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

The Gerhd was slightly built, and had the intelligent face and
well-cut features of the best kind of Somhli, a great contrast to
the coarse-featured soldiers who were allowed to hector over
him. Despite his old, worn-out tobe he still looked dignified.
Before the arrival of these Abyssinians, who came into the
Bertiri country like a swarm of locusts when they took Harar,
the Gerhd had been a man of some repute. But the Abyssinians
took away all his power, and he is now of little consequence.

My intercourse with Banaguse depended on several inter-
preters ; he spoke Amliaric to Gabratagli, who passed it on to
my interpreter, Ad an Yusuf, in Arabic, and the latter translated
into Hindustani for my benefit. By the time a sentence reached
me Banaguse was thinking of something else, so we did not make
much progress.

The Abyssinians preferred tea to coffee ; and I noticed
Banaguse rather craned at his cup, and handed it to a friend
first, suspecting poison. But my headman, Adan Yusuf, full
of tact, said quietly, “ Mafish khoff” (No fear), and giving a
short laugh, he took a long draught from the cup, and filled it
again for the great man.

On 9th March, in the early morning, Banaguse sent over
Abadigal to say he was leaving for Gojar, and requesting that
I would visit him in the stockade ; so posting a sentry in camp
I took nineteen of the men in line, rode across the valley, and
drew up at the Abyssinian zerfba. Leaving most of the men
outside I entered with four, passing a sentry who saluted me
by presenting arms in Abyssinian fashion ; and walking across
the zerfba I entered Banaguse’s hut. Here I found his notables
assembled, all seated on the ground. I was invited to take my
place on a raised platform with Banaguse, while Adan Yusuf and
the other interpreters squatted in front. Banaguse was polite,
but having little to say, he left Gabratagli to do all the talking.

After a somewhat embarrassing leave-taking I trotted back
to camp on my camel, and Banaguse issued from the stockade ;
and, followed by his army, marched over the plain towards
Gojar. Looking with my telescope from camp an hour later,
I made them out in the far distance, and it was pleasant to
have seen the last of them.

I was glad to halt at Jig-Jiga for a few days, as the plains
were dotted over with game. My men were a thoroughly good
lot of fellows, and I was particularly pleased with the way in
which they enabled me to show a bold front to Banaguse.

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A VISIT TO RAS MAKUNAN OF HARAR , 1893 163

One day I went out into the plains with three or four men,
and found immense herds of hartebeests and Soemmerring’s
gazelles ; but the day being windy, they were very shy. The
gazelles were always galloping about and starting the masses
of beisa and hartebeests. They would draw up in front of the
larger game, appearing to know that I did not want to fire at
them, sometimes giving me very easy chances. At last, seeing
no chance of the larger game, and being in want of meat, I
shot two Soemmerring’s gazelles right and left, one a very good
buck with a thick winter coat ; and on the way to camp I saw
a bull hartebeest standing, as he thought, out of range, some
four hundred yards away, so I lay prone and brought him down
witli a careful shot from the Martini-Henry.

Keturning to camp, I found messengers from one Farur
Ger^d Hirsi, a relation of the Bertiri Sultan, who was at his
karia two miles away, and had “pains all over his body,” so he
had sent his sons to call me. I gave him twenty drops of
chlorodyne and half a dozen quinine pills, one to be taken daily.
I was received with great enthusiasm by a crowd of some two
hundred of his womenfolk and male relations, all calling out
“ Nabad” (Welcome). The GerAd said he would have had him-
self carried to my camp, but not while the hated Abyssinians
remained there. The elders flocked around to lay complaints
before me of the treatment they had received from the Abyssinian
invaders. They said that Banaguse was lazy, and did not
administer the country a bit ; that he and his mob were good
neither at fighting nor governing, and that the only thing they
could do was bullying the karias for the extraction of cattle,
which his soldiers eat raw. The Ger&d told me that ten cows
were taken last month from his karia alone. Another man,
Ibrahim Giiri (Rer Ali), lost seventy-six camels, two hundred
sheep, and five huts in one day ; and he and his wife were
arrested and taken away by the Abyssinians towards Harar.
These are samples of the arbitrary behaviour of frontier officials.

At night I returned to my camp from the Gerad’s karia,
across torrent-beds and wait-a-bit thorns, and learnt the lesson
that it is much better to cross one deep ravine low down than
the twenty or more tributary ravines from which it is formed.
We got to camp at last, relieved in our minds, because the
presence of a man-eating lion in this neighbourhood had made
us feel rather uncomfortable when stumbling about amongst the
ravines in the darkness of the night.

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

Next morning I sent a haunch of venison to Gabratagli,
done up with clean white foolscap paper pinned round it, with
a pencil memorandum in English conveying my compliments,
as it seemed to me it would do no harm to be polite. My
armed Somali camelman who took it seemed to think it a
great joke, and trotted across the half-mile of valley to the
Abyssinian zeriba in pouring rain, singing cheerfully ; and he
returned saying my friend was delighted, but, my SomMi asked,
“ Why did I waste my good venison on such pigs ? ”

At mid-day on the 11th came news that Ras Makunan had
returned to Harar from Shoa ; and at eight o’clock at night
Gabratagli sent over the Ras’s letter, with an interpreter. The
R4s expressed himself very pleased that I had carried out my
promise, made last year, to visit him, and hoped I would come
at once, adding that Gabratagli had received orders to make
all arrangements for my coming.

On the 13th March we left Jig-Jiga, crossed the plains to
Hado, just inside the Harar Hills, and camped at Abadigal’s
own village. We had now left the Marar Prairie, inhabited
by Somdli nomads, and crossed the border of the Harar Hills,
descending by the Marda Pass into undulating country occupied
by the cultivating Geri and Bertiri, whose permanent villages
are clustered about everywhere, and are controlled by Abyssinian
magistrates, whose title is Shum.

The Shum who was my host was Abadigal, Banaguse’s
right-hand man, whom I had seen lately at Jig-Jiga; he was
a good fellow, broad-shouldered and good-natured, and looked
very imposing in his military dress, with a black sheepskin
cape and a long curved sabre. Although the Bertiri villagers
detest the Abyssinian occupation as a principle, Abadigal enjoys
the personal respect of those under him.

The pass by which wre entered the mountains is called Karin
Marda, and is very prettily wooded, the road having a greatest
elevation of about 6500 feet above sea-level. A great change
came over the landscape as wTe topped the pass. Behind us
lay a thickly-wooded slope descending to the immense Marar
Prairie, covered generally with short grass without a single
bush, which is a thousand square miles in area, and has a
greatest length of fifty and a greatest breadth of thirty-six
miles, with a mean elevation of 5500 feet above sea-level. In
front, at our feet, the road wound through picturesque forest
for half a mile, and then the whole face of the country was

VI

A VISIT TO RAS MAKUNAN OF HARAR , 1893 165

covered with jowari cultivation and clusters of substantial
villages. Beyond, to the south- wrest, rose ridge upon ridge
of blue hills and deep valleys, among which, some forty miles
away, lay the city of Harar. To the right towered the
tremendous mass of Kondurd, (or Kondudo) to about ten
thousand feet, and beyond Harar a similar mass, called Gara
Mulhta, shut out the view to the west.

At this season we found the signs of cultivation to consist
only of old stubble ; the land was being ploughed up to receive
the new seed, the dry season being nearly at an end and the
monsoon rains expected shortly.1 Everywhere, in pairs or
singly, oxen were drawing the primitive Bertiri plough, and the
country had a peaceful look after the thorn-forests and open
grass -plains of the nomad Somalis, where sheep and camel
paths and zerfbas were almost the only evidences of human
occupation.

The Shum kindly lent me his house, a substantial dwelling
fifteen feet high and eighteen feet in diameter, made in a
circular form, of stout saplings and jowari stalks, with a
beehive-shaped roof of the same material, covered by ten inches
of neat layers of thatched grass ; and altogether forming as
clean, well-built, and comfortable a dwelling, for the climate, as
one could wish. As we got intensely cold night-winds at this
elevation (5500 feet), I was glad indeed to exchange my Cabul
tent for Abadigal’s hut. The state of the thermometer, which
sometimes goes down to 49° and 50° Fahr. in the early mornings,
does not accurately describe the cutting nature of a Somhli night-
wind, the more keenly felt when one has been travelling all day
under a burning Jildl sun.

An Abyssinian soldier brought me a present of fifteen fresh
hen’s eggs ; I offered payment, but he refused, saying that eggs
were of no value, and many were daily thrown away as refuse.
Somhlis do not keep fowls, so I was delighted at the change of
food.

Mahomed Ahmed, the Gerad of the Bertiri tribe, visited me
at Abadigal’s hut, with the same old story ; he said that the
Bertiri wished for the arrival of anybody in European shape
who would administer the country and save them from the
Abyssinians. He said, as an inducement, that any Europeans
taking over the country would make plenty of money ; he added
that ever since I had come to Jig-Jiga he had been kept on the
1 The Gu or spring rains ; due about the middle of April.

166

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

run, carrying messages to various villages many miles away, or
looking for cattle, because the Abyssinians wanted to prevent his
coming to me. He had crept to my hut stealthily by night ;
and of course I warned him of the danger to which he exposed
himself. He said that my arrival threw the Jig-Jiga garrison
into a great state of alarm. My friends the Bertiri, I found,
loving to make mischief, had magnified my difficulties with
Banaguse into a great British victory over the Abyssinians ! I
believe that half the Abyssinian suspicion of English designs on
the frontier is due to Somali gossip.

We set out from H4do at daylight, and leaving cultivation
after an hour, descended by a road, bad for camels, into the
beautiful valley of Helmok, camping by the margin of a running
stream. This valley, which leads into the Tug Eafan to the
south-east, is covered with forest and dense undergrowth, where
the latter has not been burnt off by jungle-fires. It has been a
favourite resort of elephants and rhinoceroses, but since the
Abyssinians came to Harar their numbers have diminished, and
we only saw the track of one bull rhinoceros, which had come to
drink at the stream two nights before.

Marching from Helmok in the afternoon, we arrived at the
village of the Kanyasmatch Basha-Basha, which lies on the saddle
between two very remarkable hills called Eilalami, the village
itself being called Bakaka. To the west of the Eilalami ridge is
Eeyambiro, and to the east Bursum.

The country between Hehnbk stream and the Eilalami ridge
is a beautiful, well -watered valley, covered with forest, un-
cultivated and used as pasture by the Geri and Bertiri flocks
at the proper season. The ascent to the saddle on which Bakaka
village stood was steep for camels, and we wound through this
large village after dark, threading our way through a crowd of
Abyssinian, Galla, and Harari villagers, and yelping pariah dogs,
till we reached Basha-Basha’s house.

The rank of Kanyasmatch may be described as that of
General commanding the right wing of an Abyssinian army.
Fi Taurari Banaguse and Kanyasmatch Basha-Basha are the
two commanders who respectively lead the Abyssinian advance
into the Bertiri and Habr Awal countries to the north, and the
Og&den to the east.

I was led into a large stockaded enclosure behind Basha-
Basha’s house, where a tent had been prepared for me. This
wTas fourteen feet in diameter across the floor and of bell shape,

VI

A VISIT TO RAS MAKUNAN OF HA RAR, 1893 167

with perpendicular walls seven feet high hanging to the ground
all round. The central pole was twelve feet high, of male
bamboo grown, I think, in Abyssinia, and the material of the tent
was a single thickness of American shirting. We waited out-
side a short time, among a crowd of gaping villagers and dogs,
while the tent was being prepared with carpets for my reception.
On entering it I met Basha-Basha, who welcomed me to his
village. He was a little man, squarely built, and had lost his
left eye. He had an abrupt, peremptory way of talking, but he
was said to be very popular and to have a great reputation for
straightforwardness, being kind to his inferiors and “ very terrible
in war.” Fortunately I had not to test his fighting powers,
but I found him everything that could be wished as a host, and
he impressed me more favourably than any of the Abyssinians
whom I had met. He apologised for not being in his dress of
ceremony on the ground that he was in mourning ; but next day
he condescended to put on his cape of lion-skin and a black
velvet waistcoat covered with embroidery, to show me the
costume. He admired my big-game rifles, being much delighted
with the double four-bore, weighing twenty-two pounds, which
he said was the right gun for elephants. I heard that Basha-
Basha when a child was adopted by the wife of Has Makunan,
and through this connection with the family of the Bas and his
own ability he had advanced to his present post.

On the 15th I remained all day in Basha-Basha’s tent,
occasionally appearing at the entrance to show myself to the
crowd which had come to see me. In the evening I wanted to
go for a walk, so, as an excuse, I proposed to visit Feyambiro.
I had the greatest difficulty in persuading Basha-Basha and
Gabratagli that I was not going to choose the site for an English
fort. They thought it most extraordinary that I should Avant
to go for a walk, and Basha-Basha quietly ordered a detach-
ment of soldiers to go with me ! I carried out my intention,
going four miles along a very uninteresting public path covered
with people passing to and fro, between cultivated fields, when
we came to a few huts belonging to a caravan of Berbera
traders; this, I was told, was Feyambiro, where all caravans
from Somaliland unload and change to donkey transport, leaving
the camels to graze at Feyambiro, as the road ahead, over the
twenty-five miles to Harar, winds through deep gorges and is
too rough for camels. Gabratagli asked why I should want to
see Feyambiro, when I should pass it on the morrow while going

168 THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

ctt. vi

to Harar. I got the exercise, but did not enjoy the trip, because

1 was dogged the whole way by a hundred GAlla peasants and
Abyssinian soldiers.

We set out from Basha-Baslia’s on the morning of the 16th
March at seven o’clock. I left all the camels and camp at
Feyambiro, taking on with me only my servants and a little
personal baggage, the transport of mules and porters being
supplied free of charge by Gabratagli. Passing over very hilly
country intersected by deep gorges, we arrived at Harar at

2 p.m., being escorted for the last two or three miles by several
companies of the soldiers of the R&s, in clean white dress, to the
number of about a thousand.

As we arrived at the head of each company, the men
presented arms in the Abyssinian way, and were marched off
in front or in rear of the procession according to the place
assigned them, the whole being under the command of a Geras-
match , or General of the Left.

Near Harar I caught sight of a European white helmet, and
was met by Signor Felter, an Italian merchant, who spoke
French fluently, and kindly offered to come with me as far as
Makunan’s house. Count Salimbeni and Signor Felter and
another gentleman formed the Italian community at Harar at
the time of my visit. The former had represented the Italian
Government, but was shortly leaving for Aden.

I had an interview with the B&s at his audience-house in the
centre of the town, the members of his household and leading
men of Harar being present. The audience-room or shed was
decorated with carpets, a raised dais at one end being reserved
for the R&s ; a European easy-chair or two occupied one side of
the room, while the natives squatted on their heels on the
carpets. The interview was short, as is the custom on first
meeting, the visitor being supposed to be tired after his journey.
R4s Makunan asked me a few questions about Aden. It seems
that not long ago he went to Rome, where he received a decora-
tion. He is well informed on European subjects.

After this interview I was taken to the house of Alaka Gobau
Desta. He appeared a learned man, and his position in England
would have been something similar to that of a college “Don,”
though I think Alaka simply means “ chief.” He spoke excellent
English, and said he was a native of Gondar in Abyssinia. In
the trimming of his hair and beard he called to mind pictures of
Spanish gentlemen about the time of Queen Elizabeth. He was

JUNGLE OF “ WADI” THORN-TREES AND “ HIG” ALOES; SUBUL ODLI, HAUD.
From a Photograph by the Author.

CH. vi A VISIT TO RAS MA HUNAN OF HARAR, 1893 171

formerly in a mission at Zanzibar, where he learnt English ; and
he married a Goanese from India, since dead, who could paint
in water-colours, and whose sketches were hanging on the walls
of his house. My friend had furnished it as far as possible in
the English style, and while there I enjoyed the comforts of an
English lodging free of cost, besides good champagne and roast
beef cooked by the wife of an Armenian who works for the Has.
I have nothing but pleasant recollections of the kind hospitality
of the Abyssinians at Harar, and of Signor Felter and his
charming wife.

My baggage not arriving on the 16th, I rode out five miles,
on a mule, along the road, to look for it. When it arrived in
the evening, I found my servant Ibrahim, a Somali boy of nine-
teen, had met with an accident ; an angry Abyssinian, armed
with a spear, had been chasing his own servant, when the latter
ran to Ibrahim for protection; the aggressor turned on Ibrahim
and threw his spear, and trying to wTard off* the blow he received
the spear through the palm of his hand. It was a bad cut,
severing an important vein, so that the hand had been bleeding
at intervals for nearly two days ; and Ibrahim arrived in a very
weak state. I complained to the R&s, and the culprit was
caught and put into prison, Ibrahim receiving the small com-
pensation of twenty-five piastres, or about three rupees. I told
the police officials that all my servants had orders to use their
carbines, if necessary, in self-defence, and expressed astonish-
ment at Ibrahim’s forbearance.

On 17th March I had a long interview with Has Makunan,
when he expressed great friendship for the British ; and I con-
veyed to him the kind regards of General J. Jopp, C.B., Political
Resident of Aden, and the Italian Consul-General Cecchi, and
of other officers known to him personally or by correspondence.
After the audience I met Count Salimbeni at dinner at the
house of Signor Felter.

On the following day I called on M. Gabriel Guigniony, a
French merchant, and Monseigneur Taurin Cahaigne, officially
“ Vicaire Apostolique des Galla.” He has been many years in
the country, and probably knows more about Galla history than
any man.

In the afternoon I spent a long time with the Ras, and gave
him a photograph-album of Indian scenes, and also a tiger-skin
mounted on red cloth. He was much struck with some of the
photographs which represented Indian elephants in a “khedda”;

172

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSS1NLA chap.

and lie asked me whether he could get experts from India to try
their hands at taming the African elephant.

I showed him Burton’s First Footsteps in East Africa , which
contains such a graphic description of Harar and a sketch of the
city. Gobau Desta read Burton’s historical account of Harar to
the Has, translating as he went along ; and said it was true in
every detail. I also showed the Bas my photo of two rhinoceros
heads. He is said to have been a keen hunter, and he sent for
my Express rifle, by Holland, and took down the number, saying
he should like to order one like it to shoot lions with, as “ he
preferred English rifles for big game.”

I took a ride with the Italians to Jebel Hakim and round
Harar ; and in the evening dined with M. Guigniony. On the
19th I called on Count Salimbeni, and in the afternoon had
another interview with the Bas. Having come to the city only
as a private visitor, I was careful to steer clear of politics in our
conversations. But the B4s insisted on looking on my visit as
partly political, and seized the opportunity of stating his ideas,
through Gobau Desta, to an English traveller. After the inter-
view I took down notes, from Gobau Desta’s dictation, concerning
Abyssinian ideas, which were read to the Bas and approved of.
He particularly wished me to get them published in England.

It appears that during the last few years Abyssinia has
imported immense quantities of breecli-loading firearms, and has
become, so far as the Abyssinian feudal organisation goes, a
military Power ; and Abyssinians are beginning to remember
that once their country included parts of Yemen and the Soudan.
Since Theodore’s time they have been trying to gain possession
of a seaport, and now they dream of absorbing the Somali tribes
till they reach the coast, either of the Bed Sea, the Gulf of Aden,
or the Indian Ocean. They declare that they will not be content
till they have full control of one of the seaports to which their
merchandise goes, preferably Mass4wa, Jibuti, or Zeila. They
hint that, now the African coast-line is being divided among the
Europeans, the Africans are entitled to their share. The Abys-
sinians say that the expeditions which annually advance farther
into Ogaden are undertaken for the purpose of exacting tribute,
thus establishing the Abyssinian claim to suzerainty over the
Som&li tribes ; and that, if possessed of one of the northern
ports, their Ogaden expeditions would cease.

However impracticable these ideas may sound, they seem
interesting as showing what are Abyssinian ambitions, and what

VI

A VISIT TO RAS MAKUNAN OF HARAR, 1893 173

may be the mainspring of the eastern movement which began
with the absorption of Harar, formerly a buffer state between
Abyssinia and the Somalis.

Abyssinians regard the European Powers with mixed feelings.
They say they wash for the internal improvement of their country
according to European methods, and promise commercial privi-
leges to the Power which can bring about such improvement.
They are, on the other hand, shy of the word “Protectorate,”
and naturally wish to be recognised for ever as an independent
State. Abyssinians claim to have authority as far as the confines
of the Equatorial Province, and even claim lately to have done
something against the Central African slave trade.

According, therefore, to my friend’s statement, Abyssinia
would appear to be the Power on whose progress the future
enlightenment of Central Africa largely depends. My own hopes
fall far short of this ; for though enlightened and honourable
Abyssinians, of whom Eds Makunan may be taken as the type,
may have high ambitions, yet the ruck of the people, from the
specimens of soldiers whom I saw at Harar, appear to be
certainly no better than the nomad Somdlis, except in their
possession of rifles.

The Eds was unwell on the 19th, and could not see any one.
I received visits from the Archbishop and M. Guigniony. The
medium of conversation with Europeans in Harar was French ;
curiously enough, the only person who could speak English
fluently was Gobau Desta, the Abyssinian who generally acted
as my interpreter with the Eds.

On 20th March I received a visit from Count Salimbeni,
and after dinner I had a long farewell interview with the Eds,
when he gave me the following presents : — The Eds’s photograph,
the Eds’s own drinking-cup, three other cups of buffalo and
rhinoceros horn, a buffalo-hide officer’s shield decorated with
silver, two Abyssinian spears, a gray riding mule and em-
broidered equipment.

The interview of the 20th March was held at 8 p.m. by lamp-
light, and was the last I had with the Eds in his house. As it
was a farewell visit, he had sent for his household and elders,
and I amused them by showing the various English positions in
use with the match rifle, several attempting them on the floor of
the audience-room.

The Eds again asked me about taming elephants, a subject
which appears to have impressed him. The presents for me

174

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

were laid out in front of us all amid a buzz of admiration from
the courtiers. I thanked Makunan for them, and said that it
would crown his kindness if he would give me a letter to his
frontier generals providing for my safe passage through districts
occupied by his soldiers. I had the greatest difficulty in getting
this out of him, as his suspicious officers strongly advised him
to put nothing on paper. By insisting, however, I at last got
the letter. On 21st March I called on Wandi, chief of police,
as he had sent a message to say he was sick and unable to come
to me. I found him in bed with fever.

I then had the presentation mule dressed in its state satin
embroidery, and, myself clothed in a canvas shooting hat, khdJci
drill coat, with a high starched collar, drill breeches, and brown
leather Elclio boots, I sat on the mule and went to meet the
Has, who was leaving for Jarso on an inspection. Biding half
a mile down a path, I came on the usual procession of soldiers,
and found the Bas at its head. We dismounted and bade each
other a final good-bye, the Bas going off to Jarso and I returning
to Harar.

In the evening I rode out with the Italians to Jebel Effikim,
and visited some wonderful caves in the limestone rock, which
have their openings in the top of the hill. They are formed by
rain-water collecting in natural pans on the open grass-covered
summit and sinking into the hill, eroding the limestone, and
producing immense well-like chasms. This water finds its way
to the surface round the base of the hill, where good water is
always to be found at every mile or so. This hill overlooks
Harar from a distance of about a mile.

On 22nd March I called on an Armenian and his wife
employed by the B4s ; and after saying good-bye to the Euro-
peans I took the road to Feyainbiro, with my servants and a
dozen soldiers who had been told off as porters to carry my
baggage. Felter and Guigniony came some distance to see me
off, the latter riding a beautiful little Abyssinian horse. These
horses are very pretty and graceful, but restive ; in shape they
resemble the Arab, and are about fourteen hands high.

My wounded servant had to ride on a mule. Count Salim-
beni had, however, by careful treatment, stopped the bleeding
and put him in a fair way to recover, though he was still very
weak.

I reached Feyambiro on the same day, being entertained
by the Shum , Basha-Gisdo ; and while encamped here I had a

VI

A VISIT TO RAS MAKUNAN OF HA RA R, 1893 175

curious adventure, probably unique in the annals of camping
out. I was, as usual, sleeping on the ground inside a Cabul
tent. After nightfall I was awakened by a disturbance going
on outside, men running to and fro through the camp and
shouting. I ran out and could see nothing at first, it being
a dark night, and the only forms visible those of my men and
camels, which loomed out against the sky, and they seemed to
be all rushing about wildly. At my tent door I found Adan

MALE SCE MM ERRING’S GAZELLE (Gazdla scemmerringi).
Length of horns on curve, 16f inches.

Yusuf, who said a Bertiri bull had gone mad and had
broken loose from a cattle-shed in the village, and was charging
about through my camp knocking over everything in its way.
It had already knocked over two men. Presently the bull
rushed past me ; I could just make it out, but soon lost its
form among those of the running men. I jumped out of the way,
and in another charge, having made a circle among the camels,
he came straight back full tilt into my tent ! All the men
rushed for the tent, and I followed, and heard cries inside.

176

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA ch. vi

Coming up, I saw an Abyssinian soldier run at the tent door
with a drawn sword, and then there was a confused jumble of
shouting men and the bellowing of the bull. Some one at last
produced a torch, and a curious scene was disclosed. The bull
had charged through my tent and entangled his head in the
closed back of it, which had been firmly laced up ; Adan Yusuf
had run in and caught him by the horns. The Abyssinian
soldiers had then hamstrung him with sabre cuts and had cut
his throat, so that he had fallen upon my bedding, a pool of
clotted blood from his throat standing an inch high, covering
my pillow, blankets, and all my kit. Taking hold of his hind-
leg they had then dragged him out by the front door, carrying
the blankets along with him.

On the 23rd I marched to H4do, and was again the guest
of Abadigal. We then marched to Jig-Jiga, where I rejoined
part of my caravan I had left behind during the Harar visit.
After waiting for two days to reorganise my expedition, I
started for the Jerer Valley on my way to Og4den and the
Webbe.

CHAPTER VII

FIRST JOURNEY TO THE WEBBE SHABELEH RIVER, 1893

Form an ambush over the pool at Kuredelli — A rhinoceros wounded — Un-
successful hunt after the rhinoceros — Two lions seen — Another rhinoceros
wounded at the pool ; three lionesses arrive ; interesting moonlight scene
—A lioness drinks, and is wounded — Death of the lioness — Follow and
bag the rhinoceros — Exciting hyaena-hunt with pistol and knife — Abbas-
giil fight — Unsuccessful rliinoceros-hunt — We march into the monsoon —
Waller’s gazelle wounded by me and pulled down by a leopard — Death
of the leopard — Camp again at Tuli — Two rhinoceroses bagged ; furious
charge — The Sheikh Asli. a friendly tribe — A leopard in camp — Ambush
at the Garba-aleli pool ; leopard and hyaena bagged — Abundance of game
— First enter zebra country — Man-eating lions at Durhi — Malingur at
Durlii — Elephant -hunting in Daghatto Valley ; a bull bagged — Large
number of elephants — Interesting scene in Daghatto — Leopards seen —
Uninhabited country — Difficulty in finding the Rer Arnaden tribe — Halt
at Enleh and send out scouts.

I left Jig-Jiga for tlie Jerer Valley and- Ogaden country on
26th March 1893, with the whole of my caravan, consisting of
three fast Aden camels, thirty-three baggage camels, and the
mule Ras Makunan had given me ; and I had still my following
of the twenty-one faithful Somalis armed with Snider carbines.
I had finished my visit to Harar ; and now, armed with R&s
Makunan’s passport, I was free to strike across Somhliland to
the Webbe Shabeleh river, four hundred miles inland, and to
shoot big game unmolested by Abyssinian soldiers, and, what

N

178

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

was more important, in hunting-grounds hitherto untouched by
Europeans.

We should have started early on the 26th, but had great
difficulty in getting guides to the Her Ali tribe, because the
Bertiri at Jig-Jiga were afraid that if they assisted us they
would be made to regret it by the Abyssinians. But on my
showing Makunan’s passport to the Shum in charge of the
stockade, he promised the people that they would receive no
harm on my account, and I marched with two Bertiri guides
at 9 a.m.

We threaded our way through grass -plains and jungle to
Kuredelli in the Jerer Valley, which runs south-east towards the
Webbe Shabeleh ; and on reaching this place in the evening, I
was delighted to find a pool of water in the rocky bed of the
river, the edges of which were literally covered with tracks of
large game. Among other animals a lion and a rhinoceros
had come to drink on the preceding night.

The river-bed was very rocky, and sunk some fifteen feet
below the level of the surrounding plain, which was covered
with dense mimosa jungle. Half a mile up the channel, to the
west of the pool, was my camp, pitched under shady trees in
a glade of good but rather dry grass. There had been, as usual,
a drought during the Jiltil season, but the drought this year
had been particularly severe because the previous Hair or light
winter rains had failed, so that Kuredelli was one of the few
pools of surface water left in the whole of this elevated country,
and there was not a drop to be got for many miles round. The
water was covered with duckweed, and was of a bright emerald
green colour throughout, and had almost the consistency of
pea-soup ; but, curiously enough, it was perfectly sweet and
good, and we drank it for a week without harm.

The pool was not more that fifteen yards long by five wide,
its longer axis pointing up and down the river-bed ; and on the
northern side it was overhung by a steep scarp of rock some
five feet high, where the limestone had been undermined by the
swirl of the river when in flood. Above the rocky scarp were
thick thorn-trees, whose branches overhung the river-bed, and
under these branches, on the edge of the scarp and overlooking
the pool, I constructed a small bower, bearing a rugged resem-
blance to a box in a European theatre. Nothing could spring
on us from behind because of the interlaced branches of the
trees which made our roof, while the floor was a smooth slab

VII

JOURNEY TO WEB BE SHABELEH RIVER

179

of limestone, and in front and at the top of the small precipice
Avere piled thorn-branches breast-high, so that I could fire over
them. The front of the box Avas other- wise quite open, and the
field of vieAv embraced tAvo right angles.

We made this retreat in an hour, and I took up a position,
as night fell, in the boAver Avith my tAvo hunters Geli and Hassan.
We carried my three rifles and spare ammunition, and four
more men brought my bedding, blankets for my hunters, a
lamp, matches, and my Avater-bottle full of coffee. We did not
forget a Avaterproof sheet each, to be used in case of rain.

My four carriers had also brought a donkey, which they tied
up to a block on a slab of limestone shelving doAvn into the pool
on the farther side, for we hoped thereby to attract lions ; the
carriers then went off to camp, and left us squatting silently in
our shelter.

I describe our arrangements thus in detail because I have
in this Avay sat out for game on scores of nights, and one descrip-
tion Avill serve for all. There is one thing I never omit, AAdien
about to spend a night in one of these jungle shelters, or Avhen
marching by night, and that is to decorate the centre rib of
each of my game rifles Avith a long strip of Avhite foolscap
paper, to assist the aim ; for, however good the moonlight may
be, it is impossible to see the tiny ivory fore-sight at night.

I sat over this pool on five successive nights. On the
first three hysenas came, but no lion or rhinoceros. The
hyaenas invariably came silently doAvn to drink till they saw
the living bait, and then at once took fright and galloped aAAray ;
on the succeeding four nights I therefore dispensed with the
bait. For two hours, after the moon rose, several wild ducks
kept us interested by playing about in the water and quacking,
quite unaware of our presence. I then went to sleep. We
savv nothing on the next evening, and I slept all night in the
shelter, Avaking up covered with dew at daylight, and returning,
rather stiff Avith the exposure, to camp.

On the third night I Avas roused by Geli, wdiose eyes I
could see full of excitement in the seini-darkness; and still crouch-
ing below* my screen of branches, I could hear the wallowing of
some heavy animal in the soft mud at the water’s edge. We
were all on the alert as I gently felt for the four-bore which
Hassan shoved into my hands. On cautiously poking my
head above the screen, I saw the great form of a rhinoceros
standing motionless as a carved sphinx in the moonlight,

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casting a deep black shadow upon the white rock. I stood
erect, and raising my arms placed the butt of the four -bore
to my shoulder. The action was seen, for the beast trotted
forward a few steps, and then galloped across the slabs of rock
for a path which ascended the bank on my side of the river,
and led behind my shelter. I fired at his shoulder hurriedly,
and, sad to say, heard no answering “tell,” showing that the
bullet had not struck ; and before I could look under the
smoke I heard the rhinoceros, with a succession of snorts,
gallop up the bank and trot behind my shelter ; then all sound

ceased but the animal’s breathing, which we could hear distinctly,
close to and above us, only separated from us by the stout
interlaced branches of the back of our “box.” We stood with
rifles at the “charge,” ready to fire and throw ourselves down
into the river-bed should his ugly head and horns protrude into
our bower. He did not keep us in suspense long, but after
listening for more than a minute, trotted off, the sound of his
footsteps getting fainter on the still night air, and eventually
dying away.

On the 29tli I returned to camp at sunrise, and swallowing
a cup of hot coffee, which my cook, having heard the shot and
divined its purport, had prepared, I took up the tracks with two
camelmen, letting Geli and Hassan sleep in camp. We followed

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them till noon, the sun being fearfully hot ; but either through
the unskilfulness of my trackers, or through the absence of blood
on the track causing me to lose heart in the fearful heat, we
had to leave the trail at a stony ravine ; and in the afternoon
returned to camp, tired out.

Swallowing some food, I took a short sleep ; and towards
sunset went out again with Geli and Hassan into the bush to
the west. Suddenly Geli pointed, and saying “ Libah!” (Lions)
started to run across an open plain of bare red earth ; and
there, three hundred yards away, were a lioness and young lion
reclining by the stem of a tall, shady thorn-tree, looking at us.
I had been searching for rhinoceros, and was burdened with
my double four-bore rifle, so when Geli started running he at
once got ahead of me, and Hassan, carried away by excitement,
followed suit. The brutes, seeing three men running across the
plain towards them, stood up, stretched themselves, and giving
a toss of the tail and a savage growl, cantered away across the
sun-baked earth in full view, and plunged into the low mimosa
jungle beyond. I ran up to Geli much put out, and snatching
my *577 Express from his hand, and giving him the heavy rifle
to retard his pace, plunged into the bush and grass after the
lions, but the grass was so thick and dry that I soon overran
the almost invisible tracks, and though we made several tries
back on to the red soil, we eventually lost them, and I returned
to camp disgusted with the afternoon’s entertainment.

On the next night we all awoke at the same time, while
the moon was still low, having been roused by the disturbance
of the pool ; and we made so much noise in throwing off our
blankets and getting ready, that a rhinoceros, which had
come down to the pool, heard us and made off. I fired the
four-bore, and my bullet caught it in the shoulder, sending it
galloping up the bank, snorting as before. The beast waited,
listening close behind my hiding-place for nearly ten minutes ;
then all sounds ceased, and I thought it must be dead. It had,
however, slipped quietly away ; so there was nothing to be done,
and we went to sleep. When we woke again the moon was well
up, it being about two o’clock in the morning. Geli had
awakened me, having seen something pass among the bushes on
our bank of the river, between my hiding-place and the camp.

The moon was throwing a fine light on the limestone slabs
which composed the floor of the river-bed, and as we gazed in
the direction in which Geli pointed, rubbing our eyes, we saw

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against the white background three large animals walk out from
the bushes into the open near the pool ; one glance told us that
they were full-grown lionesses.

They walked quietly across till they reached the place
where the rhinoceros had been standing when first hit ; and
then stood together snuffing at the blood, which we found
next day in quantities on the rocks. I could count their twelve
short and stout legs showing in silhouette against the white
floor of the river-bed, as they stood motionless, heads bent over
the fresh blood, appearing to consult together. I reserved my
fire, as I knew they had come to drink, and would give me
a better chance, nearer to my shelter, later on. The lionesses
then walked slowly across the river-bed in single file, up a
path which ascended the opposite bank, and then disappeared.
But they had not really gone, for from time to time during the
next half-hour I could see their round heads raised in silhouette
against the sky-line, above the black outline of the bank ; they
too were watching the pool for game !

I must have dozed off to sleep again, for the moon had
swung over a good deal towards the western horizon, when
I noticed Geli squatting in a listening attitude, and heard a
steady lapping as of an animal drinking. Geli whispered,
“ Now, be ready, Sahib ! ” and slowly raising my head above
my screen, pushing the muzzle of my Express forward at the
same time, I saw over the barrels the body of a lioness extended,
hind- quarters flattened against the rock, shoulders high and
head down towards me, lapping the water on the farther side
of the pool. I did not wait long, but glancing between her
upraised shoulders and lowering the muzzle till the white paper
on the rib between the barrels had disappeared, I pulled the
trigger. My bower was full of smoke, and I ducked under the
screen as the report of the rifle was instantly followed by a
roar and a splash, and jumping to our feet we just saw the
lioness, after having sprung into the centre of the pool to get
at us, in the act of raising her dripping body out of the
water. No doubt the cold douche hadfdamped her enthusiasm,
and she had turned back. Before I could take a sight down
the barrels she rushed off across the river-bed, pulling up in
the sombre belt of bush on the farther side to roll about and
growl. There was nothing more to be done, and though my
Somalis hinted that she might be hunted by moonlight, I,
mindful of our Gebili leopard, preferred to wait till morning

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before following a wounded lioness into those dark evergreen
bushes.

I woke up again at sunrise, and without going to camp or
tasting food, at once took up the tracks of the lioness. Her
line of retreat was sprinkled with blood. We drew the bushes
under the opposite bank very carefully, and then began to ascend
the bank by the path, the wind being with us, blowing towards
the south. Before we had reached the top we heard several
loud roars a few hundred yards beyond, and as we appeared on
the higher level the roars were redoubled, issuing from low7,
gray, leafless mimosa bush. We followed, keeping to the tracks,
and at last saw, eighty yards away, the head of the lioness,
held vertically, regarding us intently from the partial conceal-
ment of a tuft of grass on the farther side of a glade. She
seemed to be on the eve of charging, the black point of her
tail twdtching nervously behind her head, which bore a nasty
expression. I fired, but missed the small mark. There were
now eight of us, some of my men who had come to take away
the blankets and other things from the bower having joined us.
We stood in an irregular line, fully expecting a charge, and I
fired another standing shot at the wicked-looking head, my
bullet going harmlessly through the grass. Looking under the
smoke quickly, I saw her still in the same place, but she was in
a greater rage than ever, and kept up a steady low growling.
This was my first experience of one of these animals after having
been so badly mauled by one, and the situation w7as becoming
highly exciting. I now sat down, and resting both elbows on
my knees, took a careful shot. Her head dropped, showing I
had killed her, and we walked up to wdiere she lay.

My first bullet, fired at her while drinking at the wrater, had
struck her in the left forearm and shattered it, accounting for
her not having charged ; and my last had touched her left
cheek, and then entering perpendicularly, had expanded and
carried away half the brain-pan. She was a fine lioness, the
skin being in splendid condition. I told Geli and Hassan to
stay and skin her, as I had to follow up the rhinoceros wounded
in the early part of the night. But they begged to be allowed
to go with me, so I left two camelmen to do the skinning of the
lioness.

Going to camp and hastily swallowing some coffee, we re-
turned to the scene of last night’s adventure, and found the
tracks of the rhinoceros plentifully sprinkled with blood. One

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

of the legs appeared to be injured at the shoulder, as the trail
where the foot had been dragged along the ground was plainly
visible.

At nine o’clock we entered dense mimosa bushes, of a
peculiarly thorny kind, called hilleil , and under one of these
saw tlie rhinoceros, a large cow. She saw us first, however, and
charged, getting a pair of four-bore bullets in the chest at rather
long range as she came on. Hassan handed me my eight-bore,
and I carefully aimed at her shoulder as she picked herself up
and came on again ; but there was nothing in the rifle, and I
had to bolt to the right, leaving her to select a victim from
among my men, who, more active than I, were dancing about
the bush yelling out directions to me to fire ! When I had got
in a couple of cartridges I fired at her right and left ; and the
second shot, striking obliquely through her shoulders from the
front, brought her to the ground, and she died, still retaining
the kneeling position after life had left her. Going up, I found
that last night’s ball from the four-bore had injured her shoulder.
She had gone several miles, had taken three four-bore and two
eight-bore bullets, and had died game, having chosen the worst
kind of bush she could pick out for the final scene. I photo-
graphed her as she lay kneeling, leafless thorny mimosas spreading
their branches all round her, in the strong, defensive position
she had chosen as her last retreat, the sun casting a shadow in
every wrinkle of her thick hide.

Returning to camp, I laid the rhino and lioness heads side
by side and photographed them, making a curious and unique
picture to remind me of a good morning’s sport before breakfast.

While arranging the bower at mid-day for our last and fifth
vigil, a large spotted hysena came to drink; and not wishing to
disturb lions by firing a rifle, I ran after him, followed by my
Somalis. We had no weapons but unloaded Sniders, and my
knife and pistol. Running hard to cut him off, I was ahead of
the men as he gained the slope of the river-bank, and fired both
barrels of my pistol, missing him with one barrel but knocking
him over with the second. He picked himself up and disappeared
over the top of the bank, taking the path the wounded lioness
had followed in the morning ; we, however, gained on him, as
he was crippled by my bullet, and he hid under a low mimbsa.
The men came up in front, and one of them shoved the butt of
a Snider into his face, under the low-spreading branches. He
seized hold of this and chewed at it vigorously, while I was able

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to get round unobserved in his rear, and creeping behind the
stems of the bush, to drive my knife mercifully into his ribs.

At about three o’clock on the afternoon of this day, 20th
March, my camp being still at Kuredelli, a large force, consisting
of two or three hundred men, mostly naked, and all armed with
shield and spear, or bow and quiver, issued from the bush north
of camp and came running past, going due south. As they
passed the camp they scarcely answered our hurried questions,
but my men gathered that they were Abbasgiil SomMis belonging
to some karias a few miles to the north, and that their cattle
had just been raided by the Habr Awal and driven south through
the bush of the Haud. My men laughed at them for going
naked, but they said they had no time to bother about their
tobes ; they had come light for running, and only wanted their
cattle back. Party after party passed us, and men singly and
in couples, all in the same state of nakedness and excitement.

I sat up, as on the four previous nights, in my favourite
bower, and at about 1 a.m. these people returned with a large
mob of cattle which they had recovered and were bringing home.
They were talking excitedly as they approached the pool. We
heard one man ask, “Where were you wounded?” and another
answer, “ Oh, in the leg, but it isn’t bad.”

The cattle were driven past with clouds of dust and a clamour
of excited voices, and then they all disappeared in the distance,
and I heard my sentry challenge them as they drew up at my
camp half a mile away, and after another half-hour of chatter
they gradually settled down to rest. I had never met this clan
of the Abbasgul before. The men flocked to camp next day
from their karias in great numbers, and seeing the trophies of
the lioness and rhinoceros lying on the grass outside my tent
door, they said, “ The Abyssinians can’t do that ; their guns are
small, and are only good for killing women and children and
old men with : you English are our friends, and all the Og&den
tribes look to you, our masters, for protection against Abyssinia.”

On 31st March we made two marches to Grirbi, seventeen
miles eastward along the Jerer Valley, and the next day we
made a short march in a heavy storm of rain, the burst of the
south-west monsoon ; and the red clay became so sticky that
we were obliged to halt in the thick bush. When things were
a little dry again, I went out towards sunset into the level
thorn-forest to look for beisa. We had gone about a mile from
camp when we saw a large bull rhinoceros trotting along under

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THROUGH SOMA LILA AH ANT AT YSSINLA chap.

the trees a quarter of a mile away, having evidently winded us.
We ran at an angle to cut him off, but he changed his pace to a
heavy gallop, crashing through the thick parts of the jungle as
if they had been clumps of grass. We followed in his wake,
but failed to get within shot, for a rhinoceros should not be
fired at from a greater distance than about eighty yards ; and
so we settled steadily down to his tracks, hoping to catch him
up before nightfall. He retreated into thick bush, and as he
was going with the wind he twice winded us, and made off
when we were close up, but the jungle being thick we could
not see him. At last, night coming on, we left him and re-
turned to camp after dark, tired and disappointed.

Next day, the 2nd April, we marched again. As we advanced
down the Jerer Valley by rapid stages we passed suddenly from
country dried up by continued drought into a world of green
grass and jungle, with an overcast sky, the effect of the south-
west monsoon over the lower Jerer Valley some ten days before.
Nothing can be more pleasant in Somaliland than this sudden
change : the camels march better owing to fresh fodder ; the
air is rendered cool, allowing one to travel during any hour of
the day ; and the thorn-trees give out a strong perfume.

At 5.30 p.m. on 3rd April we camped in the bush, without
water, at Manjo-adeyu. Before camping I fired at a buck
Waller’s gazelle, wounding it badly, but it did not drop at
once, and we had to follow it up. I was rather fagged, hav-
ing done a long march on foot owing to my camel being lame ;
and sending on ahead my Midgdn hunter, Hassan, I followed the
tracks with Geli at a leisurely pace. We at last came to the
buck, lying dead, and Hassan standing over it. He reported
that he had just seen the buck pulled down before his eyes
by a panther, which had caught sight of him after springing,
and cantered away through the forest.

Sending the three camels and mule out of sight into some
thick bush to the south, and ordering a camelman to overtake
the caravan and have the camp pitched, I sat with Geli and
Hassan by the stem of a tree on a bare patch of ground some
fifteen yards from the body of the buck, the sun shining hori-
zontally from behind our backs.

We waited for half an hour, then Geli pointed to the north-
east, and the panther came gliding silently through the under-
brush, straight for the body of the buck. While he was yet
one hundred, and fifty yards off I saw his beautifully spotted

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skin and head, and marking his course chose a bush eighty
yards away, aligning the sight so as to be ready to fire when
he should come out into the open beyond on our side. I held
the ivory foresight over this spot, and as he passed the bush
and his head and shoulders appeared, I pulled, a satisfactory
thud answering the ring of the rifle ; and in the stillness follow-
ing the shot I saw a tail violently agitated above the grass.
Slipping in a fresh cartridge, I walked up and found the panther
dead, shot through the neck.

I laid his body by the side of that of the tvalleri , and photo-
graphed the pair, cutting down some thorn-trees, whose branches
threw long shadows over the picture ; then calling for the camels
and loading up the bodies, we followed the tracks of the caravan,
and found camp pitched two miles from the scene of this incident.

We made two marches to Haljfd, where, hearing by night
the croaking of thousands of frogs, we discovered a considerable
body of water, in the form of a pool half a mile long, occupying
the river channel in the centre of the Jerer Valley. There were
plenty of rhino, beisa, and lesser koodoo tracks here. I remained
halted all day on 5th April, shooting three beisa out of a herd ;
and on the evening of the 6th we marched to Tuli. We lost
our way while hunting at some distance from the caravan, and
only found the new camp at midnight after signal shots had
been fired. I remained in this neighbourhood for four days to
hunt, as rhinoceroses were numerous, coming to drink at night
at the pools in the centre of the valley, and going away great
distances in every direction to hide in the thick mimosa forests
by day. The best way to find them is to visit the pools in the
early morning, and follow any tracks of the night before. In
this way, after four or five hours5 tracking, one is likely to come
upon them feeding, or, if after eleven o’clock, lying under a
shady bush asleep.

On 7th April my men found a dozen young ostriches in the
thick jungle near Tuli Hill. They were pretty little birds with
soft yellow and black down for plumage, and beady black eyes,
and stood a foot high, on sturdy yellow legs. I did all I could
to get the parent cock bird : first, by following behind a camel,
and then by sitting till mid-day in ambush near the nest; but
all attempts were unavailing. We had these young birds for
ten days or more in our camp, carrying them, when marching,
in hutches made of empty beer-boxes, on camel-back ; and they
became very tame, but eventually, one by one, all died.

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

On the 8th April I rose before dawn with Geli, Hassan, my
camelman Abokr, my sais Daura, and a guide. We took one
camel with us, and holding due west we entered the thick
mimdsa forest called G-ol Wiyileh, or the “ Valley of Rhino-
ceroses.” After going four miles, when we had gained the
centre of the valley, in dense bush, we came to fresh tracks of
three of these animals, which had passed late in the night,
making for the south-west from the pools of the Jerer Valley.
They led us through many miles of thick bush, but the tracking
was easy owing to there being three together ; and at one o’clock
in the afternoon, after having left camp for seven hours, we came
on them standing in the dense shade of a thick clump of umbrella
mimosas. There was a full-grown bull, accompanied by a large
cow and a bull calf, the big bull having a fine front horn.

I at once sank to a sitting position, holding my eight-bore,
while Hassan laid down the heavy four-bore on the grass beside
me to be used in case of a charge. The big bull was eighty
yards away ; I fired for his ear, and he dropped dead, remaining
in a sitting posture and looking as if carved in stone. I fired
the other barrel at one of the others, which turned out to be the
large calf, and the game made off. We decided not to follow at
once, but to give them time to get over their fright, as they had
never actually seen us. So I took a careful photograph of the
big bull, and after taking off the head and some shields, I sent
Daura back to Tuli on R4s Makunan’s mule, telling him to
bring the camp to a deserted zerfba we had noticed while
tracking, not far from where the bull lay.

Leaving Abokr, the guide, and a camel by the body, I took
my two hunters, Geli and Hassan, and followed the track of the
remaining rhinoceroses, which was plentifully sprinkled with
blood. I came upon them in thick cover, standing forty yards
away, heads towards us ; and at once sitting down with the rifle
I was carrying, which happened to be the heavy four-bore, I
fired at the nearest head through a maze of interlaced branches.

The four-bore pushed me over on my back, and the rhinos
charged us at once with a volley of puffing sounds, crashing
through the jungle at full gallop. As I rose to my feet the
young bull passed me, and took after the two men ; the big cow
followed, passing at a distance of only ten yards, and I threw
the rifle to my shoulder and knocked her over, making her turn
a somersault with her four legs fighting the air ! Giving a
hurried look at her, and seeing her lying still, I rushed on after

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the other ; hut although he had been twice hit I lost him, after
another half-mile, in some high durr grass. Returning to the
big cow, I found her still unconscious, but gently breathing,
lying on her side, and finished her with a shot through the head.
The young bull, I think, must have eventually recovered, as the
two wounds in the head, having missed the brain, would not
have injured him mortally. Leaving the men to prepare the
heads and shields for conveyance to camp, I walked to the
deserted zerfba and found the camp pitched inside, and dinner
ready ; two hours later, at sunset, the trophies came in, Daura
chanting a hunting song.

We spent the morning of the 9th preparing the trophies, and
in the evening marched back to Tuli. I shot beisa with good
horns, and a walleri buck, and next day we made another
march of ten miles.

We reached the grazing grounds of the Sheikh Ash Ogaden,
a friendly set of people, whom I had met before. The men,
wdio were wdth the camels grazing in the outer pastures, ran
away on first seeing us, mistaking my men, who carried Snider
rifles, for Abyssinian raiders. But soon they rushed back,
shouting and crowding round my riding camel, and raising
scores of hands for me to shake.

Getting into the thick of the tribe later on, we camped
among their karias, beside a tall red ant-hill ; and while camp
was being pitched, wishing to draw off the crow7ds of people
from worrying my men at their work, I withdrew to a distance
of a couple of hundred yards and, under the shade of an Adad
thorn-tree, exhibited coloured prints from the Grajohic Christmas
numbers, and a book representing the different varieties of
British soldier. The men, women, and children pressed round
me in a dense mass, remarking, “ You are not like the Amhara ;
we are not afraid of you ; you don’t mean any harm.” They
were particularly delighted with some old Zoological Society’s
Proceedings which contained coloured illustrations of a Waller’s
gazelle and a Somali wild ass; and they said, “Now we have
seen that the English can do everything ” !

I had a serious difficulty here. One of the Bulhar men,
having quarrelled with Adan Yusuf, my caravan leader, decided
to leave me ; and as is the custom, seven more coast men,
drawn from the same tribe, although bearing no malice, joined
their fellow-tribesman as a matter of principle. I called for
volunteers from the Sheikh Ash tribe ; and about twenty at

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

once offering tliemselves, my own followers, seeing I was in-
dependent, returned to obedience. I dismissed the two ring-
leaders with ten days’ rations and their back pay, and wished
them a safe return to Berbera.

I gave several Korans and prayer-cliaplets to the mullahs
here, and they were received with real pleasure. The mullahs
are the traveller’s best friends in Ogaden ; they are intelligent,
have great social influence, and are particularly useful in giving
introductions, passing a traveller on from tribe to tribe. The
more intelligent among them can write in Arabic. From these
mullahs I heard that at Durlii, in the Malingur tribe, on one of
the roads to Ime on the Webbe, I was certain to come upon
Grevy’s zebra, so determined to go there. On the 13th I
broke up my camp at Yoglion among the Sheikh Ash karias,
and marched along the bed of a torrent, deep cut in the red
earth, to a pool called Garba-aleli.

Before striking camp at earliest dawn, just as Suleiman the
cook, whom I always told the sentry to awaken before the bulk
of my followers, was beginning to prepare my coffee, a leopard
jumped into the middle of the camp to seize my best milch
goat, which was reclining under the lee of a pile of camel-mats ;
but Makunan’s mule, by braying at the brute, aroused the
camp. The Somalis rushed unarmed at the leopard, while I
dived quietly under my bed and drew out my coat, which had
cartridges in the pockets, and a rifle ; but of course by the time
all was ready the leopard had gone !

Approaching the water at Garba-aleh I saw three hyaenas
making off through the thorn-forest ; and I sent a Martini-
Henry bullet through one of them, by which I hoped to secure
his eventual death, and so save some Malingur sheep. I met
an old man called Mader Adan, the first Malingur I had seen,
and he greeted me cheerily, and told me to expect lions and
rhinoceroses in plenty at Eil-ki-Gabro, a march or two ahead.
He said his own karia had been driven from the district by the
former. The Garba-aleh pool, about twenty yards in diameter,
in the bed of a deeply cut sand-river, looked promising for
lying in ambush, so I constructed a shelter on the principle of
that which had been so successful at Kuredelli, the back of the
bower being an overhanging wall of earth fifteen feet high. As
it had been a hot day even for the Kalil season, and likely to
bring game early to water, I occupied my ambush at about five
o’clock, and we sat quiet.

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While it was yet light a large spotted hyaena came warily
up to the water, looking round to right and left, and starting
nervously at every sound, and I shot him through the brain as
he drank, his body dropping into the water. At dusk a beauti-
ful male leopard walked down to the pool, and I fired, hitting
him through the lungs ; he stumbled away and fell in a ravine
a few yards on the farther side of the pool. Fearing hyaenas
would come and spoil the skin, we got a lantern and went to
look for him, and walking up cautiously to the ravine we found

him lying dead. With my whistle I called up three men, and
bearing the leopard to camp, we skinned him by the camp fire,
I then returned to the pool and missed a hyaena, and finding it
was too dark to shoot, and that mosquitoes, which breed in
these stagnant pools, were rather bad round our bower, making
it impossible to keep still, I went to camp and turned in for
the night.

On 14th April we marched to Eil-ki-Gabro, and found lion
and rhino tracks at the water. Making another shelter I sat
up on the chance of a shot, but saw nothing. Disappointed
here, the next day we went to NMio, a small valley in the
mountains, where we found plenty of game, the kinds seen being
koodoo, lesser koodoo, beisa oryx, Soemmerring’s and Waller’s

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gazelles, and a rhinoceros. I had a long hunt after the last, as
the men were pitching camp, but going hard for two or three
miles over very broken thorny country he fairly beat us, and we
gave him up and returned to camp, knocked up by the hot
sun.

We made an evening march to a river-bed, choked with
dense evergreen jungle and some high trees hung with rope-like
creepers, and our guide, going into the thickest of this to look
for water, started a cow rhinoceros and calf. He came running
back to us shouting, “ Wiyil! Wiyil !” (Rhinoceros), while the
mother and her young one galloped out on the farther side of
the jungle with a crash, and took away over the low stony hills.
By the time I could get possession of my big rifle and run after
them, they were seen quite a thousand yards away disappearing
round the shoulder of a rocky, thorn-covered hill, and running
up to this spot a few minutes later I was unable to sight them
again, and the ground being unsuitable for tracking we lost
them.

We made three more marches to Durhi ; and I came upon
the tracks of a herd of zebras an hour before pitching camp
there on the 17th. Here we found several karias of the
Malingur Ogaden. The first people we saw were a group
standing round an open grave ; and on inquiring we found
they were burying the body of a young woman who had been
torn out of a hut from among several of her sleeping friends on
the night before by a man-eating lion.

These people had never seen one of my countrymen before,
but on hearing I was Ingres (English) they ran at me, calling
out that I must shoot the lion and drive away the Amhara. I
was led some miles into the bush to the west, where I found
a party of the Malingur following the lion, armed with their
spears ; but the tracks led on to very stony and thorny hills,
and my guides being either unable or unwilling to keep them,
we gave it up and I returned to camp, which had been pitched
between two large karias. We had a severe thunderstorm at
night ; a lion walked round my tent during the storm, as we
saw next morning by his tracks in the mud only five yards
away from the head of my bed. On the following day I went
out and shot two Grevy’s zebras, the meat of which my men
finished. We also saw tracks of another lion. Next day I shot
another zebra, the flesh of which I gave to the Malingur. I
tied up a camel at night, intending to sit out for a lion, but

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owing to the rain I had to abandon the idea ; and when we
went to the camel at midnight, we found it had been killed by
hyaenas, an enormous number of which haunted the outskirts
of the karias.

While I was encamped at Durhi the Malingur told me that
their chief, Umr Ugaz, had gone to Harar to make a compact
with K&s Makunan, agreeing to pay regular tribute and
acknowledge his sovereignty. The Malingur, although demon-
strative in their first welcome to me, afterwards became reserved,
because they feared that civility to Europeans might get them
into trouble with the Abyssinians. They are in the line of
Abyssinian invasion eastward along the FMan Valley, and have
been utterly cowed.

On the 20th we travelled two marches to Las Darnel, and
thence to Garabad. On reaching this place at noon, I found a
large herd of beisa oryx feeding on either side of the caravan
route, and shot three. On the first shot the herd, instead of
running away, charged round the wounded one as they do when
hunted with dogs ; and reloading, by a quick right and left, I
was able to bag a second and third.

The valley of Daghatto, on the Galla border, said to be
swarming with elephants, was now only ten miles on the west
of us. So halting at Garabad, I sent Geli and two Malingur
guides, who had joined us, into the Daghatto Valley to see
what they could find ; they returned at night showing pieces
of freshly-chewed aloe, and reporting that they had seen an
elephant. We marched into the Daghatto Valley next morning,
passing between low, flat-topped hills, and camped in thick
umbrella mimosas, forming a strong zerfba with felled trees,
as our guides reported the country dangerous. The jungle
descended gradually to the Daghatto stream, which was a mile
to the west of us, its course being north and south. It has
its source in the Harar highlands, and flows towards the
Webbe.

Directly the camp had been pitched I organised a small
hunting caravan, consisting of the three fast camels, the mule,
and six men, with food for two days. We set off at once, and
soon reached the Daghatto stream. We found it a beautiful little
river, overshadowed by large and wild forest, with hanging
masses of creeper, there being a carpet of rich grass. Footprints
of elephants of different dates were everywhere visible in the
earth, and stems of trees were broken, or the trees uprooted and

o

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overturned by the herds, as they had fed along parallel to the
course of the stream. Some of the tracks in the soft mud close to
the stream were holes two feet deep. There was a deep and rapid
current, which prevented our crossing with the camels, but we
held along the eastern bank, going up-stream, towards the north.

We found evidences of a large bull elephant having bathed
and fed the night before, and taking up his tracks for two or
three miles, the footprints which we had been following were
joined by those of several others, and soon the whole country
seemed to be covered with traces of elephants, trees being
denuded of the branches or overturned at various dates.

I sent Hassan Midgan and a Malingur guide along the river-
bank to reconnoitre, and ordered them to work round and join
us, when the height of the sun should indicate noon, at a little
hill visible above the sea of forest two or three miles on ahead.
Mounting the mule I made straight for this landmark with Geli
and Daura, directing Abokr and a camelman to bring on the
three camels slowly behind us. Reaching the hillock I cautiously
climbed to the top, and began examining the expanse of flat
green tree-tops, to try and discover the game. Daura began
dancing about and snapping his fingers with pleasure, and
pointed to some reddish-brown spots among the topmost
branches of a thorn-tree half a mile away ; looking long and
carefully, I saw one of the red patches move just once, backward
and forward. We knew then that what we saw were elephants’
ears. While we were still looking we heard the scream of an
elephant, and the patches of red were raised above the foliage
as the owners moved together through the jungle, pressing on
one another, their course marked by the great swinging ears.
Soon they stopped, and stood crowded together to listen, and
we knew that they had seen or winded the two men I had sent
round to the left.

This was awkward, but I ran hard for the line I thought
they would take when they should resume their retreat ; and
getting into a thick patch of jungle, with Geli in attendance, I
waited, hiding my body behind the stem of a tree, the wind
blowing in our faces from where the elephants had last been
seen. On they came, passing us at a great pace ; and letting
them go by, I fired at the ear of the largest, thirty yards away,
a loud crack answering the report of the four-bore. They only
screamed and redoubled their pace, and I ran on in their wake,
half smothered in the cloud of dust they had raised.

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The jungle was one of the billeil , the worst kind of thorn
bush, and they soon left me far behind. I ran back to the hill
to get a bird’s-eye view of their line of retreat, as shown by the
clouds of dust rising above the jungle, and hoped they would
stop * but they made off up the Daghatto Valley in a straight
line, evidently bent on leaving the country.

While I was watching their course, a Malingur came and
said that Abokr had climbed a tree which he pointed out to us
half a mile to the east, and had seen elephants. I shouldered
the four-bore, and followed by Geli and Daura leading the mule,
went to the tree, and found Abokr among its branches. He
extended his arm and pointed out the elephants, which were a
fresh lot altogether.

All the elephants in Daghatto seemed to have been rolling
in reddish-brown clay, which, contrasted with the vivid green
background of the trees under strong sunlight, made them look
a brick-red colour. The jungle in which they had taken refuge
was a small grove of large trees growing together, and for about
two hundred yards in front was very thorny khansa bush, the
flat umbrella-tops nearly meeting at a height of about four feet
from the ground. There was no cover higher than this except
the clump of trees where the elephants were, and a few small,
flimsy adad bushes rising above the khansa undergrowth. The
elephants themselves, half hidden in the foliage of the large
trees on which they had been feeding, had a good view all
around from the citadel they had chosen, making it difficult to
approach unobserved. The passages underneath the khansa
bushes were too tortuous and thorny to be of any use. A belt
of high jungle on our left grew to within a hundred yards of
the herd, and at the same distance beyond them was an extensive
forest, the wind blowing over the elephants’ heads in our faces.

By taking advantage of the belt of forest on our side, I
managed to get within a hundred yards ; and then crawling out
into the khansa undergrowth for twenty yards, I sat on a low
ant-hill which rose above it, resting my elbows on my knees,
and remained motionless for some time with the rifle up, waiting
for a chance. The eyes and temple of the largest elephant
could be seen in a gap of the foliage, and taking a careful aim
at the centre of the temple I fired, and bolted back through the
khansa to the edge of the high trees, to receive them there if
they should charge. They made off, however, up wind, all except
one, a large bull with moderate tusks, which we found kneeling,

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stone dead, under the trees, a crimson stream flowing from a
hole through the temple where I had aimed.

Going after the others, I found they were three cows and a
calf, so I gave up the chase and returned to the hillock to look
round. A curious sight met our eyes. The Daghatto Valley
lay before us, one unbroken expanse of tree-jungle, and we could
see five or six groups of elephants making up the valley, going
north. There were probably not less than one hundred and
twenty in all, looking very red under the low evening sun ;
sometimes their backs could be seen in a shining line above the
jungle, sometimes they disappeared in the thicker parts. It
was now getting late, and after a search for the elephant I hit in
the head at the beginning of the hunt, I gave up the chase and,
collecting my people, made for camp, many miles distant.

While we were returning to camp at sundown a leopard
sprang out of some undergrowth a few yards ahead and bounded
away before I had time to fire. As we reached camp, with
Daura, as usual after a successful hunt, taking the lead and
singing, all the camp men fell into line to mark their appreciation,
and crowded round me to salaam and shake hands.

On the 23rd, starting early and carrying axes and knives, we
went to remove the head-skin and cut out the tusks of the bull
elephant. As we walked up to the grove of trees and came in
sight of the body, a fine panther, which had been quietly sleeping
against it on the lee side, gave us one look and bounded away.
I could not fire, as Geli’s head was in the way when I first saw
the spotted skin. The brute had come, no doubt, during the
night to lick the blood, and had been caught taking a nap rather
later than usual. I followed through thorny jungle to try and
get another glimpse, but the panther had disappeared.

We had rain all day, and returned to camp with the tusks in
the evening. The whole valley was practically a swamp, and we
several times had to wade up to our knees, and once up to our
waists, in mud and water. Only by first trying the depth of the
slush with our own bodies did we succeed in getting the camels
on to camp.

We marched back on the morning of the 24th to Garabad,
and in the evening to Denleh, where we fell in with a trading
caravan of the Malingur. On the 25th we made two marches
to Segag, by a picturesque river-bed called Sullul, with running
water, and a number of wells overshadowed by large camel-thorn
trees. The banks were of red earth, which had been much

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undermined by the river, leaving a perpendicular scarp of about
fifty feet.

Until Captain Baudi, with Signor Candeo, came this way on
their journey to Ime, three years before my visit, only one
European had reached either Durhi, Segag, or Ime. The Ker
Am&den are the Og&den tribe next to the south of the Malingiir,
and have pastures nearly as far as the Webbe Shabeleh
river ; on the farther side of the Webbe the Galla country
begins in the west, and that of the Aulilian Somalis in the east.
My coast Som&lis had already begun intriguing to try and get
me back to Berbera, as they fear the GMla border ; and my
expedition nearly came to a premature conclusion through want
of information and guides.

The country for many days was uninhabited. I wanted to
send a message to the Rer Am&den, whom I had never seen, to
let them knovr that my intentions were peaceful, but the whole
of the waterless bush ahead being reported empty for forty
miles, my messengers were afraid to go forward, and we had
no information where the Amaden were, or whether they might
attack us. There was also a chance of the messengers being
killed by marauding Gallas.

My leave was drawing to a close, and my idea, long formed, of
going to Ime and the Webbe Shabeleh seemed fated to disappoint-
ment. The Rer Am4den were reported by the Malingur to be a
warlike and powerful tribe, who had never yet seen an Englishman ;
so with my small party of twenty camelmen, further weakened by
our having to detach scouts and messengers, it seemed risky to
make a plunge into the country ahead without information.

After several ineffectual attempts to find out the Rer Amaden,
or tracks of their grazing camels, I pushed on through unin-
habited country along a good path leading southwards, and on
27th April we halted at Enleh. Here I determined to make a
final attempt to communicate with the Amdden, and if un-
successful, to return by the north-eastern route to the coast, now
distant three hundred miles, going through the Malingur, Sheikh
Ash, Rer Ali, Rer Harun, Habr Gerhajis, and Habr Awal tribes.
We halted at Enleh from 27th April to 2nd May, waiting for the
scouts to return to camp. I had chosen the two Og&den guides,
one of whom was a widad named Yunis, and had given them
large water-bottles and dates to carry in their hands, and told
them to look out for rain-water, and not to return for four days,
unless they found the Amaden k arias.

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The whole of the country we passed over, after leaving the
open Marar Prairie at Jig-Jiga, had been low and hilly, covered
with thorn-forest of no great height, and since leaving the Jerer
Valley it had been much cut up by ravines and watercourses.
The most important of these were the Tug F&fan, which we
crossed near Ndno, and the Sullul and Daghatto streams. At
the seasons when it is occupied by the tribes, all this country
gives excellent pasture, and supports horses, camels, cattle,
donkeys, sheep, and goats ; but there were no permanent settle-
ments on this route between Hargeisa and the Webbe, a distance
of about three hundred miles.

In parts of the Jerer Valley, notably at Dagahbur, Haljfd,
Harakleh, and Jig-Jiga, cultivation could be extensively carried
on ; in fact, Dagahbur was, not long ago, a thriving settlement,
but had to be abandoned for the usual reason, tribal feuds and
the absence of any strong government. The Rer Arndden do not
generally send caravans to trade at Berbera, but deal indirectly
through the Sheikh Ash and Rer Ali.

CHAPTER VIII

FIRST JOURNEY TO THE WEBBE SHAliEI.EH RIVER {continued)

Our camp at Enleli — Success of the Lee-Metford rifle — A beisa hunt—
Abundance of game— A night alarm — Attempt to catch a zebra foal—
Strange voices in the bush — News of the Eer Amaden — Jama Deria —
Advance into the Amaden country — Meeting with Sheikh Abdul Kader at
Dambaswerer — Friendly reception by the Eer Amaden — Decide to make
a dash for Ime — Fine view of the Webbe Valley — Difficulty and expense
of a Somali outfit — Close to Ime ; doubtful as to our welcome — Cordiality
of the Adone or Webbe negroes — Council of the elders ; desire for an
English treaty — Kind hospitality of Gabba Obolio, chief of Ime — A word
for British management at the coast — Invited to return to the Webbe — •
Shoot two waterbuck — Eeturn to Dambaswerer — Jama Deria at home —
Galla raids — Extraordinary vitality of a Somali — Jama Deria’s avarice —
Deputation of Eas Makunan — Beisa shot — A lion roars at night — Lion
surprised stealing the carcase — Exciting hunt, and death of the lion — Sit
up for lion at Durhi — Melancholy episode ; Daura Warsama killed by a
man-eater — Unsuccessful hunt — Clarke’s gazelle bagged — Beisa bagged
— Artificial tanks — Form a camp for koodoo-hunting at Mandeira.

At Enleh our camp was pitched on rising ground, devoid of bushes,
but well covered with young grass, last year’s old grass having
been burnt off. All around, except close to camp, was thorn-forest
from twenty to forty feet in height. Extensive jungle-fires had
occurred here during the dry season, and patches of young grass
were springing up for two or three miles on every side. This is

500 THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

always tlie best condition of any locality for attracting game,
particularly when the country is uninhabited.

I went out on the day of our arrival at Enleh and shot a zebra
with my Lee-Metford rifle, the ammunition for the larger rifles
having dwindled to a few cartridges. At dusk I went after a
very large herd of beisa, but, losing them by the faint moonlight
a little later, I opened fire on several Scemmerring’s gazelles, and
bagged two with as many shots from the Lee-Metford. This I
found an excellent rifle, using a pin’s head for a foresight, the
pin being wedged into the slit which was in the old pattern
military weapon. We cut up the zebra and gazelles for the
twenty-five men whom I had in camp, and the meat was soon
disposed of.

On the 28th of April I got a Waller’s gazelle with the Lee-
Metford, and in the evening I crossed a wide valley to the south
of camp and fell in with beisa. We found them, a bull and a cow,
in good stalking cover on the farther side of the valley, near
some deserted zerfbas, with open thorn-jungle and tempting
young grass. On first sighting them, two hundred and fifty
yards away to the east of us, grazing southwards, the wind
blowing from south to north, I lay down with Geli and Hassan
behind a thicket of high durr grass and waited. The bull
walked towards me, and then grazed for about ten minutes
behind some bushes, the cow standing looking suspiciously in my
direction. We continued lying down, and only looked up at
long intervals, each with a bunch of grass held before the face.
At last the bull appeared from behind the bushes ; and sitting
up, resting my elbows on my knees, I hit him with the Lee-
Metford, and he made off* at a gallop and hid in a deserted
zeriba. Following on his tracks, I was within a yard of the
zerlba before I saw the tips of his horns appearing over the
brushwood, only six feet away. From the position of the horns
I knew he was listening, and placing the muzzle of the rifle into
the brushwood where his chest should be, I fired and sprang to
one side, and he rushed away in the other direction at a gallop.
I ran round the zeriba just in time to see him disappear in thick
cover. Following, I took a quick shot at him as he crossed a
glade one hundred and fifty yards away, and missed ; and after
another chase I ran on to him in thick cover, standing broadside
on at fifteen yards, when I gave him a shot with a Winchester
•500 Express. He walked off ten yards and stood again broad-
side on, looking at us ; and then dropped suddenly, stone dead.

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A day or two later I went out shooting, and got a buck
Waller’s gazelle, and in the chase lost Abokr and my camel ;
when, after firing twelve signal shots unsuccessfully, I returned
to camp. He afterwards turned up all right. In the evening I
went out again, and got a pair of beisa out of a large galloping
herd, emptying the Lee-Metford magazine at individual animals
at ranges of from one hundred to three hundred yards.

The next morning I made for the remains of the two beisa,
part of the meat of which we had not been able to take away.
The spot in the bush was well marked by the vultures, which,
having discovered the remains for the first time at break of day,
were swooping in a slanting direction towards the place from all
parts of the sky, wings extended and nearly motionless, legs
stretched perpendicularly downwards. Except the vultures, and
a large spotted hyaena which cantered lazily away from under a
bush, nearly bursting with the banquet it had just had off the
beisa, nothing had disturbed the neighbourhood.

In the evening, the game never failing, taking my two hunters
and a cam elm an, I followed some zebra, and by mistake shot a
mare, which dropped out of the herd, and after going a short
way fell dead. A foal, which I had not observed before, trotted
after her, and stood a few yards from the body. This occurred
in very thick country ; and approaching noiselessly under cover
of a thicket, ten yards from the dead zebra, Ave quietly constructed
a slip-knot, loading the noose at intervals with bullets which my
men tore with their teeth and spear-points from the cartridges in
my belt. Going to the edge of the thicket, a yard or two from
the foal, we tried to cast the noose over its head ; but kicking
up its heels it made off through the jungle. On the way home
I fell in with a large herd of beisa and shot three after a long
hunt. We prepared the meat for transportation, covering it with
bushes to keep off vultures, and marched back towards camp an
hour before sunset. While still two miles from camp we heard
voices hailing us from the east, but not knowing who might be
calling, friend or foe, we decided to walk on to camp without
answering the challenge. I had only three men with me, and,
the voices issuing from several directions, we thought the sounds
might possibly come from a force of Her Amhden ; so we con-
tinued walking towards camp, the hailing of the voices sounding
sometimes close. They were so close that, as a precautionary
measure, we four more than once grouped ourselves round the
trunk of a tree, back to back, with rifles ready. The owners of

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSS/NLA chap.

the voices had evidently heard my rifle an hour or two before,
and tried to hit off our whereabouts.

Arriving at camp, I found Yunis and the other guide, and
three AnAden tribesmen, waiting by my tent. It was these
men’s voices we had heard in the bush. Yunis had good news
to tell. He and his companions had come upon some AnAden,
a small party of men wdio had wandered from the main karias of
their tribe, which was encamped two days’ journey to the south.
This party had come into the uninhabited country to collect gum-
arabic ; this they pick off the bushes, and send down to the
coast tribes by small caravans, which return with cloth to the
interior. The gum-pickers are always very poor, often starving,
and camping without flocks and herds, they undergo great hard-
ships while carrying on their trade. The two Amaden offered
on the morrow to guide us to their tribe and put us we\\ on the
road to Ime. They said that their headmen, the most important
of wdiom were Sheikh Abdul KAder and JAma Deria, had heard
much of the Englishmen at Berbera, and wanted to see one and
shake his hand !

At night came JAma Deria and Hirsi, his son, mounted on
white ponies. They slept in my camp. JAma Deria was a fine
old fighting chief with a white beard, his features being well
formed, but the complexion nearly black ; he is the leading
minstrel of the Rer An Aden tribe, and has composed songs which
are sung on horseback in the dibaltig, and on other occasions, far
and wide in Somaliland. His great hobby is lifting cattle and
fighting with his neighbours, writh the natural accompaniments,
love of horseflesh and minstrelsy. I found JAma Deria, despite
his failings, to be a dear old man, with splendid qualities,
although his character was rather spoilt by a strong tendency to
stinginess ; however, I subsequently became great friends with
him. He expressed himself delighted that an Englishman had
at last found out the Rer AnAden ; he said the old men, young
men, and children would all welcome me ; and that he would
lead me to the Sheik (Abdul KAder) at Dambaswerer, wdiere
they hoped to keep me as long as I would stop. He said that
he knew all the line tribes, who were afraid of him ; and he
hoped, now that the English were the friends of the Rer AuAden,
he would be able to keep the Abyssinians in their proper place.

On the 2nd of May we broke up our camp at Enleh early
and marched to Galadtir, where we camped again. Old JAma
Deria and his son escorted me, and he was delighted to have

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been before the Sheikh in welcoming me to the country. He is
a rival of the Sheikh, and has sometimes been his open enemy,
having killed several of Abdul KAder’s relations ; he keeps all
the neighbouring tribes in a constant state of alarm, being a
regular firebrand and loving a quarrel for its own sake. As we
advanced in the fresh morning air, the old man, in high spirits,
would dash past me at full gallop, to display to the Englishman
the quality of his pony and the red tassels on his saddle and
bridle, returning after each circle to cry “Mot!” A Somali,
poising his spear before throwing it, does it by a sudden jerk
against the palm of his hand, causing the shaft to quiver ; and
he claims that this keeps it straight in the air, the effect being
somewhat like that of the feathers on an arrow, or the twist
caused by the rifling on a bullet.

As we got into a bit of open grass I shot a Soemm erring’s
gazelle. The buck dropped in his tracks, and old Jama, hastily
dismounting and handing his mare to his son, paused an instant
to whirl the free end of his tobe from his shoulder and coil it
round his waist, leaving the chest bare ; and then running like
a two-year-old, he raced the gazelle to perform the haled- — that
is, to sever the jugular veins with his short sword, without which
operation all meat is haram , or unlawful, to a Mussulman.

The youth who brought up the horses could not induce them
to come near to the dead gazelle ; so J&ma, mounting his beauti-
ful young mare, which he said was “ blood -shy” and required
teaching, by voice and heel coaxed her up to the meat till she
brought her dilated nostrils close to it. He made her jump over
the buck several times before he was satisfied. The Amdden,
who had perhaps never seen game shot before, examined the
hole in the buck with great interest, Jdma remarking that the
Abyssinians could not do that nearly so well, and that the English
were good people. He said that I was to be his Englishman,
and while in the country shoot him lots of zebra, as all the
Am4den liked the meat.

During our evening march we were overtaken by a violent
storm, the burst of the monsoon, which occurs very locally and
at different dates in different places. We could not advance or
retire, the camels having to stand loaded for over an hour up to
their fetlocks in running water, with an impassable torrent a
little distance off on either side, where all had been lately dry
land ; my cook Suleiman was caught by one of these streams
while following the caravan, and was turned over and over, and

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would have been drowned bad we not gone to bis assistance.
After tbe storm had passed we bad hard work to reach the top
of the highest ground in the neighbourhood, a mile from where
we had been caught, the camels slipping at every step on the
sloping surfaces of soft red clay. It was the worst storm I have
ever experienced, accompanied by constant thunder and vivid
lightning. Lions roared in some bush round our camp at night,
but luckily did not attack our horses ; for the fuel on the spot
being soaked, and it being too dark to send out to search for any,
we could only make a small fire with a scanty supply which my
cook Suleiman had wrapped in a waterproof sheet and put on a
camel just as the storm came on, for the preparation of my
evening meal.

Next day, the 3rd May, we made a long march and reached
Gulla. A lion roared at night, but he was on the farther side
of a precipitous watercourse which he could not pass without
going a great distance round ; so he did not disturb my camp
otherwise than by the grand music of his voice, which on the
clear nights after heavy rain can be heard for miles.

On 4th May, crossing a beautiful stream called Samani at
Bal Balaad, we marched to the Sheikh’s karia. JAma Deria,
who had been with us so far, now left. As I rode up to Abdul
K&der’s karia I was met by a dignified old man, who turned out
to be the Sheikh himself ; I respectfully dismounted from the
camel and shook hands, and the Sheikh, by way of emphasising
the welcome, fumbled at the brim of my hat with outstretched
hands to bless me, as is the custom, by touching my forehead
and mumbling a few words of the Koran over me. Asking his
permission through the interpreter, I ordered the men to pitch
camp among the karias of the AnAden. I was received with
enthusiasm by the Sheikh’s people, who are his own clan of the
ArrAden ; his karias were also full of mullahs from every tribe.
He gave me some sheep, and a camel worth twenty-five dollars,
to be killed for my men, and a fat calf for myself. Lines of
women came carrying large hdns decked with white beads and
full of camel’s milk ; and soon a long row of these vessels was
set up at my tent door. In return I gave white shirting and
red shawls, which were afterwards picked to pieces to make
tassels for the saddlery. To the Sheikh’s principal wife I gave
a red and blue tartan-patterned tobe and a looking-glass, and to
the other women beads. As the Sheikh, supported by a thick
stick and two stalwart sons, hobbled to my tent to pay a formal

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call, I blew the alarm whistle and fell in all the men two deep,
when, loading with blank, we fired two volleys in the air.
Then, folding some red blankets and laying them over store-
boxes, I made the Sheikh and his sons and elders sit down.
Abdul KAder, while sipping his coffee, his eyes wandering con-
tinually over the strange objects in my tent, and his fingers
picking absently at my blankets, promised to do all he could
for me, remarking significantly that he heard English people did
not burn karias and murder women !

The hundreds of assembled tribesmen listened in silence to
the sentences murmured in a high cracked voice by the old man,
who had lost his front teeth. Some of his small children, or
perhaps grandchildren, naked and dusty, clung round the poles
of my tent, sucking their thumbs, and gazing calmly at the first
white man they had set eyes on ! A dozen horsemen of the Her
Am&den then went through the dihdltig, covering us with dust,
and the minstrel, sitting in the saddle facing my tent, gave me,
appropriately put into verse, complaints against the neighbours
of the Amdden, which, as a representative of the English, I was
expected to settle, this place being about three hundred and
thirty miles inland.

While in camp here I set up a large astronomical telescope
and turned it upon Jhrna Deria’s karia, a few miles away on the
side of a hill. The people came in crowds to look through this
at all hours of the day, with a running fire of comments, such
as, “ By Allah! that is Jama’s white cow. How big! like an
elephant,” and so forth. The mullahs flocked round my tent
begging for white paper to write sentences from the Koran,
which are subsequently enclosed in a leather bag and sold, to be
worn round the neck as a charm to stave off ill-luck. I gave
the mullahs several tusbas or scented prayer-chaplets made of
black wooden beads and worn as necklaces. There is a supersti-
tion that a Somali who wears a tusba and does not count the
beads in prayer at the regular times will be choked by the tusba
in revenge.

Late at night, in the pitch darkness before the moon had
risen, a little girl of seven came over from one of the karias to
my camp, begging for food, as she was starving. She had
braved the terrible danger of hyaenas, which swarm between the
karias at night, to cross to my camp ; so giving her some beisa-
meat and cooked rice, I sent her back under escort to her own
habitations. I suspect this poor child had no relations. “ I

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cannot help the child ; it is not of my clan,33 is too often the
answer given by great healthy Somalis on being accused of
heartlessness. This is due not to natural ferocity of character,
but to thoughtlessness, what is everybody’s business being
nobody’s business; and the little sufferers starve and die.

Abdul KAder and J4ma Deria were glad to help me on to
Ime, because for some months past the Amdden had been at war
with the Adone or negroes at Ime ; and J4ma Deria thought
this would be a good opportunity of reopening negotiations.
The country between the Sheikh’s karia and Ime was uninhabited
for seventy-five miles, and the people told us that while passing
over this tract we should be exposed to the risk of meeting
Arussi Gr4lla wandering bands. It appeared that J&ma Deria
and Abdul KAder, though jealous of one another, had settled
their differences for the time being in order to assist me, and we
arranged that JAina and his son, and Abdul KAder’s son and
another Amaden, should guide me to Ime on the 5th of May.

There being little of my leave remaining, I decided that there
would not be time to take the slowly-travelling caravan so far,
and that it would be better to leave it, under command of a
good camelman, encamped at Abdul KAder’s karias at Dam-
baswerer, while with my interpreter, two hunters, and four of
the Amaden, I should ride to Ime and back. The distance
would be about one hundred and fifty miles, according to the
natives, and with the help of my mule, two Arab camels, and
five Amaden ponies, without camp equipage, we hoped to ac-
complish a short stay at Ime and be back at Dambaswerer
within six days. A glance at the map will show the confidence
we felt in the friendship of the natives of Ogaden, to be able to
cut ourselves adrift from the caravan in unexplored country so
far in the interior. Ime is four hundred miles from the coast,
and Dambaswerer seventy- five miles short of Ime. In 1884, at
the time of Mr. F. L. James’s journey to the Shabeleh district
to the south-east, such a ride would have been hazardous ; but
since then things have been changing for the better every day.

Our cavalcade consisted of seven mounted SomAlis and myself,
four having rifles, the other four shields and spears. In the
saddle-bags on the two Arab camels Abokr and I carried a few
blankets and necessaries, and a bag of coffee, and for meat we
depended on the game we expected to fall in with. We rode
during the whole of 5th May, with a short interval to rest and
cast loose the camels at noon ; at 5 p.m. we halted by the side

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of a pool of rain-water, hobbled the animals, lit a lire, and threw
ourselves down in a circle round it to sleep, one man keeping
watch over the animals. At 3 a.m. we were again on the move,
and began to descend a long slope cut up by deep ravines, which
falls to the Webbe Shabeleh river. We lost ourselves among
impassable, precipitous watercourses several times ; the guides,
however, always managed, after much difficulty, to regain the
path, which had been grown over with grass, and, because of
the Amaden raids, had been unused for a year. We reached
the Webbe Shabeleh at Ime at 1.30 p.m., having done the
seventy-five miles in thirty-two hours at a moderate pace without
a change of animals.

As we neared Ime the view became very fine. The Shabeleh
or Haines river lay before us, flowing in a tortuous course from
north-east to south-west, its banks marked by a line of tall
trees, with dense undergrowth of many varieties of evergreen
bush of great size and beauty. The lines of high trees, following
the winding river-banks, and covering the long narrow islands,
reminded me of the banks of the Seine at Rouen, the trees
growing in the shape of a poplar. The tall tops of these trees
are constantly waving when there is any breeze, the gray-green
foliage reflecting the light and giving a peculiarly lively character
to the landscape. On the southern side were two low rocky
hills, rising from the alluvial plain, wooded round their base ;
and in these woods, which were crowned by tall graceful “ toddy”
palms like those of India, lay the large cluster of beehive villages
of the Adone, collectively called Ime.

Most of the open flats near the river-banks are cultivated by
these negroes, or are left as pasture-land, to be grazed over by
the Adone cattle and the herds of water-buck and Soemmer-
ring’s gazelles. Behind the broad river valley, some fifteen
miles to the south, rose a wall of lofty blue mountains, piled in
picturesque confusion of peak and plateau to a height which I
judged to be not less than eight or nine thousand feet above
sea-level. The long slope of broken ground rising from the
river to the base of the mountains was covered over its entire
surface with monotonous thorn-jungle. The Arussi Gallas, who
are camel-owning nomads like the Somalis, occupy these mount-
ainous districts. These highlands are mysterious and attractive
to the traveller, for the reason that no European penetrated them
until the entry of the two well-armed expeditions of Captain
Bottiga and Prince Ruspoli, which, so far as I could ascertain

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from the Somalis, were even then fighting their way through
the G4lla tribes in front.

The difficulty and expense of fitting out a Somali expedition
may be realised when it is explained that in the four or five
hundred miles between Berbera and Ime, on the routes I took,
there was no permanent village. The karias are merely Somali
temporary kraals, and the huts are packed on camels when the
natives move for change of pasture three or four times in the
year; in all my journeys, except during the week’s visit. to
Harar, I was never able to obtain anything but occasionally
milk and mutton or other meat. Bations of rice, dates, and
clarified butter were carried for the men for every day we spent
in the interior ; also water-casks capable of supplying us for six
days when crossing the Haud. All these supplies had to be
carried on camel-back, making a very large caravan for four
and a half months, which was the time that elapsed before we
returned to Berbera, and during which we covered about one
thousand two hundred miles of route. By much cutting down
of weight I had managed to do with thirty -three baggage
camels, each carrying two hundred and seventy -five pounds,
the cost price of each camel being £ 2 . I took no furniture,
sleeping on the ground or on camel-mats laid over store-boxes,
in a double-fly tent weighing eighty pounds.

As we rode over the fiats near the river, I sent Jama Deria
and his son forward to the villages, hidden among the palm
clusters two thousand yards away, to warn Gabba Oboho, the
Adone chief of Ime, of our arrival. He took, wrapped up in
the end of his tobe, an Arabic letter from Sheikh Abdul Kader.
With the other five Somalis I sat down under a shady gudd
tree in the open plain and awaited developments, at the same
time hobbling the animals and turning them out to graze.

This was an exciting crisis in the course of my expedition.
Between my advanced party and the camp we had left behind
at Dambaswerer lay seventy-five miles of uninhabited wilderness.
We were eight men in all, with four rifles. A mile away was a
cluster of more than a dozen large villages teeming with sus-
picious and ignorant negroes, who were of a different race, and
had lately been the enemies of the Am^den Som&lis who formed
my escort. The only white men thay had ever seen were Baudi
and Candeo, and possibly Bobecchi, and the party of Italians
which had lately gone into G&llaland under circumstances by no
means peaceful.

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While we were waiting in suspense watching the long dark
masses of beehive huts, the smoke of wood -fires curling up
among the palm-trees, and wondering what reception the first
Englishman would meet at the hands of the Adone, a Soemm er-
ring’s gazelle came along cropping at the short grass till within
range of our tree. Unable to resist the tempting shot, resting
my elbows on my knees, I fired, and dropped him dead. I had
now given the alarm ! We knew that all the villages had heard
the shot, and so we caught all the animals, and tethering them
to our tree, sat in a semicircle round them, knowing that if the
Ime people should prove hostile we were in for it, and half ex-
pecting to see J4ma and his son come galloping to us in a cloud
of dust followed by an excited, spear-throwing mob, which we
might have to stop with our four rifles !

At the end of a cjuarter of an hour of suspense, Jama Deria
and his son appeared as two dots issuing from the forest and
galloped up to us ; and after circling their ponies a few times in
triumph, and crying “ Mot !” they dismounted, and shook hands
with us all round delightedly, in the good old Som&li way, and
the suspense wras over. Two goodnaturecl- looking, flat -nosed
negroes, who had followed behind, then ran up, laughing,
and shook hands. They were naked save a piece of dirty
tobe thrown carelessly across the shoulders. They explained,
through an interpreter, that Gabba Oboho had told them to
bid me welcome to Ime ; we were to drink first at the river,
and then come to his village, where he was waiting with his
counsellors to receive us.

J&ma Deria said that he and his son had suddenly come on
the two Adone just inside the forest, and they, recognising the
Am&den saddlery, had run at him spear in hand ; but circling
his horse round the bushes, he avoided them, and shouted out
in Somali the purport of Abdul Kader’s letter to Gabba Oboho.
He had then left the letter on the ground, and retired a little way.
The Adone picked up the letter, and were arguing whether this
was a ruse or not, when they heard my shot at the gazelle, and
knew that J&ma Deria had spoken the truth, and that an
Englishman had really come. And so they had run off to tell
Gabba Oboho, at his hut in the nearest village. The shot had
had a very different effect in the other Ime villages, for the
inhabitants ferried the women and children across the river on
rafts, to a place of refuge, believing the gun to have been fired
by an Abyssinian force ; and when wre advanced into Ime we

p

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

saw them perched in hundreds among the caves and recesses of
the small hills across the water ; but on seeing us enter the first
village peacefully, and observing our meeting with their chief,
they soon flocked down to look at the wonderful stranger.

We rode through a succession of jowdri fields to the river.
After we had allayed our thirst, our guides led us to a large
darei , or fig-tree, standing in a small glade, and here we found
Gabba Obolio and all the elders of the Adone seated in solemn
conclave on the grass, to the number of about a hundred. My
advent was a great event to these negroes, whose dull lives are
only enlivened by Abyssinian or Am Men raids, and who live
their otherwise quiet existence on the banks of the Webbe,
cultivating the ground or herding cows.

I walked through the throng to Gabba Oboho ; and shaking
hands with him and a dozen of the nearest counsellors, and
spreading a camel-mat in the centre of the circle, I sat down
with Adan Yusuf, my interpreter, sending the rest of my party
away with the animals to get fodder and cook their evening
meal. The greeting of the negroes was very friendly ; they
pressed round me, feeling my Elcho boots and admiring the
leather and particularly the laces, pinching the material of my
corduroy breeches ; and taking off my canvas shooting hat,
which was passed round with a buzz of wonder and then
politely handed back to me. Gabba Oboho could not conceal
his curiosity, and asked me why my arm was brown outside
and white under the sleeve ; so I gave a lecture on the effect
of the sun on the European skin to an open-mouthed and admir-
ing audience.

Gabba, now managing to secure silence, in the course of a
long oration said he was glad an Englishman had come ; that
he and all the headmen wished to sign a paper with my
Government, that all the inhabitants of the Webbe were
“ subjects ” of the English, who, they had often heard, were
good people ; and he now wished to know at once whether I
had brought the paper, so that he might make his mark. He
stopped, and the expectant crowd waited for my reply. I
explained that I had not been ordered to visit the country
and had brought no paper ; that I had come to look for wild
animals and to see the great river, the Webbe, of which during
some years I had heard so much ; that the English wished to
be friends with all people, and the officer who signed papers
lived at Aden, more than twenty days’ journey, as they knew,

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211

to the north. I found it difficult to make them understand the
difference between a British officer on duty and one on leave,
and a subdued buzz of disapproval showed that they were not
half satisfied with my reply.

An Adone elder pointed to our mule, and asked where we
had got it ; and on hearing it was a present from B4s Makunan,
he said, “Ah ! it is as we feared ; you English have sold us to
the Amhara ! ” I said the English had done nothing of the
kind. I also told the elders that the English would be pleased
if more caravans came trading to Berbera, and that Government
would assist such caravans in every way possible. Gabba Oboho
then led me, through an avenue of high palm-trees, to the nearest
village, and into a dirty courtyard occupied by two cows and
some goats, in the corner of which his own huts stood. He had
turned out of the largest and caused it to be swept for my use ;
and he gave my followers a raised platform of wicker-work,
outside the hut, to sleep upon.

I remained in the village all the evening, receiving the visits
of the leading natives ; and a dense crowd of men, women, and
children constantly pressed round the hut, old Gabba now and
then angrily whipping them off with a cowhide whip. The
elders of line were very friendly indeed ; and the climax was
reached when one of them, pointing to his hut in the distance,
said I might have it if so disposed, and his best wife into the
bargain ; and he patted one of the surrounding females on the
head. She was by no means a beauty ; and turning to him and
smiling blandly, I answered, “ Labadi donei-mayu ” (I don’t
want either of them), much to the amusement and delight of his
second-best wives.

The headmen asked me many questions about Europe ; and
whether I thought the Italians could conquer Abyssinia if so
disposed ; and which was the greatest nation in the world. To
this poser I replied, “Allah knows; we are all strong,” whereat
they exclaimed to one another, “ He tells the truth ; if he were
a liar he would say the English were the strongest.” It speaks
well for the management of affairs on our North SomAli coast,
that although these people were so far in the interior that they
had hitherto never seen one of my countrymen, yet they knew
and felt respect for the English name.

The Adone living at line have been great cultivators of
jowdri , which they eat ; but they declared that the Abyssinians
had been there some months before my visit, had shot several

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people, and taken off live-stock ; and that they sent emissaries
occasionally to collect tribute. Many of the Ime people have
therefore left Ime and gone to Karanleh, another large collection
of villages three marches down the river to the east ; and they
say that Karanleh has now become the more important place.
The Ime people certainly seemed poor and timid. They were
afraid to go outside the palisades of the villages at night, and
held Jama Deria and the Amaden in great awe. Gabba Oboho
said that if I wanted to shoot buffaloes, hippopotami, and
giraffes, I must go three days’ march to the south, to the Webbe
Web, which is a tributary of the Webbe Ganana or Juba river,
and that the people there were Gurre GMlas. He represented
them to be “ good people,” and that if I were a friend of his
they would be pleased to see me, if I did not loot or fight with
them ; and that I had better go to Berbera and return in two
months’ time, when our camels would be able to ford the Webbe.
He said that for my caravan to cross on their clumsy rafts in
the present flooded state of the river would take from four to
seven days.

My leave was now coming to an end. I had already asked
for an extension, but to find out whether it was granted I had
to make all haste to the coast. We stayed four days at Ime
hunting for the balanka or waterbuck, which is unobtainable
anywhere in SomMiland except on the Webbe. Crowds of
Adone thrust themselves on us during our rambles, hoping to
get meat. I found the sport in the Webbe valley very interest-
ing, though the great heat was intensified by the high buffalo-
grass through which we had to force our way. We were
generally out on foot all day, often going to the river to rest
in the cool, dense forest which clothes the banks for a hundred
yards on either side of the stream. I shot two waterbuck,
thinking, on account of their small size, that they must be a
new species. But experience on a second trip proved them to
be young.

We found the cotton-bush flourishing wild on the river-banks,
and heard that cotton is grown farther to the east, towards
the Shabeleh district. The name of this river at Ime is not the
Webbe Shabeleh, but the Webbe SidMna, which, I heard, is its
GMla name. Shabeleh appears to be the name of the district
through which the river runs at the point where Mr. F. L.
James’s expedition struck it in 1884. The chief sources of
the Juba are the Webbe Web, Webbe Gan&na, and Webbe Dau,

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213

in order from north to south. The Ime people call their own
river simply Webbe (River).

I had now only time to ride back to the Rer Amaden karias
at Dambaswerer, where my caravan was, and then to go quickly
for thirty marches, occupying fifteen days, to Berbera. Bidding
good-bye to our friends the Adone, we left at 2.50 p.m. on the
9th May for Dambaswerer, mounted on the same animals which
had brought us to the Webbe. We rode till late at night,
sleeping as before in the open, and at 3 a.m. resumed our ride,
and going on with two short intervals for repose, reached
Dambaswerer at sunset on the same day. The sturdy Abyssinian
mule I rode came in first, then the two Arab camels, and last
the five Amdden on their ponies, straggling in one by one.

R4s Makunan’s mule had been a marvel of staying capacity
throughout the journey, and I could never wish for a better
animal for steady work. The Arab trotting camels from Aden
are excellent, having both speed and endurance ; and a certain
amount of kit can be carried on them in saddle-bags in addition
to the rider.

On the evening of 11th May we parted from Abdul KAder,
and made an evening march to JAma Deria’s own keria. Here
we remained one night, leaving early for our northern journey.
JAma Deria’s people received me with enthusiasm, the crowds
pressing round the camp. Their great delight was the coloured
picture in the Zoological Society’s Proceedings of the Somali
wild ass, which had become so dirty and so battered by hand-
ling that I had mounted it upon the cover of a packing-case to
keep it together. The people fought with each other to get
round me and see it ; those who had not seen the picture kept
besieging my camp, crying out, “ Show us the picture.” I showed
the women, as a great favour, a coloured print from an illustrated
paper of two pretty English girls skating, which raised a clamour
of admiration, one stout gabad (maiden), with tresses reeking
with butter, calling out, “Why did Allah make us black and
these white?” The men beginning to crowd round, and the
remarks becoming too demonstrative, I put away the picture
amid deep groans of disappointment. The men of the tribe
sat round my tent in a dense mass as I produced a book of
engravings of the F raneo-Prussian War, from the pictures of
Detaille and De Neuville, and as I explained each picture
through the interpreter their faces became grave at the thought
of so many white men fighting wfith rifles together, and of the

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numbers of dead. Contrary to my expectation they thoroughly
understood all the pictures, liking, of course, the coloured ones
the best. The snow upon the ground was the hardest thing to
explain, but I had men among my escort who had been to
London and Marseilles, as firemen on steamers, and I left it to
them. Some of the people said, “It is all very wonderful ;
why are we not like the English, who have so big a name?
Why has Allah given us nothing and you everything ? ”

Jama’s people told me the Abyssinians were sending a strong
expedition into the Arussi G&lla country shortly. They said
also that last year the Arussi Celias came from the direction of
Daghatto in the north-west, and destroyed ten karias of the
Amdden in a single night. A nephew of Jama Deria, an
actively-built, tall young man, came to me saying he heard all
white men were doctors, and would I examine him ? and throw-
ing the loose end of his tobe from his shoulder he exposed a
ghastly wound. A small throwing spear had entered a few
inches below the left nipple, and passing through his body, had
protruded at the back between the shoulder-blades. The wound
at the back had healed, but the larger wound in the breast,
nearly an inch wide, was open and discharging freely. Asking
when the wound had been received, I was astonished to learn
that it had been in a fight with some Galla robbers in the
previous Gu, or heavy rains, at least ten months before. The
man had lived, and had latterly been going about his business,
with the wound unhealed. He seemed thin, but otherwise not
much the worse. I made him a big poultice, and advised him
to take care of himself and not catch cold, and he and his
relations went away, believing in my treatment. I was glad to
hear from Jama Deria, on coming this way four months later,
that the man was still alive, and getting well ; and I feel certain
that the healthy, dry air of this elevated country, combined with
total abstinence from liquor, and diet consisting almost entirely
of camel- milk, gives a wound a much better chance than it
would have under other circumstances.

Jama Deria begged for everything in my tent on the even-
ing on my arrival ; he very much wanted a coloured plaid, and
I found out privately that he had forbidden Gabba Oboho to
ask for it when I left Ime, saying I had promised it to himself.
He never, however, succeeded in making me part with it. He
begged hard for my revolver, and I let him fire at an ant-hill.
His women-folk and all his relations begged me not to give it

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to him, for they said, “ If you give that dreadful old man a
pistol there will be no staying in the country ; he will go and
murder Abdul K&der and his sons, and will then go and make
war on the Karanleh people.5’ On my shaking him off next
morning, as I did after he had ridden by my side for four miles,
always begging the coveted plaid and revolver, he finally shook
hands with evident regret, saying he hoped I should come back
and bring plenty of English with me, they would all be welcome ;
and I was to mind and let him know beforehand by a mounted
messenger, so that he might have time to come and welcome
us before his enemy, Sheikh Abdul Kader, could forestall
him. A crowd followed us for quite a mile from the karias,
saying they wTere sorry we were going ; the English were
their friends, and the Amh&ra would be afraid to do anything
now.

I may here mention that Eds Makunan of Harar is the only
Abyssinian whose name carries with it any respect in Ogdden.
He has the reputation of trying to be just ; and Somdlis say
that if they could gain access to him the tyrannies of frontier
Abyssinians would be stopped.

On the evening of the 12th May, the day I parted from
Jdma Deria, we went on to a place in the uninhabited thorn-
bush called Anamaleh. It having been a very hot day and
the camels being tired, at an hour before sunset we halted.
While the men were engaged in pitching the camp, taking my
•577 Express rifle, I strolled off alone into the bush to the east
to look for gazelles. Getting on to a slight rise, I found
myself on the top of a plateau, and here I tried to stalk two
Waller’s gazelles; but, hearing the noise made by my men
pitching camp four hundred yards away, they made off. I then
walked through open thorn-jungle till I suddenly came on two
beisa, which galloped away, but by a rapid shot as they were
disappearing among the trees I brought one to the ground.
Firing three more shots as signals, I brought up Geli and
Hassan, and we carried the skull and haunches to camp,
leaving the rest of the meat on the ground.

I always gave orders to my sentries to wake me if they
heard a lion roar, because it is a sound not often heard, even
in Somaliland, where lions are so plentiful, and it is always
interesting to hear. This night the sentry called me at 1 a.m.,
and at first I heard the low moans of a lion a mile or two
away ; then, after half an hour of silence, just as I was

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falling asleep, we again heard him roar louder, and, as it seemed,
at the spot where we had left the beisa-meat the evening before.
He was heard again during the night ; and so when I was
awakened by the intense cold which precedes the dawn I roused
Suleiman the cook, and after swallowing a cup of hot coffee,
prepared for a lion-hunt. I told Adan Yusuf to take charge
of the caravan and march about ten miles, and that we would,
after the hunt, pick up the tracks of the camels ; and he was
to have the tent pitched and dinner ready at the noon camp
awaiting my arrival.

As the sun rose I took a trotting camel, the mule, Daura
Warsama, Abokr, the two hunters Geli and Hassan, and a
Malingur guide, with blankets, water-bottles, and dried meat ;
and we made straight for the spot where we had left the dead
beisa, knowing that we should find fresh lion-tracks round the
body. There was no beisa, but looking on the ground we
saw last night’s story : a heap of half-digested grass and stains
of blood all over the ground showed where the lion had cleaned
the carcase, and the trail where he had dragged it away led to
the north-east over smooth red earth ; and we easily followed
it, dotted as it was occasionally by the broad pugs of the lion.

After we had gone a mile we came to a glade of yellow
grass about three feet high, in the centre of which, a quarter of
a mile broad, were three or four low, flat Jchansa mimbsas
growing close together. Three foxes ran out from these, going
off at different angles, and looking beyond the bushes we saw
the lion dragging the carcase slowly over the ground, and
keeping the bushes between himself and us. He looked grayish
black, and I could see over the top of the grass that he had
a fine mane. The distance was about one hundred and twenty
yards, and as I thought he had winded us, and there was no
time to be lost, I sat down, and holding the rifle, rested my
elbows on my knees to fire. But I could see nothing over the
bushes, so I again rose to my feet, and seeing he was still
holding on into the open, pulling along the carcase, I walked up
closer, keeping under cover of the bushes, and then sat down
again, holding the sights of the rifle fixed on a gap in the
bushes where I expected to see his dark mane and head appear.
He duly walked on, and his body was in full view in the gap
when I fired. The bullet told loudly, and answering it with a
short and rather dismal roar, he bounded away at a good pace,
dropping the carcase of the beisa ; crossing the grass he rushed

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JOURNEY TO WEB BE SHABELEH RIVER 217

into a long, dark jungle of mimosas, and we lost sight of him
for the time. The remains of the beisa lay where the lion had
dropped them on being hit, and the path he had taken was
visible by the blood plentifully sprinkled and smeared on the
grass.

The hunt became exciting as we followed into the dense
Jchansa bushes, whose Hat, widespread tops, meeting at a
height of about five feet, formed dark alleys, through which
the lion kept on at the same pace. We skirted along a
hundred yards to our right, to a thin place in the covert, and
then crossing and searching the farther edge found his tracks
leading out into another glade, and so, leaving the jungle
behind, we held on after him. Finding he had gone into
another of these dark Ichansa jungles, we made a circuit round
the outside till we were opposite to where he had gone in ; but
we found he had not left the Tehama , so we continued round the
edge till we came to the point where we had abandoned the
tracks as they entered the jungle. He was evidently in the
covert, which we had ringed completely ; and there was nothing
to be done but to follow the blood along these alleys till we
came on him. We should find one of three things : either
the lion would be seen alive in the covert, where I hoped to
shoot him ; or we should find he had bounded away in front
of us ; or we should find him lying dead. Following a wounded
lion into the Ichansa is exciting work, because if he charges
there is so little room that it is possible one may shoot a man
instead of the lion ; and also when pressing through with
rifle at full cock, the slightest catching of the triggers or
hammers in the branches would cause an accident.

Moving into the thicket yard by yard, we found where the
lion had been lying while we had been walking round on the
outside ; and he had got up and bounded away out of the covert,
his pugs on the soft sand outside showing that he had only just
gone. We followed him for nearly three miles, through glades
of grass and dense strips of Ichansa , taking the precaution to
“ring” each strip to ascertain whether he had gone out on
the farther side, thereby avoiding unnecessary danger and loss
of time. Many times he managed to sneak away without
being seen when we were close to him ; so, as the sun was now
hot, and we were done up with the hard work, we sat down to
consult ; we thought that if we left him sitting in one place
long enough to get his wounds stiff, there would be more chance

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of coming up with. him. We decided it would be best for
Abokr, Daura, and the Malingur, with the mule and camel, to
follow slowly on the tracks, thus driving the lion in front of
them, while, with my two hunters Geli and Hassan, I made a
circuit round to the front, and sat in the grass, ready to fire
in case he should sneak past us. We tried this twice without
success ; but the third time the party with the camel followed
the tracks into a strip of khansci half a mile long, its length
being in the direction in which we were going. Under the
bushes it was so dark that sometimes we could scarcely see the
sights of our rifles. The lion, if lying anywhere in this, would
be certain to sneak away under covert, and if I went quickly
along outside and sat down where the bushes were thin, as the
covert was only about a hundred yards wide, he could not pass
without our seeing him.

We ran on along the edge of the jungle, and getting to a
thin place sat down to wait for the slowly-moving men and
animals to drive the lion to us. I had scarcely settled down
when Hassan gently patted me on the back and pointed ahead,
and there was the lion stealing along in front, limping painfully.
The distance was ninety yards, and sitting down and aiming
over the grass I hit him again, the bullet catching him in his
already lacerated forearm. We crouched to see under the
smoke, which hung in the damp grass (for there had been
heavy rain in the early part of the night), and heard his growl
as he sprang into the mimosas. Hassan spied him again two
hundred yards farther on, as we were running to try and keep
him in sight, and bringing myself to a halt suddenly and putting
up the rifle, I fired again, catching him in the shoulder. He
roared and fell in the bushes. We advanced, and thought he
had gone on ; and were about to run after him when Daura,
who had come up, pointed him out crouching in the thick
bushes thirty yards away, his head between his paws. We
stood still, and then as I moved sideways to try and spot him
he gave a low growl. I could not see him plainly, but fired
into the dark yellow mass which Daura had shown me, which
I believed to be the lion. The shot told loudly as if hitting
bone, and all was silent, the yellow patch remaining in the
same place. We then walked round the mimosa bush through
which I had fired, and found the lion lying on his side,
unconsciously gnawing his wounded forearm. As we stood over
him he showed signs of reviving, and I gave him another shot.

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JOURNEY TO WEB BE SNA BE LEU RIVER

219

Allowing my men to skin the lion, which was a fine one,
I retired to the shade of a spreading Tchansa , and opening a
haversack brought on the camel, made a hearty lunch of beisa-
meat and water. We then put the skull and lion-skin on the
camel, and after another hour or two, following the tracks of
the caravan, found the camp pitched and my tent ready. The
skin of the lion when pegged out in camp measured nine feet
six inches. He was an old fellow, with a good deal of gray in
his mane.

We left Geli and Hassan to rest under the trees and watch
the skin of the lion, which we had stretched to dry in the hot
sun for two hours ; telling them towards sunset to pick up the
skin and bring it on to the evening camp, we went on to Dolababa.
We made three more marches through an extensive forest of
khansa called Dud Libah, or the “Lion’s Forest,” and in this
I knocked over a buck lesser koodoo.

On the 15th we again came among natives, at a place called
TMla. There were five karias here, and the people, who were
Rer Amaden, welcomed us warmly. I sat up for a lion in a
zerlba, but without success. The people said that lions were
eating men daily to the north, at the Malingiir karias a few
marches ahead. Passing through my old camp at Segag, I
made a short trip into the Daghatto Valley, but bagged nothing
at first, although there were many lion-tracks about. While
hunting along the river on the evening of the 18th, I shot a
beautiful lesser koodoo buck • and returning towards sunset,
when nearing camp we detected a lioness in the grass, but she
saw us first, and a hurried shot missed her as she bounded away.
She had been stalking my camels which were scattered round
camp feeding before being driven in for the night.

Four marches more, during which we experienced heavy
thunderstorms, brought us to Durhi, the place where, on coming
from Berbera, we had found the Malingur burying a woman
who had been killed by a lion. The two large karias between
which we had formerly camped were deserted. I made a
zerlba outside camp, and sat up unsuccessfully for lions in it
on the night of 19th May. My men made a great noise, sing-
ing in chorus to attract lions ; and Daura Warsama, one of my
best men, led the singing, sometimes running out into the dark
night and calling, “ Libaha kali, kaleiya , Sirkdl-ki wa doneiya ! ”
(O lion, come ; the Sahib wants you !). Daura was a fine fellow,
whom I had engaged at Bulh&r, belonging to the Jibril Abokr

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tribe. He and the interpreter, Adan Yusuf, were older than
most of the men, who were almost boys, and, like many of the
Jibril Abokr, in his youth he had been a great raider. He was
always full of fun, danced well, led the men’s amusements, and
was the most popular man in camp, as well as the smartest out
of a particularly good lot. Daura had been with me on five
expeditions during 1891-93. On this trip, since we had left
Harar, I had given him charge of Eds Makunan’s mule.

Finding the lions had left Durhi, having, no doubt, followed
the karias, as lions will, we struck camp next morning and
made for Dagaha Madoba,1 where we expected to find the
Malingur. The whole of the ground between Durhi and
Dagaha Madoba appeared hidden under an unbroken expanse
of khansa bush, covering the low hills and wave-like undulations
of the country as far as the eye could reach on every side. Game
was plentiful, and we saw Scemmerring’s and Waller’s gazelles,
zebra, and beisa oryx. I shot two zebras and wounded beisa
in the course of a long hunt which took me several miles to the
south-east of the caravan track. When I first came on the
zebras at about 9 a.m., Abokr was riding the Arab camel far
behind me, and the party with me consisted of my two hunters
Geli and Hassan, and Daura Warsama, while I rode my
mule. I had been riding armed only with a pistol, Daura
carrying my Express rifle ; and when we saw the zebras and I
dismounted, Daura pushed the rifle into my hands, and jump-
ing into the saddle, took the mule away to the rear to join
Abokr, and, as I thought, arm himself with one of the rifles
which were on the camel, while Geli, Hassan, and I ran after
the zebras.

At the end of the hunt, more than an hour afterwards, while
we were cutting up the zebra-meat, Abokr came up leading the
camel and mule, and looking put out. He said he had caught
the mule, which he had found galloping about riderless, and
thought that Daura must have come to some harm from Gdlla
marauders.

Carefully going back to where Abokr had caught the mule,
and taking up the back trail, we met two Malingur, the first
we had seen for some days ; and answering to our inquiries they
first said they knew nothing, and then that they had seen marks
in the ground, showing that a lion had carried away a man.
Promising a reward, I took these men as guides, and they led
1 I.e. “the black rock,” called after a feature in the river-bed near the wells.

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221

us to a small ravine, where, on examining the sand, we found
what had been poor Daura’s fate. While he had been quietly
riding along at a walk across the ravine a lioness had rushed
upon the mule, which, shying, had thrown Daura upon the
ground and galloped away. The lioness had sprung upon
Daura, and after a struggle, as was shown by the state of
the sand, killed him ; his stick, broken in three places, still
lay on the scene of the fight. The lioness had then dragged
him away into the jungle, up a slope covered with thick khansa
bushes ; and following at a run, wTe saw pieces of red-bordered
waist-cloth we knew to be Daura’s hanging to the thorn-bushes ;
later bn the piece of leather, enclosing a verse of the Koran,
which he had worn round his neck, and the pouch, with a jag
and piece of oiled rag, with which he had been accustomed
to clean his rifle, and which he always carried, attached to an
old luggage-strap, round his waist. On coming to some large
and dense khansa bushes a little ahead of the men, I at last
found Daura’s body. Every vestige of clothing had been torn
off by the bushes. There were twTenty holes in his throat from
the teeth of the lioness, and his right leg had been bitten off
at the hip, leaving a foot of the thigh-bone protruding. His
hands and cheeks were also bitten through, showing that he
had fought for his life ; and it seemed hard luck that he of all
my men had been caught thus unarmed, for he was the best
shot in the party, and would have been well able to defend
himself if he had only carried the Martini-Henry which was
usually in his possession. The lioness had disappeared ; so
wrapping Daura’s body in a waterproof sheet, and roping it
up on to a camel, I started the men off for camp, and cantered
on ahead on the mule to give orders for a grave to be dug. I
had first asked my men to help follow^ the lioness up, but they
insisted that Daura must first be buried.

As I reined up in camp the camelmen came to me smiling to
say “ Salaam aleikumj expecting to hear that I had bagged a
lion, which had made me late. Passing those in front I rode
into the zeriba quietly and said, “ Daura is dead.” A curious
change came over all the men, who stood about awkwardly, not
knowing where to look ; and when I told off men for the bury-
ing party, and another party to follow the lioness with me, the
men moved about dreamily as if not understanding the calamity
which had fallen upon them. Some one said, “Not Daura?
Not our Daura?” and they only realised what had happened

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when his body was brought in on the camel and laid before
them on the grass.

I determined to devote the next twenty-four hours to hunting
up the lioness, and having organised a party of trackers, left
the remainder of the men to bury my follower, while we started
off on foot for the khansa thicket where we had found the body.
We described a circle at fifty yards’ distance from the thicket,
the ground being very stony and covered with bushes, when we
at last came upon the track of the lioness ; and following this
for three miles over difficult ground, covered with dense thickets,
at sunset we gave it up.

Returning to camp I chanced to look round, wrhen my eye
fell upon the lioness, her head being raised above a tuft of grass
in a passage between two khansa bushes. Turning round I took
a quiet pot shot at her ; a lioness’s head half hidden in grass, at
ninety yards’ distance and in the dusk, is not a good target, and
before I could see under the smoke I knew that I had missed,
for there was no answering thud of the bullet. Running up to
the spot on which she had been crouching, we examined the
track where she had bounded away, and holding the trail for a
quarter of a mile through the thick covert, and with the greatest
difficulty, the men kneeling over displaced gravel, broken twigs,
and other scanty evidences of her passage, and finding no sign
of blood, we gave her up and sadly made for camp, which was
reached an hour or two after dark.

On the next day we again took up the signs where we had
left them, slight rain having fallen in the night ; but search as
we would, we could never find any indication of her having
stayed in the neighbourhood. All the tracks were those of the
night before, and making a final circular cast of a mile round
through the bush over gravelly ground, we gave up the search,
and I resolved to march on towards the coast, having no more
leave to spare.

Passing Daura’s grave we surprised two liysenas trying to
grub up the stones that had been heaped over the poor fellow,
and dropping one dead, we sent the other moaning away with
a bullet in his ribs. The Malingur, wdio turned out to be those
who had been at Durhi a month ago, begged me to remain and
have another try for the lion and lioness (for there were a pair
of man-eaters here), so I had a zerfba built, and tied up a
donkey, and sat up all night six feet away from it, but without
result. The Malingur said that since the lion had killed the

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JOURNEY TO WEB BE SHABELEH RIVER

223

woman a month ago, five men and another woman had been
carried off by the pair, my man Daura being the eighth human
victim within the month !

We resumed our journey on the following morning towards
the coast. Passing through the Sheikh Ash tribe and thence
by Milmil, we reached the Per Ali at Warma-kes in the Hand
Plateau, after eight marches, on 24th May. The Per Ali turned
out fifty horsemen to dibdltig before me, and. I gave aj show in
return, advancing over the plain and firing volleys of blank
cartridge with my twenty camelmen, and whistling them up to
form rallying groups against cavalry. I refused, however, to
part with any tobes, so they said I was “good but stingy.”
They told me that lately an English officer had been sent from
Aden to Harar, and had ordered the Abyssinians to evacuate
the town within a fortnight. This information turned out to be
based on my own peaceful visit to P4s Makunan, and was thus
distorted by passing from mouth to mouth ! We made a detour
to the east of several days’ journey in order to come on to ground
frequented by Clarke’s gazelle, and I was so fortunate as to
shoot a good buck of this antelope and to pick up two pairs of
horns.

While marching through a jungle called Gouss in the Hand,
I started about forty beisa, which galloped past us looking like
a body of cavalry with sloped swords. Sorely tempted, I fired
at the galloping line, and then ran up and found a splendid bull
lying dead. His horns are the best I possess, being nearly
three feet long, very thick, with a slight and beautiful curve
backwards.

A large Somali caravan, going to Berbera, took advantage of
our escort to pass through the Eidegalla tribe. I found some
interesting artificial pools in the Eidegalla Hand, and the natives
told me that these had been dug out from time to time in honour
of well-known Sultans and elders who had died. I examined
them, and was glad to find that they held water for many weeks
after rain had fallen, a proof that the red Haud soil will hold
rain-water in suitable places, and that tanks might be made on
a larger scale.

As we came to the Eidegalla tribe, the men, women, and
children ran away on first sighting us, thinking we were Abys-
sinians ; but when they recognised us they were civil enough.
On the evening of 3rd June we arrived at Syk fig-tree, near the
top of the Jerdto Pass, which is sixty miles from Berbera, and

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leads from the high Ogo country down into Guban, the coast-
district. Coming down into the defile called Aff-ki-Jerato next
day, I met some Biladiers, or native irregular police, with my
mail -bag, containing four months5 letters ; and finding that,
owing to my having received an extension, my leave would not
expire immediately, I settled down steadily to hunt greater
koodoo in the G61is Range, round G4n Libah, Henweina, and
Garbadir.

GREATER KOODOO (Strepsiceros kudu).

CHAPTER IX

THREE WEEKS’ KOODOO-STALKING ON GOLIS RANGE, 1893

Our hunting camp in the mountains — The “Rock of the Seven Robbers” —
Exciting koodoo hunt ; death of a splendid koodoo — My shooting
costume — Triumphant return to camp — Unsuccessful koodoo hunt —
March to Henweina — Unsuccessful hunt after koodoos — Bag a bull — A
charming spot — Dog-faced baboons — Alarm note of the koodoo cow —
Picturesque bivouac — Cedar-trees in Mirso — A leopard caught with a
piece of rope and speared by the Somalis — March to Armaleh Garbadir
— -The great Massleh Wein bull — Exciting hunt ; success of the Martini ;
a glorious koodoo — Return to the coast.

We descended the Jer&to Pass to Mandeira on 4th June. This
pass has since been improved by an engineer officer from Aden,
and there is now a good road. On this day I divided the men
and animals into two caravans, one-half to remain with me in
the mountains, the other to go to Berbera, where the men would
be paid off and the camels sold. On the following day I took
the half of the caravan I had chosen for the koodoo-hunting trip,
and marched three miles, from Mandeira wells to a small spring

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226 THROUGH SOMAL/LAJVD AND ABYSSINIA chap.

under the crest of Gan Libah Mountain, which is six thousand
feet above sea-level. The height of our camp was four thousand
five hundred feet. In the morning, while the men were moving
camp to the new site, I took my two hunters Geli and Hassan,
and an Esa Musa guide from some karias we found at Mandeira,
and searched the hills for koodoo, but only saw some females
and young, so made for camp, which we found pitched in a
pretty little glade on the hillside. I had no tent, but a small
hut made of camel-mats, covered over with waterproof sheets,
and fastened to poles cut from the thorn-bushes. To the east,
just below camp, was a rocky torrent-bed, with stretches of flat
sand in the bottom, and a small stream trickling through it,
forming waterfalls of a foot or two in height, and flowing north-
wards into the Tug Mandeira. All the country for a mile or
two round was very much broken and cut up by ravines from
GMi Libah and other high mountains overlooking the camp ;
and in these ravines were long strips of the gudd jungle, with
thick aloe undergrowth four feet high.

Three miles north-west, on the right bank of the Tug Mandeira
sand-river, rises a curious pinnacle or boss of hard rock, called
Dagaha Todoballa, or the u Rock of the Seven Robbers.” The
story goes that seven Jibril Abokr robbers came from the west
on one of their periodical raids, to search for plunder among the
Esa Musa flocks grazing at the foot of the Golis Range ; but the
Esa Musa collected in force, and these men fled to the top of the
almost inaccessible rock, where they were surrounded and finally
cut to pieces by the enraged tribesmen. Rising as it does to a
height of about a hundred feet above a sea of jungle of the large
gudd thorn-trees, it forms a beautiful addition to Mandeira
scenery. There are several of these rocks and hillocks in the
Mandeira Valley, and the large thorn-jungles round their bases
are the home of the lesser koodoo, which combines many of the
beauties of both the greater koodoo and the African striped bush-
buck, and is midway between them in size. There are also wart-
hog, Waller’s gazelle, the tiny Dik-dik, or Sdkdro , as well as
guinea-fowl and greater koodoo in the mountains.

On the evening of 5th June 1 went out again with the
same men, holding south-west along the low^er slopes of a ridge
called Gol Aderyu, or the “ Hill of Koodoos ” ; and here bagged
a splendid koodoo bull. When Geli first saw him we were
moving along the base of the hills, crossing several torrent-beds,
all more or less hidden under gudd trees, with bare gravelly

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227

ridges, or ridges covered with grass and aloe-jungle, forming the
watersheds. He was about three hundred yards away in front
of us, standing nibbling the young shoots of the gudd where a
thick mass of this kind of jungle crowned a ridge. The ground
where the koodoo had taken up his position was higher than the
low open ridge on which we were standing when we saw him ;
but the wind was blowing in our faces, and was therefore in our
favour. Two small torrent-beds intervened between us and the
game. His body was quite concealed by the dark green foliage,
only the head and shining horns being occasionally visible as he
stretched to reach a branch, and it was long before I could
make out at what Geli was pointing. But looking through my
field-glass I saw that I had to deal with the bearer of a splendid
pair of horns, the best I had seen, the whitish tips looking a
yard apart.

We sank flat to the ground together where we had stood, and
lay, without daring to move, fearing that some unlucky chance
should cause him to come out of the bush and look towards
us. We spoke in whispers, taking more precautions than were
necessary at this distance because of the great size of this par-
ticular old bull, and the fear I had of losing him. We lay upon a
flat, open piece of gravel about ten yards square ; and so nervous
did we become that we dared not creep along the ground from
our respective positions far enough to tear down a branch to hold
before the face, preferring to lie motionless in the open, in full
view, to the chance of a movement catching his eye. We lay
for probably twenty minutes watching him, and had perfected all
the arrangements for a difficult stalk, when, with an abrupt move-
ment, he turned his head towards the north, only the tips of his
horns appearing above the foliage. But they were motionless,
and I knew that he had seen or heard something. I turned my
head round slowly to look at my companions, to see whether
they had moved, but they lay as they had dropped, and no sound
above a whisper had been uttered by any of us.

Suddenly the pair of horns swung round to the south, and
the bull’s shoulders appeared in full view as he gave a great
bound forward, disappeared among the bushes, and emerged
galloping his hardest up the ridge, where the jungle was thin,
his tail held erect ; next second he had plunged into a water-
course and disappeared, and a few minutes later we saw his
whole body in the far distance as he made his way heavily up
the steep Gol Aderyu ridge and went down on the other side.

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINLA chap.

Of course it was of no use concealing ourselves now, so we got
up and walked to the spot where the koodoo had been standing ;
and here, to our disgust, we met three men and two women of
the Esa Musa, who had come from the Mandeira karias to pick
gum. They had been walking along a torrent-bed and had come
close up to the koodoo before they saw him ; and one of the Esa
Musa had thrown his spear and missed, sending the koodoo off
as we had seen. We enlisted these people in our service by a
promise of meat if successful, and then slowly took up the
tracks. But we soon lost them again in the rocky ground, and
extending into line and moving over the ridge where he had
disappeared, we resolved ourselves into couples and searched
independently for further tracks.

We must have spent over an hour doing this, and traversed
about a mile of very steep, stony hills covered with dense thorn-
bush, with occasional deep canons and gullies in the limestone,
when one of the gum -pickers ran up and motioned to me to
follow him. Scrambling over another half-mile of steep ground
we came upon the tracks of a koodoo, which by their size I con-
cluded to be those of the bull we had lately lost. He had slowed
down into a walk, the tracks leading up to a high ridge, and we
took them over the top with great caution, hoping that we might
come upon him somewhere in the next valley.

We were soon scrambling along the sides of the valley when
Hassan pointed downwards, and I saw the koodoo rounding a
spur a hundred and fifty yards away, and about a hundred feet
below us ; and throwing up the rifle I fired just before he dis-
appeared, the bullet telling loudly, and my men calling out that
he was hit. We got down to where he had been in a few seconds,
and rounding the corner found him lying in a bush which had
stopped his body as it rolled down the hill. The '577 bullet,
entering behind the withers, had driven nearly through him,
breaking the spine and killing him almost instantaneously.
This was a splendid old bull, his massive neck being covered
with scars received in fights with rivals, scratches from the thorn-
bushes through which he had forced his way, and abrasions from
the rocks where he had fallen. The horns measured 34J inches
between tips, 37 inches in a straight line from base to tip, and
49 inches round the spiral.

It was getting late, and a heavy thunderstorm was coming
up from the south, — always a disagreeable experience in these
hills, and especially so in this instance, because I had nothing

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on but a thin vest, a pair of khaki drill breeches, and red rubber
tennis-shoes with long stockings, the day having been too hot
for climbing steep hills in a coat.

It became intensely cold as the sun set and the rain poured
down, so employing all our knives we soon whipped off the skin
of the koodoo, and I threw it over my shivering shoulders like
a shawl, hair inside. The Somalis had their tobes. We cut off
the head, and each of us being loaded with head, meat, or rifles,
made our way over the hills back to camp, arriving an hour
after dark ; Hassan, who had pointed out the koodoo, being
privileged to sing the hunting-song as we approached the camp-
fire.

During the next six days I went after koodoo morning and
evening without success, sometimes going up into the mountains
before dawn and not returning till after nightfall, and shifting
camp from one watering-place to another. On the sixth day I
had a long hunt after a koodoo with fine horns, which we had
got news of in Harka-weina in the Henweina Valley ; we saw
him across a gorge, and after making a long detour to get into
a favourable position for a stalk, found that he had mysteriously
disappeared.

On the same evening we marched five miles across the
Henweina Valley, and made our bivouac at the karia of one
Waiss Mahomed, of the Adan Esa, Esa Musa, Habr Awal.
The people were kind and attentive, bringing me willingly goats,
sheep, and milk to buy whenever I wanted supplies. The camp
was pitched among large, flat-topped gudd thorn-trees hung with
thick masses of armo creeper, which forms a deep and cool
shade, and has a light green, heart-shaped leaf, thick and
rubber-like and full of sap. At a distance of a mile on every
side of the camp were the foothills of Gobs Range. The spot
was pleasant, and I resolved to make a halt of several days here,
looking for koodoo and making up the bundles of specimens
ready to be enclosed in boxes when I arrived at Aden, and sent
to London.

On 12th June I sent out two parties to look for koodoo, and
waited in camp till 10 a.m. for news from these men, or from
the Esa Musa cowboys who were herding cattle on the mountains.
A herd-boy brought in news that he had seen four bull koodoo
on the top of a mountain, about three miles away, and fifteen
hundred feet above camp. After a toilsome climb, the day
being exceptionally hot, the boy led us to a saddle in the hills

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where he had last seen the four bulls ; and as he took us with
the wind by mistake, we only heard the rattle of stones as the
game galloped away ; we found their tracks, but never came up
with them. Much disappointed, we descended by the most
stony goat-track I remember to have traversed at any time, and
arrived in camp much done up.

I had just thrown myself on my camel-mats to rest when
Geli and Hassan came in triumphantly with news of another
bull in the opposite direction, about two miles away, and not
more than five hundred feet above our camp. They had seen
him quietly walking over the top of a hill, picking here and
there at the bushes, and without waiting to find out where he
had gone, they rushed to camp to see whether I had returned
from the other four bulls. I thought no more of rest, and trotted
up the valley with my men, by sheep-paths winding through the
thick undergrowth of aloes, and gained the base of the hill
where the koodoo had been seen. There was not much time to
be lost in searching for his tracks, as it was now half-past five,
and the sun was nearly setting ; so having lost them on stony
ground near where he had last been seen, we went in different
directions to search, Geli and Hassan running about on top of
the hill, and I waiting below under a screen of armo creeper
which hung from a gudd thorn-tree. After a long wait Geli
and Hassan could be seen coming cautiously towards me down
a spur of the hill close to a densely- wooded ravine, which ran
parallel to the spur on my left. Gaining the level of the valley,
and creeping from one thicket to another between the aloes,
they at length reached me and pointed to a dense clump of
bushes which grew half-way up the ravine, two hundred feet
above. We made a circuitous stalk by a long detour to the
right, and so round the top of the hill on the farther side, and
down over the head of the ravine ; but this took so long that
when we stalked in on the clump of bushes from above, the
koodoo was no longer there, the tracks showing that he had
grazed away downhill.

As we looked down the ravine we saw that to our right the
valley fell from the level of my former watching-place into a
Y-shaped gorge, running at right angles to the ravine. Creeping
round the shoulder of the hill to the right, so as to be just
above this gorge, we descended yard by yard, placing each foot
carefully on the rocks and undergrowth so as to avoid making
the slightest sound. The wind was in our faces as we advanced,

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231

and whenever I could get a piece of rock large enough to stand
upon, and see over the high durr grass below, I slowly raised
myself to an erect position, expecting to see the koodoo and get
a shot. This manoeuvre had been repeated three times, cautiously,
so that no sound or brusque movement on our part should
attract the attention of the koodoo, if he should be in the gorge
below. As we gained the fourth group of rocks we heard the
rattle of stones and crash of bushes, and saw, from behind, the
horns of the koodoo rising and falling amongst the tufts of grass
as he plunged into the gorge. He paused before reaching the
bottom, and we were having a whispered argument whether two
objects showing motionless above the grass were the tips of his
horns or spears of aloe, when they moved, and he went crashing
on again.

Knowing he would have to ascend the opposite side of the
Y-shaped gorge, as the bushes and aloes were too thick for him
to go fast along the bottom of the Y to right or left, I jumped
on to the rock and waited ; springing across, he cantered
clumsily up the other side, which was very steep. The distance
was two hundred yards across the gorge, and taking a full sight
I held the rifle for the withers and pulled trigger. He fell back
among the rocks and bushes, and though still breathing was
practically dead ; but to prevent his moving and damaging his
beautiful horns by rolling among the boulders, I gave him
another shot. The horns measured 50 inches round the curve,
35| inches in a straight line from base to tip, and 26J inches
between tips.

On 13th June I took a camel and a few necessaries for spend-
ing the night away from camp ; and after looking for koodoo all
day we arrived at a lovely little burn half buried in reeds, at
the base of Banyero Mountain, which is between six thousand
and six thousand five hundred feet high. This was a charming
spot, a clear stream flowing over boulders of many colours, there
being occasionally narrow stretches of red sand, on wdiich were
imprinted fresh tracks of koodoo and lion. Above, on the side
of Banyero Mountain, was a precipice two hundred feet or so in
height, and on the smooth, perpendicular face of this were a
number of holes and cracks leading into the rock, each tenanted
by a group of gray-maned, dog-faced baboons, their long tails
hanging down against the precipice. The crowded clusters of
baboons, of a blue-gray colour, constantly moving their heads,
tails, or legs, and chattering at us, formed a curious and lively

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picture against the brick-red face of the rock. There must have
been three hundred altogether, including the little ones, which
clung to the rocks or to their mothers’ backs ; and with all
heads looking at us, they kept up a tremendous barking as we
crossed the stream, and it continued all night close to our
bivouac, so that it was a long time before we were able to get
any sleep. Some of the males seemed as large as retriever dogs,
with gray manes as imposing as that of the lion.

Next morning we had to pass these baboons as we ascended
a gorge to watch for koodoo, and they ran round to the head of
the gully in a small army, like little men determined to block
our passage. They hid in the rocks across our path, chattering
at us as we came on, and when we were fifty yards away still
sat ferociously watching. One gray old fellow had his head
looking over a stone, and pointing my Martini-Henry at it, I
was amused to see him duck behind a rock exactly as a man
would have done. I again raised the rifle and down went his
head again. This was curious, for he had certainly never seen
a rifle before. My men stormed the pass, intent on catching a
young one, but they were too quick for us, and retired slowly
up the ravine, disputing with their short angry bark every inch
of the ground. Of course I did not fire at the brutes ; and the
Somhlis, approving, said that they were little men, and it was
unlucky to kill them.

In the forenoon we saw three cow koodoos and a young bull
with half -grown horns, grazing up a patch of green meadow grass
in a valley several hundred feet below ; but after watching them
for an hour, and seeing that no old bull joined them, we gave it
up for the day, and prepared for the long journey back to the
main camp. As we descended to our bivouac to pack up our
blankets and cooking-pots, we gave these koodoos a slant of our
wind, and one of the females stood pawing the ground and
looking up at us, both of the huge rounded ears held forward.
We did not move, and every minute or so she emitted a loud
bark which went echoing up the hillsides.

This alarm-note is given by an old cow when she scents or
sees danger but cannot quite make out its nature, and so she
calls the attention of the herd. Sometimes three or four
females on hearing the bark of one will throw up their heads,
and joining her stand motionless, all eyes turned to the direction
of danger, as if in council, and then they canter away, followed
by the ruck of the herd. By remaining motionless, even if on

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the bare hillside, yon may keep up this performance for any
length of time ; but once you move, having made you out, off
they go. More than once I have been warned of the presence
of koodoo in a valley below by the loud echoing bark coming
across from half a mile away, and arresting ourselves as if turned
to stone, we have searched the opposite slopes, and have at last
made out three or four brown bodies, standing under the shade
of an overhanging precipice, in colour so like the background
that we should never have seen them bub for that warning bark.
The old doe is usually a splendid sentry, but often betrays the
herd in this way.

On the 14th we came back to our former bivouac at the reed-
margined spring, hoping to see the herd again in the morning,
perhaps accompanied by an old bull. We arrived late, and
found the baboons again in force. We lit fires and threw
ourselves down under a fig-tree for the night. This was a very
picturesque night camp. The stream was just below us, giving
out a murmuring of running water which was refreshing after
the hot march of the day. An hour after the sun had gone
down a crescent moon rose in the east, and just disappearing in
the west, following the sun, blazing in the clear mountain air,
was the Hedig wa Gcdab , or evening star.

The two goats which I had brought to supply milk for my
morning coffee were standing against each other, head to tail,
between the two fires, trying to keep warm in spite of a current
of air which blew down from the higher gorges of Banyero,
where the mist hung white, shreds of it clinging to the side
ravines and round the shoulders of the mountain. Between the
fires, and around the goats, lay coiled the four natives. The
camel sat alone, a little farther out, chewing the cud with
regular cadence of sound and gazing into the darkness, its large
eyes reflecting the firelight. The baboons kept up their barking
all night as on the former occasion, and next morning were seen
crossing the top of an adjacent cliff, inspecting our camp.

The next day we hunted for koodoo all the morning, but
only once more saw the same family of cows with the half-
grown bull ; so we made for the Henweina camp, and arrived in
the afternoon, very thirsty. Geli, while taking care of my
water-bottle, smashed it against a projecting rock, losing the
day’s supply.

This march home was twice as long as it need have been ;
for, anxious to visit the higher parts of Banyero, I had ascended

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a thousand feet to the Mirso ledge, and walking for several miles
between splendid specimens of the mountain cedar, I had again
descended into the Henweina Valley near the main camp, by a
sheep track which we hit upon, hitherto unknown to the guides.
I continued unsuccessful during the next few days, going many
a “ wild-goose chase ” after some bull which some one had seen,
and when away after this, a splendid chance in another direction
would be lost through my being out of camp. What sometimes
occurred was that three shepherds would see a koodoo while out
in the early morning tending sheep, and leaving one of their
number to mind the sheep and to watch the koodoo at the same
time, the other two would run down to camp, over four miles of
mountain and valley, to bring me the news. By the time I had
arrived at the spot, perhaps some hours afterwards, the man who
had been left to watch would either be asleep or would have
moved with his sheep to another pasture ; and while we looked
for the koodoo in the absence of a guide, it would catch sight of
us and steal away.

One day we heard a leopard coughing among the hills, and I
spent the day looking for his cave. Arriving home after dark,
the first object which I saw on approaching the camp-fire was
the spotted body, with a framing of natives, who had just
brought him over from the Esa Musa karia quite close to us.
The elders, having lost a goat the night before, had on this
evening tied one up as a bait, and had prepared a running noose
of camel-rope in the brushwood of the zerfba through which he
must pass to get to the goat. Having sauntered boldly down
from the hills in the evening for another goat, as had been his
custom, he charged recklessly and got himself noosed, when the
Somdlis waiting in ambush closed round and speared him.
The body was scarcely cold when I bought it of Waiss Mahomed,
the patriarch of the karia, for twelve rupees.

The koodoos seemed to have left this neighbourhood. I had
heard a good deal in Henweina about a mysterious bull koodoo
living in the high Massleh Wein gully, overlooking Garbadir,
fifteen miles to the east along the foot of Golis if one went
round by the camel -path, or nine miles up and down if one
took a short cut over the mountains. He was known to have
remained in Massleh Wein, drinking nightly at the spring below,
for three years. He was reported to be old and cunning, to
carry enormous horns, and to be lame in one foot. Having
resolved to try conclusions with this bull, I sent my caravan

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235

round the base of a peaked mountain called Hambeileh
Weina, by a camel-track, with orders to make two marches to
Garbadir, and camp at ArmMeh water, ArmMeh to the east
and Massleh to the west being two of several valleys which
joined to form the district called Garbadir. The grazing grounds
of Garbadir, filling a semicircle of about six miles’ radius, formed
a bay in Golis Range, under Daar Ass Bluff, which is about
6500 feet above the sea. Garbadir was wooded with large guda
thorn-forest, plenty of grass growing in the glades, and the
ground was covered with fresh tracks of the Esa Musa flocks.
It was at Armaleh Garbadir that I had formed my first shooting
camp in 1885.

From my Hen weina camp into Garbadir there was a short
cut over the mountains which was impassable for camels, and
this path I took with my two gunbearers and an Esa Musa
guide, ascending and descending about a thousand feet over
the neck between the Hambeileh Weina pointed peak and the
top of Daar Ass. At a height of about five thousand feet above
the sea we found several Esa Musa cattle karias, perched on the
mountains, with flat stretches of pasture. The Esa Musa herds-
men showed me the tracks of a large koodoo, which I knew to
be those of a bull I had hunted once or twice during the last
few days, and called the Darei-Hosei koodoo, after the name of
the gully in which he was generally seen by the shepherds in
the early mornings ; but as he had passed by at dawn, several
hours before, I held on for the Armaleh camp, leaving Massleh
Valley two miles behind us on my right.

I resolved not to disturb Massleh gorge till we should hear
news of the Massleh koodoo. Arriving at Armaleh a little after
noon, I sent some Esa Musa shepherds to Massleh with orders
to sit on points of vantage and watch the gorge for the appear-
ance of the koodoo when he should awake from sleep in the
afternoon ; and if they should see him, to run and let me know.
Meanwhile I sat down and waited for the caravan to come round
by the road.

At about four o’clock, acting on the information of an old
woman collecting firewood, I went after pig, and came to the
Massleh water ; we here found several women and girls filling
their bark water-vessels preparatory to carrying them on their
backs to their huts, who told us they had just seen a wart-hog
boar come to drink, and then run away without drinking.
Following on the tracks, we came suddenly on him twenty yards

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away on the top of a rise in a goat-path, and I raised my rifle
and covered his shoulder ; but finding I could not see his tusks,
and as I never shoot a boar unless they are abnormally large,
I let him off. He walked round the bend of the path and I
followed, but coming to the corner we found he had managed to
go quietly aw~ay without leaving a track to show his where-
abouts.

My gunbearer said he must be a shaitan , or devil, and we
were just preparing to drink and go home when two Esa Musa
ran up to say they had seen the lame koodoo of Massleh Wein,
and they could show him to me at once ! We started at a trot
up the Lower Massleh Valley, and came to where there was a
stretch of about half a mile, before it branched out in the form
of a Y into two gorges running up steeply into Daar Ass
Mountain. The natives had seen him coming out of the mass
of jungle which filled the point of junction of the two gorges
where they joined to form the main valley, or stalk of the Y,
lower down.

Geli and I, keeping to the right, ascended the side of the
valley and sat down under the shade of a black poison-bush on
a pile of rocks, commanding the nearest of the two small gorges
above the junction, that is, the western one ; while I stopped the
eastern gorge by sending an Esa Musa across to its head, to
drive back the koodoo should he attempt to retreat up it. We
knew he was somewhere in the jungle below the junction of the
gorges, and I had ordered Hassan and the other Esa Musa to
sit under cover in the lower valley long enough to give us time
to take up our appointed positions ; and then, when they saw
us posted, to walk slowly up through the jungle, looking for the
fresh tracks.

I had been some twenty minutes at my post, when Hassan
and the Esa Musa shouted across from the jungle to
the men at the head of the eastern gorge to look out, and we
saw the koodoo cantering heavily upwards along the bank of
the torrent-bed which occupied the centre of the eastern gorge.
The men whom I had posted there shouted back, and the
koodoo, as I expected, made for the western gorge which was
commanded by my rifle.

On the opposite side of this gully, on a level with the bush
under which I was sitting, was a large gudd tree, the range to
which I judged to be about two hundred yards across the gorge.
If I allowed him to pass this tree I knew my chances of

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237

bagging him would become slender, as the gorge widened, and
there was a way by which he could get out of it, over a shoulder
of the mountain, without again coming within range.

It became very exciting listening to the shouts from the
jungle below and the answering shouts from the other gorge,
and more so as, warned by the rattle of displaced stones and
the crashing of bushes, I turned my eyes and saw the koodoo at
the point of intersection of the two gorges heading straight for
the one I commanded. I had in my hands a long military
Martini-Henry, and pushing forward the sliding-leaf to two
hundred yards I marked the gudd tree opposite and watched.

There was suspense for a moment or two, and then with another
crash he emerged from the jungle and galloped along the
opposite hillside, straight for the tree. I held for the front of
his shoulder, just clear of his body, and as he neared the tree
fired. Looking under the smoke I observed him still galloping
on, and felt in my pocket for another cartridge ; but after passing
the tree he suddenly plunged forward and went rolling over
and over down the hill, till his body was arrested about thirty
feet below by a bush, where he lay motionless. We made short
time across the rocky gorge, and coming up I found him dead,
the Martini bullet having passed through his heart — a wonder-
fully lucky shot at the distance. He was a splendid sight as
he lay extended on the remains of the bush into which he

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had crashed, his horns measuring 52 inches and 53 inches
respectively round the curve, and 3 feet 1 inch in a straight
line from base to tip, and 37 inches between tips ; and his
massive neck was adorned with a fine white and brown beard.
There was a slight malformation in the hoof of his right fore-leg
which accounted for his lameness, but did not much interfere
with his speed when galloping.

We carried his head back to camp in the dusk, leaving three
men to skin him ; and we sent back all the Esa Musa, whom
we could collect in the valley below on our way to camp,
telling them to go up and scramble for the meat. Having now
bagged three good bull koodoos in as many weeks, which is
about the usual rate of successful and lucky koodoo-stalking in
these mountains, and my leave being up, I went in three short
marches to Berbera, and a week later caught a steamer to
Aden.

CHAPTER X

SECOND JOURNEY TO THE WEBBE SHABELEH RIVER, 1893

The new caravan — Pass Lord Delamere’s party — Captain Abud in camp at
Hargeisa — Sheikh Mattar — Cross the Hand, and arrive at Seyyid Mahomed’s
town in Ogaden — Holy reputation — Why the Somalis have no Mahdi —
Scene at the Seyyid’s town — Native impression of European travellers —
Every European a doctor — Malingur mission to Harar — Ruspoli’s men
seized — Jama Deria’s Englishman — Reach the Webbe and bag a water-
buck — Friendly Gilimiss Somalis — First news of the Webbe bushbuck —
Shooting a crocodile — Great beauty of our camp on the Webbe banks —
Galla raids on the Gilimiss — The crossing of the Webbe at Karanleh —
Unexpected Galla news — Entertain Galla chiefs in camp ; a defiant
speech — A Galla trip planned — Fresh hippo tracks in the reeds — A
waterbuck swims the Webbe ; a noble buck — Sad death of a horse —
The Aulihan — A row in camp — Unsuccessful buffalo-hunting — Wounded
waterbuck struck down by a lion — Starving negroes eat the carrion —
Disturbed country ; the Galla trip impracticable — Recross the Webbe —
Driving for bushbuck — A wart-hog bagged — A man seized by a lion ;
extraordinary story — A leopard bagged — A buck killed by leopards
before our eyes — A row at Garbo — Success of the Lee-Metford — The
Aware pan ; beautiful hunting-ground — Lions roaring at night — Un-
successful lion-hunts — Magnificent lion shot ; a surprising leap — Abund-
ance of lions — Return to Berbera ; and go to England.

During the first trip to the Webbe we had been four and a
half months in the interior, travelling over more than eleven
hundred miles of camel-track. I found at Aden that an

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

extension of leave had been granted, and at once prepared a
second caravan, intending to go back to Ime, and taking Gabba
Oboho at his word, to explore Gallaland and the Juba under
his guidance.

On 30th July 1893 we landed again at Berbera with thirty-
four men armed with Snider carbines and forty-five fresh camels.
The coast men were much afraid of Gallaland, and insisted
that we ought to have at least a hundred rifles ; but fighting
not being my object, I considered our party strong enough, and
after explaining that I would only cross the Galla border if the
GMlas should prove peaceful, the men took a more cheerful
view of the prospects of my journey.

We marched from Berbera on 31st July, and on the second
day passed Lord Delamere and his shooting party on their way
to the coast. Major Abud was at that time encamped at
Hargeisa, carrying on political business with Eidegalla chiefs.
Sheikh Mattar of Hargeisa, whom I met here, advised me not to
go to Ime, but to try Karanleh, three marches farther down the
Webbe ; and he gave me an Arabic letter to Seyyicl Mahomed,
a mullah whose permanent town lay in our front. By visiting
the Seyyid I should cross Og&den by a route several days to
the west of my former one through Dagaha-Madoba.

I crossed the Haud by the War da Gumared, the route taken
on our first crossing, when I had gone to Milmil with my brother
the year before ; this time I carried water for five and a half
days only. About three marches out from Hargeisa I crossed
the fresh tracks of seventy-five horsemen of the Abdalla Saad,
Habr Awal, who had gone to loot the Eidegalla a few hours
before my caravan passed over the ground.

Crossing the Rer Ali and Rer Harun tribes, always friendly,
on the 16th I arrived at Seyyid Mahomed’s town. It is a
permanent village of three or four hundred huts, about the size
of Hargeisa, its site being near the Tug FMan, in the Malingur
tribe. The banks of the stream, which we found dry, were
dotted with thriving and extensive patches of jowdri . The
inhabitants are mainly widads and mullahs from different Somali
tribes.

Pitching camp under shady trees near the river, on the Fdfan
banks, I went with the elders, through a dense crowd, to the
Seyyid’s hut. He was too old and feeble to walk over to camp,
and had sent his son to ask if I would mind coming to him, to
make his acquaintance and give him medicine. The Seyyid is

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241

known far and wide as a holy man, even my Dolbahanta headman,
Adan Yusuf, having heard of him. Adan was glad to meet
such a holy man, who was said to be invulnerable. He added
that the Abyssinians lately tied the Seyyid up and fired at him
point blank with Remingtons, but the bullets melted ; they then
bound him to a gudd thorn -tree, and collecting all the dry
branches about, lit a roaring fire at his feet, but he obstinately
refused to burn ; so then they gave up interfering with him !

If he were a fighting man the Seyyid would probably have
developed into a first-class Mahdi, and long ere this he could
have made a combined movement against Abyssinia ; but his
influence, like that of other Somali sheikhs and mullahs, is
almost entirely social and religious. He lives a quiet life,
cultivating joivdri , reading the Koran, and educating youths.
Among the nomad tribes the fighting elders abound, but they
have not the wide influence of these cosmopolitan Mahomedan
priests, and there is no element of cohesion among them, each
working for the good of his own clan and ignoring the general
interests of the community. The Seyyid was cordial, and I
gave him medicine at the door of his hut in the presence of his
wives and children, who squatted on their heels in a semicircle
round, whilst the townspeople collected in a mass to gaze at us
through the palisades of the courtyard which separated the hut
from the main street of the village. He had only seen one
English party, that of Colonel Paget and Lord Wolverton, two
months before, and they had left a good impression ; not so the
caravan under Prince Ruspoli, for he, less fortunate, experienced
a good deal of trouble with the natives in GMlaland, on the
Webbe, and even in Somaliland.

Before we left the hut of the sick man he had written for
me an Arabic letter to Hussein-bin-Khalaf and Nur Rbbleh, the
two Mahomedan chiefs of Karanleh. While we were halted at
the Eafan, crowds of sick people and cripples from the village
constantly loitered in and about camp, begging for medical
treatment from ninki frinji wein (the great foreigner). Every
European being believed to be a doctor, they rushed to me for
treatment, presenting the most complicated diseases, such as
cataract in the eye and cancer. My inedicine-bag containing
only chlorodyne, pills, vaseline, quinine, and the simplest medicines,
I treated what cases I could, and sent the worst away with a
small present of meat or calico and a few comforting words,
which were listened to in dead silence by the crowd of relations.

R

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At the Seyyid’s village I heard that Ugaz Umr, the Malingur
chief, had returned from Harar, after laying complaints against
frontier Abyssinians before iUs Makunan. Eight men, who
had either deserted from Prince Ruspoli or had been dismissed
by him, said that some of their comrades and all the guns had
been seized by XJg4z Umr, and were to be sent to Harar. They
asked me to interfere ; but for political reasons I declined.

On 22nd August, at sunset, we reached Bokhaiyer, another
permanent village, occupied by the Per AmMen tribe. Here
I met many old friends, among them Jama Deria and his sons,
who had escorted me to Ime a few months before, and were in
this country on a short visit. I was standing, the centre of a
mob of the villagers, when Jama Deria and six horsemen rode
up, covering us with dust, and Jama shouted that “his English-
man had come/’ He took jealous care of me, whipping away
the crowd, and never ceased begging till I left next morning.

After several days’ hard marching we reached the Webbe
at Sen Morettu, a permanent village of the Gilimiss Somalis,
standing on the north bank, about six marches south-east of
Ime, Karanleh lying half-way between the two villages.

In this journey, owing to the difficulty in getting reliable
guides, we had made a detour to the east, doing fifty-two marches
between Berbera and the Webbe, the direct distance being forty
short marches. We actually struck the Webbe at Dagah-Yeleh
on 25th August, and in the evening I went out and shot my
first adult halanka , or waterbuck. The bucks I shot at Ime,
under the impression that they belonged to a new species, I
now found to be young ones.

Next day we made one long march westward, by the river-
banks, to Sen Morettu. The Gilimiss SomMis were strong here,
and came in numbers to my camp to present their salaams.
Late at night they brought for sale the skin of a dol , or Webbe
bushbuck. This was the first time I had heard of such an
animal as a dol , and I resolved not to leave the Webbe till I
had shot one. I shot a large crocodile by moonlight ; it was
floating with the eyes above the water, only thirty yards from
the tent, no doubt waiting for one of the milch-goats to come
and drink.

This night camp on the banks of the Webbe at Sen Morettu
was striking in its scenery, and will ever live in my memory.
The Gilimiss who had brought the dol skin had left, and the
camp had settled down into slumber, except for one watchful

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sentry. The moonlight was so bright that everything had a
distinctive colour, the sky being of a deep blue, studded with
stars in the regions farthest from the moon. I went to the river-
bank and looked out on the water gliding by, in streaks of silver
and dark brown, across the shadows of the tall trees, which rose
one hundred and twenty yards away on the opposite bank.
Several of the trunks had fallen, and lay aslant upon the steep
bank of the river. Now and then a gust of wind swept with a
peculiar roaring sound through the feathery tree-tops, and ruffled
the surface of the water with broad patches of silver as it blew
across to our camp. Sometimes monkeys chattered, or squirrels
shrieked, disturbed by prowling animals in the dense evergreen
bush bordering the river. Each movement I made was the
signal for the splash of one or two crocodiles as they regained
the water.

We marched to Maaruf, a landing-stage exactly opposite to
Karanleh, which was on the south side of the river. We passed
through numbers of the Gilimiss people, who said they had
come to the north bank for fear of the Gallas, who were out
raiding. The camels had been late in getting off from Sen
Morettu, so I walked on with the two shikaris. We found
several of the Gilimiss elders at the landing-stage, and had a
long talk about the means of getting across, while sitting under
some very large trees which gave a welcome shelter from the
mid-day sun. The Webbe was rather low, the width being only
ninety yards. The people occupying the banks were Gilimiss
Somfflis and Adone, or Webbe negroes.

The Gilimiss cultivate on both sides of the river when not
in fear of the Arussi (Genre) Gffllas, who live in the hills ten
miles away to the south, and often raid along the south bank.
The G411a name for the Webbe is Webbe Sid&ma ; no one calls
it Webbe Shabeleh here. As mentioned on page 212, Shabeleh
(“ the place of leopards ”) is merely the name of the district
farther down to the south-east. Since 1884 no Englishman had
visited the Webbe till the previous spring, when my own caravan
and that of Colonel Paget reached it simultaneously, as I found
on my return to Berbera in June.

I sent one of the Gilimiss into Karanleh to call Hussein-bin-
Khalaf and Nur Bbbleh, and present my Arabic letter. The
first chief was sick, but Nur Bbbleh sent word to say he would
come over to see me in the evening. Meanwhile I went to
look for bushbuck in the thick belt of forest along the margin

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of the river. On first arriving at the landing-stage I had been
met by a rival of Nur Robleh, who undertook to take my
caravan across on rafts made of dried tree-trunks. But Nur
Rdbleh, arriving on the scene while I was away hunting,
arrested the other chief and his partisans, and tied them all
up at the foot of a tree, placing one of my escort on guard
over them with a loaded rifle. However, when I walked into
camp, much to Nur Rdbleh’s disgust, I set them free.

The Amaden and Gilimiss told me it would take seven days
to cross ; but before leaving Aden I had bought sixty fathoms
of three-inch rope. This we made fast to bollards driven deep
into the mud on both sides of the river, and pulling the rope
taut we attached two of the native rafts to it by running loops,
so that they could be easily hauled backwards and forwards ;
this was a great improvement on the primitive way of punting
and paddling the rafts across the swift current and landing
four hundred yards below the shoving- off point. By this
method, instead of seven, it took us only one day for the
baggage and one day for the animals, the latter swimming
over. The more timid of the camels were bound and towed
over by a crowd of swimming men, shouting and splashing to
keep off the crocodiles, while I fired a blank cartridge now and
then from the bank. I also shot two crocodiles, one a very
large one. It lay dead on an island, and four boys jumped
into the river, and swimming to the island, towed the carcase
to the bank. The natives are in the habit of swimming their
horses and cattle across when moving to better pasture. We
sawr one negro family, including women, children, mats, cooking
pots, and all their effects, moving across on a raft so overloaded
that half of them wrere sitting in six inches of water. Where
cows drink, the natives construct bruslrwood semicircular fences
to enclose the shallows and so deter the crocodiles from attacking
the animals ; yet, despite all precautions, the loss caused by
crocodiles is very great.

By the evening of 29th August our camp was properly
established on the southern bank, and we were on the Galla
side of the border. At night Nur Robleh returned to me.
I had sent him out to look for Dubbi Harre and Gudan
Abatteri, two Arussi Galla chiefs of great influence, to whom
Seyyid Mahomed had written a letter on my behalf. He now
came with news of one of these. He had given the letter to
Dubbi Harre, who was now staying in a village five miles to

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the south-east, owned by a rich Somali named Yahia; and
Dubbi Harre had unexpectedly said that his own tribe and all
the G^llas had had serious difficulties with the Prince’s caravan
which was in front of me, these being the first Europeans they
had seen, and they wished no more white men to enter their
country, adding, if I still wished to see him, I might send
soldiers to take him, but he would have gone to G4llaland.
He feared to come to camp lest I should have him flogged, for
he believed all Europeans were bad, and only invited people
to visit them in order to make them prisoners.

Knowing that Prince Euspoli had pushed through to the
far interior of Gallaland with about one hundred and twenty
rifles, and that they had lost a great many men, I did not
hope that my party, consisting of a single white man, with
only thirty followers and limited time, would be able to force
its way through the tribes which my predecessors had already
passed, should they be hostile to us. Fighting, except in self-
defence, was not part of my programme, as I had promised the
men at Berbera ; I meant to enter the country by the invita-
tion of the natives or not at all.

I gave Nur Ebbleh some calico and a Koran, telling him
to ride quickly to Dubbi Harre and give him the presents, and
to assure him that if he would come to my camp he would
have safe -conduct, and be hospitably entertained, and free to
go when he liked. After an interval of twenty-four hours,
during wdiich I hunted unsuccessfully for dol, Nur Eobleh
returned with better news. He had found Dubbi Harre on the
point of leaving for the mountains ; but, the presents softening
him, the Gffila chief had promised to come to me, though he
protested that it would be of no use ; he had declared he
would never be able to persuade his countrymen that there
could be any good in me.

On the morning of 30th August six horsemen came in.
There were three Somalis, Yahia and two friends, and three
Ghllas, Dubbi Harre being one of them. Dubbi Harre was
a remarkably handsome and pleasant-looking old man, clean
shaven, with thin, well-cut features. Taking Dubbi Harre by the
hand I led them into the tent, in which had been arranged on
the right and left rows of boxes covered with folded blankets ;
there was also a box for myself against the tent pole, and a mat
on the ground for Adan Yusuf, the interpreter. As usual, we
began the conference with coffee.

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

Dubbi Harre said that his country had been peaceable and
happy till Europeans came a few months ago ; but that they
and the Abyssinians had brought in rifles, and had fought ;
and now the people were firmly resolved to allow no one into
the land who carried firearms or were escorted by men so
armed. I contended that I had come as a friend. He answered,
“Yes, the other white men said that too.” Without going
into the rights and wrongs of the case, it seemed to me that
the caravan which had gone before me had been singularly
unfortunate in the impression left behind, and I thought, that
being the case, in the limited period of my leave it would be
uphill work ingratiating myself. I did my best, however, and
Dubbi Harre and I became good friends over our coffee. He
said he had seen my men as he came into camp ; he liked the
look of them ; they were well-behaved and orderly ; they were
clean and respectable Mahomedans and few in number, and
altogether different from the rabble of Abyssinians, Arabs, and
Soudanese whom the other Europeans had brought ; and now,
having seen us, he believed we wished him no harm. He and
his two companions were no longer afraid to be with us — though
he had been so at first. I told him that if I had come for war
I should have brought more men, and that he, a chief skilled in
fighting, had seen there were only thirty, and could judge for
himself whether we looked like invaders.

Dubbi Harre spoke quietly, with a pleasant smile on his face.
He looked what he was, a fighting chief, of great intelligence.
I said, “What will happen if we go to Web, in your country ?”
He said his people would fight. I declared we would hurt no
one. He said, “No, but they will hurt you, and I wish to pre-
vent you going. They are looking for a white man to kill,
because they are angry with your countrymen the white men,
who came first and fought with them. If your countrymen had
not come first we should have received you well, but now it is
different. I believe jmu, but the tribes won’t ; so take my advice
and don’t go. You will find game in the empty country between
the Aulihan Somalis and the Gerfre Gallas ; there are elephants
and giraffes; you can get Yahia here to arrange your trip. If,
however, you persist in wishing to go to the Webbe Web, I will
go on and tell my people, and will come back, and if I think it
safe I will take you there myself.”

Attracted by the prospect of shooting buffaloes and hippo-
potami, which were to be found at the Web, and not in the

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Aulihan country, I stuck to my idea of going into G&llaland,
declaring that I had not come all this way to see Somalis. So
it was arranged we should go to the Aulih&n for eleven days ;
and then, returning to Karanleh, meet Dubbi Harre, and be taken
by him to the Webbe Web.

At sunrise, on 31st August, I broke up the Karanleh camp and
marched through some five miles of jowari plantations, near the
south bank of the river, to Yahia’s village, where I shot a noted
man-eating crocodile. These hideous pests swarm here ; once
I shot a wild goose, which, falling into the stream, was immedi-
ately seized by a crocodile and drawn under while still struggling.
In the evening we made another march to a spot near the river
where we had been told to expect a school of hippopotami, and
I shot two good waterbuck bulls on the way there. We saw
fresh tracks of the hippos in the reeds, and I sat up by moon-
light in the jungle overlooking them, hoping to bag one as it
came to feed on shore. But at 4 a.m., finding nothing stirring
in the reeds, we gave it up and returned to camp by moonlight.
The Gilimiss, our guide, said that the hippopotami were scarce
and wary, as the Adone negroes, during a recent famine, when
nearly all their cattle had died of disease, had killed hippo-
potami for food, and had greatly reduced their numbers. The
great epidemic of cattle-disease which three or four years ago
raged in Masailand and other parts of East Africa was also
felt in Og&den, the cattle and the koodoo antelopes dying of
it in large numbers. It was felt as far north as the Marar
Prairie.

We made a morning march on 1st September, and another in
the evening. While passing over ground blackened by fire, and
covered with young grass, I shot a buck Soemmerring’s gazelle
and a waterbuck. At dusk, coming to dense forest by the river,
I ordered the men to pitch camp at the edge, and entering the
jungle unattended, saw a red object standing motionless near the
stem of a large tree twenty yards away. I felt certain it was an
antelope, but was unable to make it out in the half-light. I put
up the rifle and fired, when the animal rushed past me and fell in
a ravine close by, rolling over on its side ; on going up to it, I
found, to my delight, it was a young buck of the dol, or striped and
spotted Webbe bushbuck, I had been so anxious to get. Going
into camp to call up the men, I shot a buck lesser koodoo. As
the forest appeared to have plenty of game in it I resolved to
halt for a day’s shooting. The camp was in a pleasant place, at

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

the corner of a patch of forest looking down on the river from
the edge of a steep bank.

Next day at dawn I went out and soon came upon a water-
buck. We had been making for a wide glade of fresh grass, and
on emerging from the forest caught sight of him going up a bank
two hundred yards away. I fired, and we ran to the spot, but
his tracks leading away without any sign of blood, I knew I had
missed. He took us through several thick patches of bush, the
game paths sometimes forming tunnels four feet high in the
vegetation ; and at last, the light appearing ahead, we forced our

way through a thicket and found ourselves unexpectedly on the
very verge of the Webbe, a few yards from the water’s edge.

Directly we showed our heads outside the jungle my man
Geli pushed me back and pointed out into the centre of the stream,
which lay before us, flowing deep and swift, a hundred yards
broad ; out in the middle appeared the head and horns of the
waterbuck swimming for the opposite shore. It was too good
a prize to lose, so, waiting till he shook the water from his
flanks and cantered up the slope of stiff mud, I fired, and striking
him behind the withers brought him down ; and another shot
finished him. In his struggles he had slipped down the bank to
within six feet of the water, and I was in a fright lest his splendid
head should go to the crocodiles. We ran the three miles back
to camp along the margin of the water, and on reaching it I set
all the men to work, cutting down the trunks of dead dry trees
to form a raft, and by the afternoon it was ready.

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Geli and a Gilimiss guide then poled themselves across the
river, and after three hours returned with the head. I was so
anxious to measure it that I shouted to Geli to place the horn
against his Snider rifle, while 1 marked another Snider which my
men handed to me, and found that the buck’s horns could not
measure much less than twenty -four inches, a large pair for
the Webbe, where waterbuck-horns are comparatively short. I
anxiously watched the men come over with my specimen, and
then I carried it to my tent. At night we had several alarms,
caused by hysenas and lions, the camels rising suddenly together,
running about camp, and stumbling over tent-ropes in the dark.
I remained several days hunting waterbuck with great success.

While we were encamped here Adan Yusufs horse met with
his death in a rather melancholy way. At noon the men were
lying under shady trees round camp, sleeping like hogs, and I sat
in my tent writing up my journal. The camels were a mile
away, browsing under the care of one man, and the horse and
R4s Makunan’s mule were hobbled by tying the near fore and
near hind leg together, according to Somali custom. The three
milch-goats and the horse and mule were allowed to wander about
near camp, the man who usually looked after them, thinking I
had gone to sleep, having retired to the shade of a tree to do
likewise. About an hour afterwards I heard a loud whinny from
the mule, and looking out of the tent saw her swimming in the
middle of the stream, her head bobbing up and down in the water.
She was being carried down fast, so I fired a gun into the air to
wake the men, and we all jumped up and ran to the edge of the
water. There was a perpendicular scarp just below the site of
the camp, where the swift current had undermined the bank,
and towards this she was being carried. We ran to the beginning
of the steep place, and two of the men, plunging into the river,
caught her head as she came on with the current, and bringing
her to the bank, after a hard struggle, with all hands helping,
we landed her high and dry. Examining the bank, we found
several long streaks in the mud showing where the mule, while
drinking, had slid in ; and then we went to look for Adan’s horse,
and a search up and down the river only disclosed similar marks
in the mud farther down stream ; we never saw the horse again,
and no doubt the crocodiles got him. Indeed, hobbled as she
was, it was wonderful how the mule kept above water ; and it
was lucky she had the sense to whinny, and so attract attention
to her accident.

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

The Gilimiss guide whom we had taken from Karanleh told
me that we should be attacked by the Aulihdn if we followed
the river down as far as Burka, and represented the AuliMn to
be dangerous people. But I found, upon questioning my own
men, that the guide had lately been concerned in the killing of
an Aulihan, and that tribe naturally wanted his blood ; so, to
avoid trouble, I dismissed him and went on without a guide.
This was not difficult, because a good native path followed the
course of the river, and we were never so far from the bends
that we could not bring from them, in our casks, the water for
camp use. On 5th September we arrived at a low precipitous
hill called Burka, shooting a bull beisa on the way. We met
some of the Aulihan watering their flocks, and on 6th September
followed them to their karias, some distance inland. The name
of this sub-tribe was Rer Afgab, Aulih4n. They gave us milk
and a display on horseback ; and they asked us to go to their
country to shoot, stating they would barter cattle in exchange
for cloth, and that if I took the cattle afterwards to the Gallas
in the Web country I should get plenty of ivory.

On 7th September, finding that the giraffe-ground was at
least four days to the south of Burka, we marched back towards
Karanleh, to be ready to meet Dubbi Harre on the day appointed.
We made a long march to our old camp at Elian, where I had
lost the horse, and thence went to Yahia’s village. Dubbi
Harre had not yet arrived, so we retraced our steps down the
river to shoot for a few days, halting at a place called Shendil.
Our camp was pitched on open ground outside a belt of forest
some four miles long by one mile deep, fringing the Webbe.
On the northern bank, opposite to Shendil, was Sen Morettu,
where we struck the river a fortnight before. To the south of
us lay an even plain gradually rising towards the G411a mount-
ains, being covered in alternate patches of thick thorn-bush and
glades of long, coarse buffalo grass.

On the 12th I went out shooting on a wide open plain
which had been cleared by fire, only the leafless trees with
charred stems being left standing above the black ground ;
young grass, always very attractive to game, had begun to
spring up, and here I shot two waterbuck carrying good heads.
In the evening, going into the high forest by the river to look
for the ffo/, or bushbuck, to our astonishment we came to some
large tracks, which my guide, a Gilimiss, pronounced to be
those of wild buffalo. There were two old bulls. We followed

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them among the glades and thick cover near the margin of the
river, and found the marks where they had lain and rolled in
the mud during the previous night ; but it became dark before
we could come up with them. My guide, a Midgan, said that
four bull buffaloes had strayed from the GMla country a few
years before, and that his father had shot two of them with
poisoned arrows, those which we were hunting being the two
survivors ; and I am inclined to think these two were perhaps
the only specimens on the Webbe, for I had always been told
that buffalo did not exist anywhere near Somaliland.

I made a strong zerfba while we were halted here ; for the
AuliMn at Burka told me that the Gallas were constantly
raiding down to the river, and that while on the southern side
we were liable to attack, owing to the antipathy to white men
which had sprung up in GMlaland. We were reminded of the
insecurity of the border by passing the skeletons of two GMlas,
who a month before had been promptly killed by the Aulih&n
“because they looked like robbers.’’ This condition of insecurity
is very uncomfortable, and it is also a great nuisance when one
is out shooting, as when hunting clol in the thick bush one
cannot hope for success if attended by more than two men,
because of the difficulty in moving silently ; and three riflemen,
miles from camp in thick bush, would make a poor defence
against a raiding party of Gallas.

I devoted one day to a buffalo-hunt, which was more exciting
than successful. In the early morning we went into the forest
again and came on the fresh tracks of the two buffalo, in dense
bush near the river-bank, the whole jungle being composed of
evergreens and a network of creepers. It was necessary to stoop
and sometimes to crawl on all -fours through the tunnels of
vegetation ; sometimes five or six creepers clinging around arms
and legs held me fast, so that it would have been impossible to
shoot ; I had to go bareheaded because of the tangled vines
which constantly swept off my canvas hat ; but this did not
matter, because the density of the forest afforded protection from
the sun’s rays, — indeed there was perpetual twilight inside.
Underfoot were the debris of all kinds of timber, almost
impossible to climb over without making some noise. The
whole jungle smelt of monkeys. They could be seen overhead
covering the branches in clusters, their chattering giving notice
of our approach as we stole along. There were two kinds : the
large clog-faced baboon, different from those found in the

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

mountains of Somaliland chiefly in the absence of the full gray
mane ; and a small tree-monkey, of whose name I am ignorant.

After creeping about noiselessly for the space of two hours
with G-eli and Hassan, I put up the buffalo at a distance of
about twenty yards, but we could only hear the heavy pounding
of the earth and cracking of sticks as they galloped off, with
continuous crashing through the undergrowth, and the hollow
sound of the larger limbs of the trees breaking as they charged

ahead. We followed, in the course of the morning putting them
up no less than seven times. Once we came to their lair, at a
spot in the densest line of thicket close to the river, where four
large banyan-trees grew together, their roots and descending
branches interlacing to form a labyrinth of caves with upright
pillars. The place was nearly dark ; it smelt of buffalo and
was full of their droppings ; one of the exits was a tunnel
through the thicket about five feet high. Through this they
had escaped, and finding they could not pass under a branch
six inches thick, which spread horizontally across this opening
at a height of four feet, they had charged and broken it short off.

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Following the buffalo, we put them up again, but they broke back
towards the eastern part of the jungle, the original end from which
we had first driven them. I had been after them for three hours,
and though we heard their rush close to us many times, never
obtained a glimpse of them. They were dodging about in the
thickest parts of the forest and would not face us among the glades.

At last I decided to go to camp and organise a drive. I
assembled all the men, and sending them in at the west end, I
sat with the two hunters on a platform from which the boys
were accustomed to scare birds from the crops, at the east end,
and waited for the buffalo to be driven past. The platform
was a flimsy structure some six feet high, and commanded a
good view of the edge of the woods and the reeds bordering the
river, through which I hoped the buffalo would break.

The men from the west end of the jungle were extended
to form a semicircle, and moved towards me, firing guns and
shouting. The buffalo now got into a patch of the thickest
bush, near where we had found their lair in the four trees grow-
ing together, so to get them out of this stronghold my men set
fire to the jungle. Towards evening, when the fire was at its
height, they at last made up their minds, and instead of coming
into the reeds broke back through the line of men, charging
into them in spite of a shower of badly-aimed Snider bullets ;
and escaping from the forest, they cantered over a mile of open
grass plain to the dense thorn-bush and high grass on the slope
leading up towards the G&lla mountains. They never returned
to Shendil while we were encamped there, and I have no doubt
they left the country altogether.

At dusk on the evening of the 13th I went out to the burnt
plain and got up to a herd of waterbuck, shooting a cow in
mistake for the bull, and then wounding the bull. He got
away into long grass, and night coming on I lost him. Going
to follow him up next morning I first made for the body of
the cow. I found that a lion had discovered it early in the
night, and, eating his fill, had left the remainder to the hyaenas.
Following up the tracks of the lion, I found the carcase of the
wounded bull, which the lion had struck down, close to a
thicket of thorn-bush and high grass. Part of the haunches
was consumed, and the lion had apparently gone into the patch
of grass to sleep or watch over the meat.

Silently sitting down behind a bush close by with my two
hunters, I waited from eight o’clock till noon for the lion to

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come out. Vultures were perched on the tops of all the thorn-
trees, and would occasionally swoop to the ground and walk
round at a respectful distance from the meat ; but they always
took alarm again and flew back to their perches, no doubt
fearing the lion would come out. Lions often watch meat in
this manner by day. So still did we sit behind our screen
of bushes watching the dead waterbuck that a spotted hysena
came up to within two yards of my face without seeing me !
I had to cough, otherwise he would have been right on to me,
and there is no knowing what even a hyaena would do when so
close. He gave one look and, the hair bristling up along his
back, rushed away, coming to a halt eighty yards off to look back.
Then he cantered through the jungle and I lost sight of him.

Finding the lion did not come out of the grass, we searched
it through and through, and discovered that he must have heard
us coming when we first found the carcase in the morning, and
retired. So we gave it up and returned to camp. We had
scarcely left the spot twenty yards behind us on our way home,
when two Adone w^oman, one of them young, plump, and almost
pretty, came and asked for meat. We pointed to the carcase
of the waterbuck, which had been partly eaten by the lion, and
although it had lain under a tropical sun all the morning, they
at once set to work to cut off the meat which was left, to take
home for their own dinner.

The Dair , or rainy season, now coming on, the river began
to rise rapidly. It was long past the time agreed upon for
meeting the Galla chief Dubbi Harre at Karanleh, and Yahia
now sent me word that the Gdllas had looted several animals
from the Karanleh people, and fighting between the Somalis and
Gall&s had broken out, all communication with Gdllaland
being thus interrupted. Finding that I had not enough leave
left to go into Ghllaland unless Dubbi Harre came down to
Karanleh to help me, I decided to march as quickly as possible
through Ogaden and the Habr Gerhajis country to the coast,
four hundred miles distant.

On the 15th I went to the burnt plain and shot a buck much
resembling a lesser koodoo,1 and in the evening, while marching
to Yahia’s, bagged two more waterbuck.

1 These koocloo-like antelopes on the Webbe have hoofs like the South
African situtunga, and I am doubtful whether they do not belong to the latter
or some allied species. The hoofs were twice as long as those of Golis lesser
koodoo and the skin had more stripes and longer hair.

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255

The next day we arrived at the ford at Karanleh, called
Maaruf, where we first crossed the river. The stream was now
in flood, the bollards which we had driven into the mud had
been carried away, and it took all the evening to stretch the
rope across. I had not a fathom of rope to spare, and I feared
that unless we could cross next day we might be kept a week
or two on the southern bank through the further rising of
the river. We crossed, however, with great difficulty on the
following day. During the passage a freshet came down,
drowning one camel and overturning a raft, with a good deal
of valuable kit and a Snider rifle : several documents, amongst
which were maps, going down in thirty feet of water. The loss
I felt most was that of my botanical collection. Although
my men spent the whole evening diving, the things were
never recovered. I did not care to halt on the northern bank
and order another day’s diving, because of the danger from
crocodiles.

On the following day we journeyed down the river along
the northern bank, and made two marches to the neighbourhood
of Sen Morettu, halting opposite the forest at Shendil, where
I unsuccessfully hunted buffalo a few days before. I sent men
across on an Adone raft towed down from Karanleh, but they
returned and reported that the buffalo had not come back from
the hills. On the short march to Sen Morettu I shot a water-
buck and a Soemmerring’s gazelle, and the next day a waterbuck
and a lesser koodoo. I was anxious to get a good specimen of
the dol , with a view to having it identified, so we had all the
pitfalls in the neighbouring forest repaired by the Adone ; but
none of the bushbucks fell in wffiile I was at Sen Morettu.

On the 21st I organised a beat for dol. I saw nothing,
but one of the men in the line of beaters shot a buck with his
Snider. It was in company with a doe, which broke back
through the line, hopping over one of the men, hitting his fore-
head with her hoofs, and knocking him down ! She succeeded
in making good her escape, as the other men were too astonished
to fire. At sunset I shot another waterbuck.

I now marched for the coast. The return journey was
over ground most of which I have previously described. We
passed through several Somali tribes, all of which were friendly.
On the way the natives told me that the Abyssinians had
suffered a great defeat from the Danakil tribes near Obok, and
that my Abyssinian friend Basha-Basha had been killed ; also

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

that war had broken out between the Abyssinians and the
Su4kin dervishes.

During three days I made six marches, covering sixty miles,
in a course running almost due north. The only game I saw
on these marches was a wart-hog, which stared me in the face
at a distance of ten feet as I was moving through long grass
at dawn. The rising sun was shining in his eyes, and I
knocked him over stone-dead by a shot in the chest before he
had time to realise the situation.

On the morning of the 26th I heard that near a karia
ahead of us a man had been attacked by a man-eating lion
and was not expected to live. I made a short march to the
karia and halted for the noon camp close by. At the request
of the relations of the sick man, while camp was being pitched,
I walked over to the karia with my hunters, carrying a bucket
full of carbolic lotion, a quart of carbolic oil, iodoform, lint and
bandages, and a syringe. We came to a hut, outside which
was a crowd of people ; and looking in I saw, lying on the
ground, the bare body of a man. He was smeared over the
head and body with dust and blood, and had seven or eight
deep fang-wounds in the small of the back and low down in
his left side. All the wounds were uncared for and swarming
with white maggots ! I asked to have him carried outside the
hut, where it was lighter ; but his relations objected, saying it
would give him unnecessary pain, and it was the will of Allah
that he should die. The man, however, after some persuasion
consented, and as gently as we could we lifted him from the
floor of the hut, where he had been lying for the last thirty
hours, and laid him on a camel-mat outside. Having obtained
permission to try my best with the medicines I had, I first
got his wife to wash him all over, the other relations looking
on at every movement of the white man with great interest.
When washed, he looked more cheerful, and I made a careful
examination of the wounds. There were eight deep holes in the
small of the back, dangerously near the spine, where the lion
had taken him up and dropped him two or three times ; and a
couple of wounds deep in the left side, which fortunately had not
penetrated the bowel. I told the man that there was no reason
why he should not recover, and he became quite cheerful,
and gave permission to probe the wounds. His uncle now
appeared with a piece of stick having a shred of tobe twisted
round it, and with this rough instrument we probed all the

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JOURNEY TO WEB BE SHA B ELEH RIVER

257

wounds, and I syringed them carefully with carbolic lotion.
The wounded man, like a true Somali, never even murmured
during this treatment. At last I was able to let him sit up,
clean and almost smiling, all the holes in his body neatly plugged
with pieces of lint soaked in carbolic oil ; I gave his relations
medicine for twenty days’ use, and a new tobe for bandaging,
as well as a lecture on further treatment.

The story of the occurrence, which the natives told me, was
interesting. This man, with twenty other men and boys, had
been asleep, two nights before, in a camel-karia a few miles
away. The camel-karias are merely thorn-fences round the
camels, and there are no huts, the men sleeping on the inside of
the fence in the open air. At about five in the morning, just
before dawn, a lion sprang into the zeriba and seized this man,
his companions making off, and the camels stampeding into the
darkness. The man’s own account of what occurred was as
follows. He struck at the lion frantically with his hands, and
the brute let him go, retiring to a little distance to watch. The
lion came on again, taking him up a second time and carrying
him a few yards to the edge of the fence. Again the man
struck out at the lion and he let go. A third time he took him
up, and again the man, who was nearly exhausted, drove him
off ; and the lion, either frightened away by the dawn of day or
impressed by the spirit shown by his victim, sneaked off. The
man remembered no more till his friends returned some time
afterwards, expecting to find only a few bones ; and they carried
him to the home karia and threw him into a hut to die, the
thought of giving him food or washing the blood and dust from
him never occurring to them ; and there he had lain for thirty
hours. I never heard whether he recovered, but having seen-
instances of wonderful recoveries among Som&lis, I am inclined to
think he had a very good chance.

On the evening of the same day I made another short march,
and arrived at a place where a leopard had just killed a goat
while the flocks were returning from pasture to a karia. We
hastily constructed a shelter, and I sat two yards from one of
my own goats I had tied up as a bait, with the wind blowing in
my face, and the two hunters at my side with spare rifles. There
was a faint moon, and at about nine o’clock a leopard charged
and killed the goat. I sat quietly till the hubbub had subsided,
and then, as the leopard lay on the goat sucking its blood, with
its back to me and its tail twitching close to my feet, I fired for

s

258

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

the centre of its back, and it rolled over stone-dead, with its
four paws in the air, beside its victim. We raised a cheer, and
all the men coming from camp, we carried it to the door of my
tent and skinned it by the light of torches.

Next morning, as I had had good sport with the leopard,
before marching I gave the women at the karias a large present
of beads. Directly they knew that I had given the beads to
Adan Yusuf to be distributed, they rushed at him like tigresses,
and in a fright he dropped the lot and fled. The women fought
and wrangled till we had loaded and marched away. Several of
the old men said that now I had given them the beads the women
would be quarrelling with each other for days, and would neglect
the cattle, and require to be well beaten before things settled
down again. As we marched off through the bush I shot a
prowling hyaena.

On the 28th, while I was marching ahead of the caravan
with the two hunters, I saw a herd of seven Waller’s gazelles
and began stalking them. While we were still two hundred
yards away, three leopards charged into the middle of the herd
and killed a young doe before our eyes, scattering the others in
every direction. We ran up to where the leopards were
squatting over the carcase, in the middle of a broad open glade,
but while still some distance away they saw us and made off at a
canter. I think they were ordinary leopards, and not the long-
legged, pale -skinned hunting -leopard (the chita of India). I
fired at one of them and missed, and then we sat by the side of
the dead walleri till the caravan came up, hoping to see the
brutes, but they never returned.

The following day we arrived at a deep well called Garbo.
As we approached this well we saw vultures swooping towards
two or three dead trees which overtopped the jungle, and on
searching found the bodies of a leopard and seven spotted
hyaenas, which had been poisoned during the night by a
Midgdn. He had drawn up water from the deep well and
exposed it for the night in a shallow wooden bowl,1 mixed with
poison he had concocted from various herbs. The leopard had
been half eaten by the hyaenas, but I preserved the skull.

The natives whom wre found encamped here were suspicious

1 The various kinds of game, although unable to get at the water lying at
the bottom of the deep wells, visit them at night on the chance of finding
water standing at the surface, left in the excavated clayA troughs after flocks
have been watered.

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and surly, as they had had some disagreement with Prince
Ruspoli’s caravan which passed through before me. As we
marched in the afternoon I left Hadji Adan with four men, and
three camels loaded with water-casks, to follow us with a good
supply of water. We had only gone a mile when we heard
several shots fired in quick succession, and running back to the
wells, found my men in sole possession. The natives had
refused to allow them to take water, and my men, instead of
returning and complaining to me, had fired a few shots over the
heads of the crowd, sending them flying, with a worse impression
of European caravans than they had before. I was naturally angry
and disgusted with Hadji Adan, who looked sheepish when I told
him what I thought of him. On this march I fired three shots with
my Lee-Metford rifle at a beisa bull galloping away. When he was
already three hundred yards distant my third shot brought him
down, and we camped by the body to take advantage of the meat.

Next day we made two hard marches to Daba-Jerissa, where I
remained on 1 st October, shooting a lesser koodoo buck. The people
at Daba-Jerissa asked me to give judgment as to the amount of
blood-money to be paid by another tribe for the murder of one of
their number ; but I said I would only arbitrate if both parties
would appeal to me as a disinterested stranger, and that I could not
undertake to act for the British Government, especially so far
from Berbera.

On 2nd October we made two long marches to the wells
at Sassamani, where guinea-fowl swarmed in tens of thousands,
blackening the river-bed as they came to drink in the evenings ;
and I had good sport with the gun. On the way I attacked
a herd of Soemmerring’s gazelles with the Lee-Metford, and
dropped four bucks with six shots, at ranges between two
hundred and fifty and three hundred yards. I gave most of the
meat to some people whom we found at the wells, instead of a
present of cloth they asked for.

On 5th October we arrived at the Gag4b wells at Milmil.
Here I arranged a division of the caravan into two parts, send-
ing one to Berbera by the shortest route, so that the men might
be paid off and the camels sold ; while I kept the other to
accompany me in a leisurely journey to the coast by way of the
Eidegalla Hand, where I hoped to get lions. We left Milmil on
the 6th of October and marched to a Rer Ali karia, and on the
following day made two marches to a large water-pan at Awdre.
As no rain had fallen for months in this locality till quite

260

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINLA chap.

recently, the pan was dry, but a deep well sunk through its bed
contained plenty of water. The pan at Aw4re is an isolated
depression far out on the Hand Plateau, which contains rain-
water for several weeks at a time. It is three marches to the
north of Milmil, the last Ogaden watering-place on the southern
edge of the Hand ; and when the pan, or the well which the
natives sink through its bed, contains water, the flocks and
camels of the Per Ali and Per Harun are brought to Awdre to
take advantage of the rich Hand pastures, which have better
fattening qualities than those of Milmil.

The Haud in this locality is one mass of unbroken thorn-
forest, sometimes light and open, sometimes very dense, with
high durr grass. Pound the Aw&re pan the forest is composed
of very fine guda thorn-trees, which grow for about fifteen feet
without branches, and then shoot up and outwards in a fan-
shape to a height of from thirty to forty feet. The bark is
black, and the foliage is made up of small star-shaped leaves,
massed together and very green. It is the most picturesque
tree in the Haud forest, and nothing can be prettier than the
Aware pan when the margin of open, flat meadow -land is
covered with a carpet of fresh turf, and the trees are in foliage.
On arriving at Aw&re we pitched camp under a large guda tree
at the north-west corner of the pan, and I made my bed on the
flat top of another on the eastern side, and tied up a donkey
below. Lions roared in the forest a mile or two away, but did
not come near the camp.

Next morning, without waiting for coffee, I got down from
the tree and made straight for where we had heard the lions.
About three miles from our tree we came on the fresh tracks
of a large lion and lioness, and followed them. The bush was
rather open, and the lioness must have been doing sentry and
have seen us, for we could hear her roaring in the jungle some
distance ahead of us as she roused her mate ; and running on in
the direction of the noise, we were just in time to see a black-
maned lion bound out of a thicket and make off, followed by a
lioness. The grass was rather long, only showing their heads,
and owing to intervening thorn-trees and the distance I could
not get a chance to shoot. We tracked these lions until a heavy
shower of rain came on and lost us the tracks in the afternoon.
I lay at night on the top of the guda tree near camp, but
did not get a shot. A lion roared several times, early in the
night, in the distance, but a shower of rain coming on before

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261

dawn, the people whom I sent out from camp failed to find his
tracks.

On the 9 th we moved the camp to a karia a few miles to
the north-west, where lions were reported to be common. I sat
all night in the top of a tree over a heifer tethered below, to no
purpose. Next morning we came upon tracks of two lionesses
and three cubs ; but we only found them at 8 a.m., and the
enormous flocks and herds of the Rer Ali had wandered about
the jungle in every direction, and almost entirely obliterated the
signs, so we gave it up and moved camp back to the Aw4re pan.
In the evening news of lions came from two opposite directions,
south-west and north-east. I sent several horsemen out to
verify the first, and despatched Hassan five miles to the north-
east to the carcase of a camel which had been struck down by
the lions, with orders to sit in a tree all night, and keep hyaenas
from the carcase by throwing stones at it. He had seen a lioness
bound away as he came to the spot at sunset, and sitting in
a galol tree waiting for the brute’s return, spent a miserable
night, for it rained heavily, and became so dark that a mob of
hyaenas dragged away the meat in spite of his stoning. In the
morning, because of this rain, Hassan failed to find any tracks ;
so he returned to my camp, aching all over, for a rotten and twisted
galol tree covered with large black ants is not a comfortable
perch on a cold night. The horsemen whom I sent to the south-
west reported the lion news to be a hoax of the karia people
there, concocted in the hope of obtaining bakshish. During the
day I received a visit from some Rer Ali headmen and minstrels,
who serenaded me on foot while I was trying to get a little
sleep at noon.

On the 12 th I sent out horsemen to collect news of lions
from the karias, and to make wide circles in the jungle in quest
of tracks ; they found those of a family of lionesses and partly-
grown lions, there being seven in all ; so at night we tied up a
donkey three miles from camp. I was prevented from sitting
up over the bait by heavy rain coming on towards evening, so
remained in camp. Next morning we found the donkey killed
and eaten by lions. Coming up in the half light of early dawn,
and stooping under the bushes, I saw several hyaenas, and
among them a lioness, stealing away. The range was nearly
two hundred yards, but I fired and missed. I followed at best
pace, and after twenty minutes’ tracking saw her head for a
moment looking over a tuft of grass, as she crouched thirty

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA ch. x

yards away, but she bounded off before I had time to look over
the sight. I fired a shot after her into the grass, which missed.
We again tied up a donkey in the same place, and sat up over
it. But at about ten o’clock the dry galol , upon the flat top of
which we had placed my bed, gave way, breaking off at the fork
of the stem, and dropping us, with guns, water-bottles, and
lantern, a distance of twelve feet, to the ground ! It was very
dark and a heavy thunderstorm was coming up, so we lit the
lantern and trudged home through the bush. We left the
donkey tied up, and coming next morning to take him away,
found he had been untouched by lions, although several cowardly
hyaenas had prowled round all night afraid to tackle him.

On the morning of the 14th, having heard a lion roar not
far from camp at midnight, I sent out horsemen, and at 9 a.m.
they reported tracks of two lionesses. Almost simultaneously
came news that a goat had been killed by a lion at a karia about
five miles away. The men said it must have been a large lion
by the tracks and by the sound of his roar as he had bounded
away, quite unlike the voice of a lioness. So I walked there
with my two hunters, arriving soon after ten o’clock, and taking
the owner of the goat as guide, made straight for the karia
where the kill had occurred. The two horsemen who brought
the news followed, leading their horses, in red and blue khaili
tobes ; but I dropped these men at the karia as being too con-
spicuous and likely to attract the lion’s attention.

We then followed the pugs of the lion from the zerfba, the
parallel lines in the red soil showing where he had dragged his
victim along. The trail was difficult to follow, as the ground
had been overrun by sheep during the morning. At last we
came to a small boy in charge of a flock of sheep, and he told
us there were no more domestic animals farther on, and that the
lion had gone into a dark jungle of khansa and durr grass. We
entered the jungle, and as we rounded a khansa thicket my
hunter Liban said, “ There he is ! ” and I saw his great shock
head and shoulders come from out of a black overhanging khansa
bush twenty-five yards away, which had been his lair, and in
which we subsequently found the body of the goat. I had only
time to see his huge head and mane come indistinctly through
the foliage, when he bounded away to my left, across a space of
two yards of open, into a patch of durr grass six feet high. I
followed him with the sight of the rifle on his shoulder as he
disappeared, but, the trigger being rather heavy, I did not

SNAP SHOT,

ch. x JOURNEY TO WEB BE SNA B ELEN RIVER

265

actually get it off . till he was well inside the grass. The rifle
went off, and a loud roar followed as he galloped on, showing
that he had been hit. The roar died away at once into a sup-
pressed growl, then all was silence.

Now came the work of following him up. Making a circuit
to the right we examined the expanse of grass and jungle into
which he had sprung ; it was very thick and extensive, stretch-
ing to the right and left for several hundred yards, so there was
nothing for it but to follow him through it. We first fired a
Snider at the place where we last heard him, at the same time
throwing sticks and shouting ; and then, foot by foot, we took
up his path, which was bathed in blood, straight through the
high grass. From the hurried nature of my shot I did not hope
to have disabled him, although the rifle I had been shooting
with was a heavy eight-bore Paradox. After going another half-
dozen yards, as we came to a mimosa, Liban said, “ He is lying
dead beyond that hhansa bush.” Peeping through and seeing
a mass of yellow, I saw that Liban was right. Skirting round,
we found a noble, yellow-maned lion, the finest I had seen, in
perfect condition and in the prime of life. My natives called
my attention to the peculiar position in which he was lying,
under the farther side of the mimosa. He had bounded away from
his lair, getting my eight-bore bullet obliquely behind the left
lung, and out at the point of the right shoulder. He had roared
and bounded on with this wound, and after going fifteen yards
had taken the mimosa in one spring, falling dead in his tracks.
We measured the bush over which he had sprung, and found it
was eighteen feet broad and eight feet high, and absence of
marks on the surrounding sand showed that he could not
possibly have gone round. My idea is that the wound took
full effect just as he made this supreme effort, landing him
practically lifeless. The skin, when taken off, measured 10 feet
1 1 inches from nose to tip of tail when spread without stretching
or pegging out. As I knelt looking at his head, surrounded by
the men, women, and children who had flocked from the karias,
I only wished for a European companion to help admire him !

In the evening I made another platform in a gudd tree
three miles to the south of camp. From my tent to about a
mile south of it there was gravel. I found that lions, in passing
the camp to go to prospect some karias to the south-west, avoided
the gravel, no doubt because it was uncomfortable for their feet,
and invariably walked over the fine red clay a little farther south.

266

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSDV/A CHAP.

Hence the choice of my new hiding-place. I spread my bed on
the flat top of the tree, fourteen feet from the ground. It was
like a spring mattress, gently waving before a cool breeze ; and
we slept beautifully most of the night, hung up in the air, with
a brilliant canopy of stars above us and the mysterious sea of
bush around us, with lions roaring frequently during the night.
Next morning I was taken off on a “wild-goose chase” to a

HEAD OF BAIRA ANTELOPE. (Shot by Lord Delamere.)

karia six miles distant to the north, where a lioness had seized a
small goat in sight of the karia people ; but the sheep and
camels had since been driven over the tracks, and we lost her.

I remained in camp on the 15th to let the skin of the lion
dry, and again slept in the maclian three miles to the south of
camp. The lions roared again ; for there were a pair of them,
the voice of the lioness being easily distinguishable from that
of her mate. They never came to the donkey, and a heavy
thunderstorm drenching us and our bedding, we lit a lantern

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JOURNEY TO WEBBE SHA B ELEH RIVER

267

and threaded our way to camp, leading the donkey, through the
darkness. Sending out horsemen next morning, the tracks of
the pair could not be found, so it was decided that their roars
must either have been uttered from an immense distance, or that
they must have been devils ! But I think that, owing to the
wet weather, their voices appeared much nearer than they really
were.

My leave being at an end, we marched for Adadleh, over a
waterless tract of Haud ninety miles in extent. We covered
this distance in nine marches, or four and a half days, the whole
of the country passed over being one continuous sea of dense
bush, dotted with red ant-hills, some of the spires being twenty-
five feet high. We arrived at Berbera on the 31st of October
1893, and next day I crossed to Aden on the way to England.

FEMALE LOWLAND GAZELLE (Gazella pelzelni).
Average length of horns on curve about 7 to 8 inches.

CHAPTER, XI

WITH THE BRITISH MISSION TO KING MENELIK, 1897

Sent to represent India on the Mission — Meeting with Italian prisoners
marching down — The Italian Red Cross Mission — A forced march to
Gildessa to get transport — Aito Merzlia, Governor of Gildessa — Impres-
sions of the journey up the pass to Harar — Makunan’s escort into Harar
— Buying mules — Sent on with Speedy — Scenery in the Harar highlands
— Some peculiarly English country — Crossing the Ha wash — A camel
accident — Over high veldt country to Addis- Abbaba — The opening
audience — Menelik’s personality — Dining with Menelik and his thousand
officers — The Feast of St. Raguel — Ritual in the church : the dance of
King David before the Ark of the Covenant — A feu de joie — The scene
marching home — Presents for the King and Queen — The final day —
Escorted by 20,000 soldiers — A magnificent sight — The march to the
coast — Daily routine — Astronomy — British and French positions for
Addis- Abbaba compared — Fast marching — Political reflections — Our
African frontier compared with our Asiatic one — Importation of arms by
France — Abyssinian character — Vindication of Somali character — Sport
on the road — Somaliland as a future hunting-ground.

It was destined that I should make yet another journey through
Somaliland, as I was appointed to represent the Government of
India on Her Majesty’s Mission to King Menelik of Abyssinia,
under the leadership of Mr Rennell Rodd. Since the journey
from Zeila to Addis-Abbaba and back, undertaken during April,
May, and June 1897, during which we marched some 960 miles,
is well described in Count Gleichen’s book,1 I will condense
into one chapter my own impressions of this, my second visit, by
invitation, into Abyssinian territory.

We left Zeila on 20th March 1897. There was little to
interest us in the marches over the hot, parched Zeila-Gildessa
route, the most desert part of Somaliland, till 22nd March, when,
soon after leaving Dadab, we entered a dense forest of brown
mimosas, stretching as far as the eye could see. Suddenly, in
1 With the Mission to Menelik (Arnold, London).

ch. xi WITH BRITISH MISSION TO KING MENELIK 269

the immediate foreground, we saw approaching some two hundred
Europeans, unarmed and dressed in khaki uniforms, escorted by
a few blacks carrying rifles. The Europeans, some of whom
were mounted, proved to be an instalment of the two thousand
Italian prisoners released by Menelik by treaty. They were in
splendid health, and glad to be getting home after a year’s
captivity. It was rather startling to see so many white men in
the bush, where hitherto even one had been a rarity ; and it
made me realise how the wildest places are being opened up.
At Biyo Kaboba we met another instalment, and found a camp
of the Italian Red Cross Mission, under Captain Bracco.

It had been arranged that we should get our mules at Gil-
dessa, but when wTe reached Cel Dabbal we received a letter
from R&s Makunan to say they would not be ready, though he
was doing his best ; so at nightfall I posted ahead on a fast
camel, with my faithful headman Adan Yusuf and one Indian
lancer, mounted on ponies. We covered the intervening forty-
four miles by next morning, having slept for an hour by the
roadside with our saddles for pillows.

As we neared Cildessa we caught an Esa shepherd, whom we
sent on to announce our arrival ; and Aito Merzha, the
Abyssinian Governor of Gildessa, met me, in such state as he
could muster, firing volleys under the dark thorn-trees which
grow at the side of the river-bed. I could not help reflecting
how different were the conditions now from those of my last
visit five years before, when with my brother I had to retire
our little force by night, covered by rearguard and flankers,
expecting attack from D4go, the then governor.

Aito Merzha put me up in his own guard-hut, situated on
the lwpje which overlooks the town, and allowed the Indian
sowar to sleep inside the door of the hut. An interview of some
hours elicited the information that although no mules were to
be had, three hundred donkeys and eighteen dark Dankali hill
camels were available.

The Mission arrived next day, the envoy being received with
more ball-cartridge under the trees ; and the morrow found us
loading our new transport animals and sending them off in
batches under Aito Merzha’s Abyssinian muleteers and police.

The plump condition of the donkeys enabled us to get up the
passes to Harar in a little over two days, with, I think, not a
single galled back — a contrast to the mule-transport we were to get
later on. Of the ascent to Harar, the most lasting impressions are

270 THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

CHAP.

of a deep, precipitous gorge near Gildessa, abounding in large fig-
trees, and nearly every other variety of Somali tree, shrub, flower,
and butterfly. Higher up the pass were beautiful turf-covered
uplands, first steep and rounded, then stretching away in undu-
lating meadows ; and as these plains became more broken, we
passed through dark green coffee-gardens, bounded by Euphorbia
hedges and wild-rosebushes, till finally there appeared before us
the white minarets and the broad, compact mass of flat, mud-
coloured roofs of the city of Harar on its central hill. On all
sides were rounded hills, commanding the city from a distance
of about a mile ; while Gara Mulata to the south, and flat-
topped Kondura to the east, rose in deep blue to a great height
at a more remote distance.

We were soon to be met by R4s Makunan, Menelik’s nephew.
The world had dealt kindly with him since my visit four years
before ; and by the siege of Makalle Fort, and the capture of the
Italians in January 1896, he had considerably added to his fame
as a soldier and statesman. Makunan sent quite an army to
meet us. This escort appeared at Eghu, near the opening into
the green plains, a day’s march from Harar, and formed a pro-
cession, marching alongside of us during the whole of our day’s
journey. The order of the day was full dress, gold or silver-
mounted black -buffalo shields, lion -skin, black sheepskin, or
purple velvet capes, and modern rifles, some inlaid with gold or
silver. The restive little horses carried silver discs spread in
rows over their equipment. Harmonious and original in rich
colouring, barbaric and mediaeval in character, it was a sight
which probably no other army than the Abyssinian can still show.
The prevailing hue of the crowd was white, dashed with innu-
merable points of bright colour, where a broad stripe of crimson
ran diagonally over the white woollen shamma of each soldier.
The white cotton drawers, tight at the knee, seemed nearly
universal ; and many wore warm, brown hooded blankets of
goats’ hair.

In front, long brass trumpets blared out at intervals, echoing
their single note through the hills, while in continual soft cadence
there sounded a tune of four flute-notes. This music, in conjunc-
tion with the wild blaze of colour on the green turf -slopes,
produced an effect charming alike to eye and ear.

Perhaps our own appearance was equally interesting to the
Abyssinians. The procession was headed by the envoy riding
a strong and handsome mule — a gift from R4s Makunan — in

XI

WITH BRITISH MISSION TO KING MENELJK 271

gold-embroidered silk saddle-cloth and the green and red leather
saddlery made in the country. Then followed the officers, riding
two and two, in khaki ; and behind the twenty men of the

R/(S MAKUNAN THE ABYSSINIAN GOVERNOR OF HARAR
AND NEPHEW OF MENELIK.

Aden troop, under their Jemadar or native lieutenant. These last
were typical Indian soldiers, sitting their horses gracefully, wear-
ing high turbans of gold and khaki , and armed with long lances.

We camped at Dagaha-Dilal, on a rise of the plain. Parties
of women brought tej or hydromel — the better -class drink

272 THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

CHAP.

of the country — and baskets piled high with the enormous pan-
cakes which pass for bread. Next day, dressed in our best
uniform and half choked by dust, we entered Harar with the
R&s, who himself came to meet us near the outskirts of the city.
As we passed a hill, the summit of which was crowded with
thousands of soldiers, we received a salute from Makunan’s
field-guns.

Our stay at Harar, in a camp which we chose for ourselves,
was a very pleasant one, for, as may have been already learnt
from this book, Makunan is a good host, with pleasant features,
a quiet and musical voice, and the gentlest and most graceful
manners. The time passed partly in audiences and partly in
the hurried purchasing of mules, which had apparently never
carried a load before, and let us know it.

As soon as the first detachment of forty mules could be got
together, Captain Speedy and myself, as interpreter to the Mission
and officer in charge of transport, were sent ahead. It was a
relief to be clear of the city and again on our journey ; and a
very pleasant time we had. Speedy is an accomplished traveller,
well versed in all things Abyssinian, his experience dating from
a time earlier than Lord Napier’s expedition of 1867, which he
accompanied.

On the first evening after leaving Harar we formed our
bivouac on the side of a hill, and had to picket our mules in
long grass in the dark. We had a good deal of trouble with
them, but nothing like that of the main caravan. Next day,
passing Haramaya Lake, we reached Garsa without the loss of
a mule. Here the main caravan eventually joined us. Its
troubles are well described in The Mission to Menelih.

We marched westward over the green valleys and wooded
hills of the Harar highlands, in spring-like weather, generally
cold at night. We passed, in weird forests of dead pines, over
the scenes of many battles for the possession of Harar (dating
from the conversion of Abyssinia about 330 a.d.) between
Christians from the West and Moslems from the East. All this
country — elevated from six thousand to eight thousand feet or
more — between Harar and the depression of the Hawash river,
which divides Harar from Shoa, has a beauty of its own. In
some places it looked like English park country ; while in others,
where the green downs were overhung by dark pine ridges, were
reproduced those gems of scenery, the margs or alpine meadows
of the mountains bordering the valley of Kashmir.

XI

WITH BRITISH MISSION TO KING MEN ELI K 273

For the first twenty-five miles after leaving Harar the road
passes, at about six thousand five hundred feet above sea-level,
over fields of barley, in open country. After leaving Garsa
there is a sudden change to Warabili, at over seven thousand
feet, a really beautiful hollow in the top of a high range, looking
like wooded English scenery with somewhat of a Swiss character.
The weather became colder here, the thermometer falling to
within three degrees of freezing-point.

Round Tyalanka, about two hundred feet lower, there was
another slight difference, and we wound among open grass
downs and pine-forest ; the skeleton stems of dead pine-trees
standing scattered in open order, very like some spots on the
lower slopes of Kinchin- Junga in the Himalayas. There were
also larches and firs. The cedars smelt like the wood used for
lead-pencils, as do those of Gblis in Somaliland, and seemed to
be of the same kind. After Tyalanka we reached different
country again — perfect English park scenery — at Derru, over
seven thousand five hundred feet above the sea and some fifty-
five miles west of Harar. Open turf-covered rounded ridges,
with large trees and copses dotted about, appeared like some of
the parks which overlook the Weald of Kent ; and had I been
roused suddenly to consciousness after a long illness I should
have believed myself in some hilly part of England.

At Burka, below six thousand feet, we entered a shallow
valley between low hills, down the middle of which wound a
stream with sand and pebble bottom, in which were masses of
dark or bright green weed of the finest texture, with various
fish darting about in it. The meadow-grass, the stream, the
ridges on either side of the valley, were so English in character
that the eye half expected to see a thatched cottage at a turn
of the path.

Three more days of this hill and dale country brought us to
Kunni, nearly eight thousand feet above the sea, and one
hundred miles west of Harar. Here more pleasant surprises
awaited the eye, for the mule-track wound over hills covered
with heavy forest of cotton- wood, juniper, and mountain cedar.
One of the trees I measured was twenty-three feet in girth, very
straight, and growing to a great height, which could not be
estimated. The close growTth of the stems and the branches
above caused a twilight effect, and the slightly buttressed stems
almost recalled the aisles of a cathedral. Through miles of
primeval forest of tropical luxuriance, festooned with giant

T

274

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

creepers, and looking like the Terai of the lower slopes of the
Himalaya at Darjeeling, we descended to another abrupt change
at Buoroma, below six thousand feet. Here we entered an open
pastoral country, with wooded heights above crowned with the
hat-topped and funnel-shaped wadi thorn-trees, so common
in the Suwulla hills of the Marar Prairie in Somaliland. This
was practically “high veldt. ” We passed a great lake here
called Tyer-Tyer, one shore being an open meadow, the other a
heavily-wooded hill. At Laga-Hardim, the western border of
the Harar highlands, we began to descend over the Ito Bange
to the Hawash depression, and found ourselves in a country
resembling the thorny gorges of Somaliland. The paths became
terribly bad for the few camels we had hired to help at the
Hawash crossing. Here a camel, falling a hundred feet almost
sheer, and rolling two hundred feet farther through the thorn-
bushes, was the cause of my having to climb down in the dark
before the moon rose, helped by my comrades of the Aden troop
with their puggarees. As a second climb at sunrise showed that
the animal’s hind-leg was broken, it had to be shot.

It was not till next day, after twenty-one hours on my feet,
without any food except a biscuit or two, that I got in with the
last loads to the camp at the gorge of the Hawash stream, out
in the desert country, with the thermometer marking 107° in
the shade, the road having come dowm to two thousand five
hundred feet. It was the only real bit of hardship during an
otherwise easy trip.

We crossed the Hawash depression, some sixty miles across,
in appearance a veritable bit of low desert Somaliland, to
Tadechamalca, and later at Godoburka climbed the abrupt
western wall of barren hills, passing through the rich villages of
the cultivated Balclii district, where we found oxen treading
corn, and ploughing going on. Thence to Addis -Abbaba the
daily marches were over the limitless veldt of Shoa — rolling
yellow downs of short grass, to change to green later on as we
came back, the general elevation being some eight thousand feet.

These open plains, scored by shallow depressions where the
streams, torrents in the rainy season, trickled over a rocky bed,
and where the horizon line was everywhere broken by the tops
of low peaks, were a fine example of African plateau scenery.

At last, one morning, the 28th April, as we dipped to a
slightly lower level, we could see across the plain, where the
converging hills made a pale blue background, Menelik’s palace

XI

WITH BRITISH MISSION TO KING MEN E UK 275

enclosure or “Gebi,” the highest building of all, looking rather
like a pretty modern bungalow. The enclosure, with the build-
ings crowded inside it, covered the whole of a low, wart-like
kopje, and this commanded the undulating grassy district,
intersected with gully-like streams and covered with circles of
huts, which forms one vast camp, and is called Addis-Abbaba.
Entotto, the old capital of Shoa, deserted in 1892, lay on a
height four miles to the right, the conical roofs of the churches
of St. Mariam and St. Kaguel being visible on two summits of
the ridge, which rises in places to between nine thousand and

SOME MEMBERS OF THE BRITISH MISSION IN THE COURTYARD
OF MENELIK’S PALACE.

ten thousand feet, and some one thousand five hundred feet
above Addis-Abbaba.

An officer sent by the King led us to the old compound of the
Compagnie Franco- Africaine. Here we were grimly reminded
that there had lately been war, for the Kussian Medical Mission
had been before us and left a souvenir of their visit when in
care of the Adua wounded : a pit outside the compound being
full of bandages, still attractive enough to the hyaenas to be dug
up and scattered nightly.

Full of dramatic and artistic interest was the opening audi-
ence given by Menelik in the audience-hall at the palace. We
rode in the usual order to the doors, past seventy mountain guns

276 THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

CHAP.

(forty-nine of which were trophies of Adua), and past the King’s
red negro drummers, in tall fisherman-caps, sitting in a semicircle
striking the weird Abyssinian drum, which, it is said, can do all
but talk. The trrp-trrp, boom-boom, of the drums will ever be
remembered by us when recalling these scenes. Up the steps
we walked into a great hall, the rough and simple construction
of which made a good setting for the gorgeous line of feudal
chiefs, bearing rifle and shield, and glittering with gold or silver
accoutrements. These stood in a wide ring with their backs to
the wall, each dark face and handsome war -dress making a
perfect study of colour against the broken gray of the wall
behind. The Europeans and civilised Indians filing in, with
the other Europeans who stood flanking the King’s dais, might
perhaps, to the eye looking for originality, have been called
slightly incongruous ; but it would scarcely be exaggeration to
say that nearly every native Abyssinian figure in the hall, if put
on canvas by a capable hand, would have formed a picture to
take the art-world by storm.

Through the open door could be seen the green, rolling, sunlit
plains of Addis -Abbaba, and from the comparatively prosaic
episodes (to an eye sated with Eastern durbars) of modern poli-
tical intercourse, the attention perforce wandered to the scene
round that gray wall, to the green plains, and the great red and
white army waiting outside. The mind soon realised that this
state of society into which wre had thrust our modern personality
was an ancient and original one, which after a few years of
contact with commonplace civilisation must vanish for ever.

The King, his raised platform covered with silks and carpets,
the silken canopy above him, the princes, r&ses, and generals on
his left, his state prisoners K&s Mashasha (son of Theodore) and
Ras Selassie seated on the ground at his feet, and the Europeans
in broadcloth or uniform standing to one side, have already been
described by Count Gleichen. The King is certainly a fine man,
with no humbug or visible conceit about him. Commanding
in figure, sensible and open in face, he has the dignity of a
thoroughly simple man. It is said that he rises early and works
till evening, giving justice to the Shoans and managing his
empire. He has a courteous and really genial smile, and appears
to be a gentleman naturally and easily, without dramatic effort.
His kind treatment of the Italian prisoners, when he was in the
midst of success, seems to bear out this character.

A few days after the first audience, on the 6th May, we had

XI

WITH BRITISH MISSION TO KING MENELIK 277

the pleasure of dining as his guests. A well-appointed table was
laid for us eight Europeans, the Swiss councillor, M. Ilg, making
one of our party ; and the dinner was excellent, and did credit
to the thoughtful kindness and resources of our host. Little
had we looked to sit at a spotless cloth, set with china bearing
the Lion of Judah crest engraved upon it. But a wonderful
sight was in store for us. It seems that every Thursday Menelik
invites his high officers and officials to the mid-day meal at the
audience -hall. And here I may say that the scenes were so
varied, and so quickly shifted, that I do not attempt to be accu-
rate in detail or sequence of events. When we had finished, the
curtain which screened our part of the hall was drawn aside, and
stewards entered with large round baskets of piled “breads,”
to lay them on the ground in rows a few feet apart. The doors
were then thrown open, and the trumpeters standing with their
backs to the gray wall raised their long gilt trumpets and blew
a blast, strongly reminding one of old Bible pictures. Then
fifty senior officials came into the hall, and in an orderly way
seated themselves in groups of ten round the baskets, the piled
breads, cooked meats, and red-pepper sauce which seemed to be
the foundation of the meal. Horn tumblers of tej were filled
from large horn flagons by the troops of youthful cup-bearers.
After a quarter of an hour a change became noticeable : the
serving youths carried out the empty horn cups telescoped into
each other in columns reaching high above the head, to be refilled
from the great tej horns. As each group of officers finished
and had leisure to talk, they turned towards the European table
and took a look at us, discussing, but not rudely, our appear-
ance. Indeed their curiosity did not give anything like the
impression of bad manners that would be noticeable in a fashion-
able European crowd at a society function. There was a trumpet
blast, and the officers rose and filed out, each one on leaving,
just as he had done on entering, looking to the right as he
passed the King, and throwing the corner of his tobe from his
right shoulder in salute. Many officers had wound brilliant-
coloured silk handkerchiefs tightly round their heads ; and the
dress struck me as aristocratic and as civilised, if we omit the
diamonds, as the native dress of an Indian prince. At frequent
intervals, confidential stewards would draw near and whisper to
the King, covering their mouths with the corner of the shamma
and bowing nearly to the ground. When the King sneezed,
or blew his nose, his attendants, standing round, hurriedly

278

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA ch. xi

held up their tobes as a screen to shield him from the public
eye.

After the seniors had left the hall, the baskets were taken
out and refilled with fresh breads, and five hundred officers
next in rank entered and sat down. The same performance
was repeated four times — a total of two thousand partaking of
the dinner. The proceedings, being under the eye of the King,
were decorous, and showed that whatever the outlying irregular
troops on the Somali frontier might be like, there was nothing
boorish or savage about the ways of this feudal court.

A fine spectacle was the Feast of St. Raguel at Entotto, to
which we were invited ; this day being the one on which the King
chose to show us marked favour in the presence of his army
and of the other Europeans at the capital. The church of St.
Raguel stands on the top of a heavily fortified hill four miles
to the north of Addis - Abbaba. At a very early hour we
marched up to attend the service, passing the church of St.
Mariam on one of the intervening ridges. Everybody in Addis-
Abbaba seemed to be either converging towards St. RaguePs or
already waiting round the church.

In the course of the service a procession of priests approached
us, in the full dress of the Coptic ritual. There were crosses,
sacred pictures, swinging incense, and acolytes with silver-
fringed tiaras. A golden cross was held before us, which we
kissed.

Outside the church, in bright sunlight, stood the people
and soldiers, all carrying rifles, in tens of thousands, while
lines and dots of white and red, winding for miles up the
hillsides from the direction of Addis -Abbaba, indicated the
late arrivals.

The church itself was a large octagonal building with cone-
shaped roof surmounted by a silver globe and cross. The
spaces between concentric walls, inside the building, were
covered with sacred pictures, painted by native artists, and
not so bad considering their origin. Some few, of conspicuously
better art, were presents from Russia, or painted by Italians.

At the end of the service followed a ceremony both religious
and warlike in character, representing the dance of King David
before the Ark of the Covenant. It was performed on a cleared
carpeted space outside the church, and seemed in the din of
human voice, drum, and sistrum as stirring and fanatical as
anything of the kind to be seen among the followers of

AT THE FEAST OF SAINT RAGUEL AT ADDIS-ABBABA (PART OF THE CROWD
DESCENDING THE HILL AFTER THE CEREMONY).

ch. xi WITH BRITISH MISSION TO KING MENELIII 281

Mahomed. During the dance of David, Menelik had been
sitting in the wooden gallery which runs completely round
the building, half-way up, with Mr. Rodd sitting by his side
and the rest of us standing round. He now shouldered a
Winchester and marched, with the Mission following, three
times round the gallery.

The ceremonies closed with a feu de joie on a grand
scale, the rifles, loaded with ball, being held perpendicularly
in the hands and let off. The fire, beginning at the summit,
ran down the ridges for miles where the soldiers had lined
the road.

Being separated from the rest of the Mission while returning
to the plains through the dense mass of soldiers, and having let
the royal procession, headed by the King’s red drummers seated
on mules, and the dusty crowd pass, I was able unostentatiously
to get some good photographs. The people were most friendly,
and it was curious to see the long lines and mobs of white-clad
figures, looking no larger than patches of sprinkled rice, moving
down over the open hillsides or threading their way through
the bushes. A carpet of grass covered alike the shoulders of
the mountains, the valleys, and the plains below^, except where
interrupted by ploughed fields and huts. Large trees were
scattered singly, looking like elms at hedge-corners in England,
and giving the country a homelike and tame but still beautiful
appearance. The bushes and wildflowers looked and smelt
remarkably English ; and during our stay at Addis-Abbaba we
found mushrooms and ripe blackberries.

An audience was granted by Queen Taitu, for whom we had
brought a gold and emerald necklace. In return Queen Taitu
committed to our care, as a present to Her Majesty, a heavy gold
filigree necklace, which was a copy of one worn by all queens of
Ethiopia, from the Queen of Sheba downwards.

The presents to Menelik, the looking after and despatching
of which from England had been one of my duties, included a
few rifles, some scientific instruments, a quantity of massive
plate, and several big-game rugs. The interest in the latter was
enhanced from the fact that they were the skins of animals
from the remotest parts of the British Empire, unknown in
Abyssinia. They included a large Polar bear, black and brown
bears, snow-leopard, and tiger. With the signing of the treaty,
and the investiture of Menelik with the G.C.M.Gr. on 14th May,
was concluded the business of the Mission in Addis-Abbaba.

282

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

The day of our departure from the capital will perhaps live
longest in the memory of all of us. While breakfasting with
Madame Ilg, we watched, from the verandah of her house, mass
after mass of troops converging towards the King’s “ Gebi ”
from the directions of their different camps. Then we rode
down to the open space in front of the palace, wThere we found
awaiting us the army of 20,000 men, with the chief officers of
the Negus. We at once formed a procession : the Mission in
the usual order, headed by the Imperial Guard (with rifles
muffled in red cloth), and the King’s drummers, the presence of
the latter being an unprecedented honour, accorded to no pre-
vious mission. After having dismounted and saluted Menelik
and Queen Taitu, who were sitting in the balcony of the palace,
we marched for nine miles to Akaki, the host which formed
our escort accompanying us for the first three miles, as far as
Shola.

So numerous was the assemblage, that it was practically
impossible to see the grass on account of the masses of soldiers
who, clothed in red and white, with hundreds of green, yellow,
and red Abyssinian pennons, marched past us, company by
company, in skilfully arranged movements, all carried out at a
run. The orders of the captains, given in a shrill scream, were
emphasised by blows of long flexible bamboos, laid over the
heads of the awkward members of the regiment.

Many of the higher officers carried shields — usually presents
from the King — ornamented with strips of silver, those of the
highest in rank being covered with black velvet and embossed
with gold. All the officers likewise wore purple or violet silk
shirts, and dark cloaks, also of fine silk. A considerable number
of the soldiers had remarkably handsome leopard-skins thrown
over their shoulders, the head of each skin being cut in three
strips so as to hang down behind like coat-tails. I estimated that
there were over two hundred head-circlets and capes of lion’s
mane, with or without gold ornamentation. The rifles were of
nearly every make, but with scarcely any exceptions good breech-
loaders. The sword-scabbards — some of which were covered in
purple velvet — were ornamented with silver bands.

Altogether it was a grand sight and a splendid send - off,
forming a fitting conclusion to Menelik’s kindness. Indeed,
throughout its stay the Mission had been royally and cordially
feted.

Most of our Somdlis, of whom there were over twenty, were

XI

WITH BRITISH MISSION TO KING MENELIK 283

lost in wonder as they marched beside my mule, continually
exclaiming in their own language, “Now we have seen that the
Amhdra are like the sand in number.”

On arriving at Shola the chief officers said farewell, and the
army left us to go on to Akaki alone. Forthwith we returned
to the daily routine of the road, going back to the coast by
Harar, the way we had come. The only difference was that the
journey was faster, for we feared the break of the great rains,
and were subjected to the preliminary cold winds and showers.
We all had plenty to occupy us in looking after the troublesome
string of mules; but to my other duties — primarily political,
and secondarily looking after the transport — I had added astro-
nomical observations ; and every spare moment, while coming on
slowly with the rearguard, was devoted to taking photographs,
drawing, or collecting butterflies. The recording of astronomical
observations was a self-imposed duty, for it had struck me that
it would be a pity for seven of us to go to Addis- Abbaba without
even fixing its position in the interests of geography. The
busy intelligence officer kindly falling in with this idea, consented
to make a route-sketch, supported by such astronomical positions
as I could give him. Count Gleichen’s share of this programme,
carried out in the turmoil of the daily march, on a narrow path,
with pushing mules constantly going by, was certainly the
hardest, but was thoroughly well done.

We used to dine at seven, after which those of us who were
not developing photographs in the mess tent turned in to sleep.
But the astronomical work usually kept me up till midnight or
even later, busily engaged with the transit theodolite, watches,
and a loudly ticking “metronome” — a musical instrument for
marking time which I had pressed into astronomical service.
Sometimes, indeed, the two blank cartridges fired by the sentry
to rouse the camp, and the first streak of dawn, surprised me
at my labours. But the nights, when fine and cloudless, were
so serene, the climate was so perfect, and the occupation so
engrossing, that there was no real hardship in this comparatively
restful work after a worrying, busy day with the mules.

It will readily be understood that on the way up, with heavy
transport work, there was not much time for observations ; but
a few places were fixed, and they are given in an appendix
to The Mission to Menelik. My position for Addis-Abbaba,
therein published, was that of the Mission enclosure ; it was
obtained from observations of occultations by the moon’s disc

284

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

of two stars on May 7 and 11 respectively, giving absolute
longitudes taken quite independently, but differing by only half
a mile. The position of the Mission enclosure, when reduced
to that of the Palace, gives lat. 9° O' 0"*4 north, and long.
38° 44' 26" east.

This result was fairly well confirmed by Marchand’s expedition
several months later, as (according to the Royal Geographical
Society’s Journal) his Palace position, fixed by Capt. Germain
arid Sub -Lieut. Dye, by two similar star occupations, is lat.
9° 0' 4" north, and long. 38° 42' 50" east, thus differing from
mine by only a hundred yards in latitude and a mile and a half
in longitude. Previous maps had shown Addis-Abbaba some
thirteen miles from either position.

The Mission arrived again at Zeila on 14th June 1897,
having first landed there on 18th March; in the interval it had
completed its business and covered 926 miles of route. Though
it had been arranged at Harar that a rapid march should be
made to Zeila, I wanted to improve on this by two days, so as
to get spare time for astronomical work at Zeila, and so got
permission to take on the first lot of transport animals avail-
able, with all the spare baggage. Leaving Harar at 8.30 a.m. on
4th June, I reached Dagaha-Dilal by night, while the remainder
of the Mission, having got its transport, left Harar a few hours
after me and arrived at the same camp. I accordingly saw that
in order to get the extra two days, it would be necessary to
make a race for it. Leaving Dagaha-Dilal before dawn on 5th
June, I reached Zeila at daybreak on the 12th, having done the
184 miles in seven days; the transport being donkeys as far as
Gildessa and camels over the plains. The time taken from
Harar to Zeila was a little under eight days — not bad going, for
we had taken less than our share of camels at Gildessa, which,
in consequence, were slightly overloaded. The main caravan
arrived at Zeila at dawn on the 14th. I only once remember
doing better time, when we marched 120 miles in four days,
between Zeila and Berbera in 1886. This timing is valuable
as showing what is about the limit of endurance of the SomMi
baggage camel. This rapid march from Harar was entirely due
to the willing help of the Somdlis, who wanted to get home, and
whose ideas in this respect thus agreed with my own. We
worked to the usual hours which natives keep when doing forced
marches, namely, from 2 a.m. to 9 a.m., and again from 2 p.m.
to 5 p.m. I slept generally at the roadside in snatches, being

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WITH BRITISH MISSION TO KING MENELIK 285

often roused by the feet of the camels padding close to my head
as they filed by. The best spots to sleep in were the patches of
deep sand where the path crossed the river-beds ; but near
Hensa, coming up by moonlight, I was at first surprised and
then overjoyed to find several stacks of compressed hay, sent
from Zeila for our mules by Harrington, the Assistant Resident
in charge. I was 'deeply grateful, and halted at least three
hours extra to do full j ustice to them !

We certainly had a good lot of Somalis on this trip, and
Adan Yusuf, my interpreter, who was headman over all the
SomMi followers employed by the Mission for pitching tents or
any hard work, surpassed all his former services. It will be
long before I forget Adan’s cheerful leading of the chorus war
fililigo , ivar feraldgat (“ Oh, pick it up, it isn’t heavy, it won’t
hurt you,” or something of the kind), which always burst out at
5 a.m., rain or fine, as the tents were struck. He first came to
me from the back of the Mahomed Dolbahanta country in the
Nogal ; and with two fellow-clansmen and three rough ponies,
sailed with me in 1888 to Mombasa, and worked in the wilds
of Ukambani for the East Africa Company. He has been with
me as headman on a dozen trips since, as well as with others.
When not managing caravans for Europeans, he goes back to
his tribe, and invests in camels ; apparently leading an active
life there, since he always comes back lean and fit. He is
slightly lame in one foot, which does not reduce his activity in
the least ; and he has a grave, quiet, dignified manner, and a
cheerful knack when dealing with camelmen. Without an atom
of conceit, he is at present far and away the best Somali headman
I know. As regards the Somali character I find my opinion
totally at variance with that of a recent traveller, with whom
the notoriously objectionable tribes of the dreary South-Eastern
Haud seem to have distinguished themselves. That gentleman,
of course in good faith, records, in print, a most sweeping
condemnation of the whole race. Personally I am bound to say
that, after many short journeys in the wilds alone with natives,
spread over sixteen years, in different parts of Africa, as well as
in Arabia, India, Kashmir, and Burma, I cannot recall, on the
whole, having been better served, or experiencing fewer of the
inconveniences of travel, than in Somaliland.

In all these countries the bad was mixed up with the good ;
but a great deal must be put down to the superiority of camel
transport over that by coolies. There is, however, another reason,

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THROUGH SOMA LILA HD AND ABYSSINIA chap.

namely, that the cheerful, self-respecting, and willing service
rendered by the SomMis is the greatest source of comfort to the
traveller who has to depend upon his servants for society.

The text of the treaty with Menelik is given in. the book
already referred to. The Somali frontier was finally drawn at
the line which, starting from the sea at the point fixed in the
agreement between Great Britain and France — opposite the wells
of Hadou — follows the caravan-road through Abbaswein till it
reaches the hill of So-madu. From this point on the road, the
line is traced by the Sau mountains and the hill of Egu to
Moga Medir, whence it is continued by Eylinta Kaddo to Arran
Arrhe near the intersection of long. 44° E. with lat. 9° N.
Thence a straight line is drawn to the intersection of 47° E. with
8° N. The line after this follows the frontier laid down in the
Anglo-Italian Protocol of 5th May 1894 till it reaches the sea.
Tribes occupying territory on either side of the line are entitled
to use grazing grounds or wells on the other side ; but in their
migrations they are subject to the jurisdiction of the territorial
authority.

In briefly reviewing the political situation it is necessary to
state that any views advanced are merely personal, and are not
to be regarded as possessing any official authority.

When Egypt handed over the Somali coast ports to England
in 1884, as a sequel to the general scheme of withdrawal of the
Soudan garrisons, the Egyptian garrison of Harar was likewise
withdrawn ; the Mahomedan Emir Abdillahi being left in charge
as an independent sovereign. In those days Harar, whether
Egyptian or independent, had for many generations stood as a
buffer State between Christian Abyssinia and the Mahomedan
Somalis. Abyssinia was a distant country, of whose doings
occasional rumours filtered through, but whose politics did not
trouble the SomMi tribes. In January 1887, however, a great
change occurred. Harar was attacked and taken by Menelik,
King of Shoa, and his nephew Has Makunan ; and two or three
years later, in order to secure the frontiers of Harar, Abyssinian
blockhouses were erected and garrisoned at Jig-Jiga and Biyo-
Kaboba by the North Somali tribes. These forts were more
than once visited by my brother and myself in 1892, and
every one on the coast knew them to exist ; but the garrisons
were allowed to remain, and by 1897 the Abyssinians, having
been unmolested so long, had established a moral claim by
actual occupation to the territory on the Harar side of the posts.

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WITH BRITISH MISSION TO KING MENELIK 287

Meanwhile, Abyssinian dreams of extension gradually gained
strength till the ruler of Harar had come to regard Hargeisa
and all Somaliland, except a narrow strip of coast -line, as
Abyssinian territory. Eventually the Biyo-Kaboba and Jig-Jiga
forts together with the strip of territory appertaining to them,
were allowed to be retained by Abyssinia in permanence, the
British sphere — practically that defined by the Protocol with
Italy in 1894 — in other respects remaining intact.

A great safeguard to Somali interests has been secured by
the accrediting of a British Resident at the court of Menelik.
Since Harar became Abyssinian the Somalis had been the victims
of Abyssinian foraging expeditions, and had always put forward
their grievances by saying, that as the British had taken the
coast over from Egypt in 1884, they should either have pro-
tected the hinterland tribes, or at least have allowed the importa-
tion of firearms so that they could protect themselves. While
the Somalis could not get even a single Tower musket through
our ports, their neighbours the Abyssinians were freely import-
ing breech -loading rifles in a constant stream through the
French port of Jibuti. Protection will now be secured, at
least for the tribes of the British sphere, by the newly-arisen
friendly understanding and the more direct dealings with
Abyssinia.

The far hinterland beyond Milmil, including the routes
towards the Juba and Lake Rudolf (which being camel tracks
might perhaps have become good alternative routes to Uganda),
were given up to Italy by the Protocol of 1894 ; the relinquish-
ment of that great tract dating from that time, and not from
the visit of the Mission to Menelik in 1897.

It has, however, transpired that the Italian disasters have
prevented the hinterland in question, though nominally remaining
in the Italian sphere of influence, from being actually occupied
by Italy ; and it still remains a sort of “no man’s land,” open
more than ever to the cattle-requisitions of frontier generals.
But perhaps the matter will eventually settle itself by there
being no more cattle to requisition ! The Abyssinians are in
the habit of looking upon the SomMis and Gallas as the heathen
custodians, for a season, of Christian cattle, allowed by Providence
to be tended out in the desert till wanted — a convenient
political theory, based on the former territorial expansions of
ancient Ethiopia !

The astonishing reawakening of Ethiopia is due to protracted

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

wars having created a demand for better armament • to the
merchants of another nation being allowed to supply that
armament with great despatch ; and also to the military
successes (made possible thereby) arousing restless ambition
for territorial expansion.

An important stimulus was given when, in January 1887,
Egypt left Harar in such an absurdly weak state that it fell
readily into the hands of Menelik, King of Shoa. In the same
month there was a successful fight with Italy at Dogali, and
two years later a great battle with the Dervishes, when King
John was killed. Menelik, having then seized the Empire,
required more arms to overawe Kks Mangasha, while the latter
subsequently became involved in the military operations against
Italy, which led up to the terrible battle of Adua in 1896.

During these stirring years there was given a stimulus to the
demand for arms. No doubt it had existed during similar
times before, but it had hitherto been fed through devious and
difficult channels. France stepped in at this juncture and
began to allow arms to flow in through her new Somali coast ports,
and vast stores of breech-loading rifles and ammunition thus
streamed into Harar and Abyssinia through the agency of
French merchants at Jibuti. In 1892 we saw arms stacked
high in the custom-house enclosure at Gildessa, and passed
caravan after caravan of ammunition on the Jibuti- Gildessa
road. Again in 1897, when visiting the same Gildessa custom-
house, I still found cases of arms nearly filling up the yard.

The result of this continuous stream is that Abyssinia, to
her natural strength — the possession of a mountainous frontier
nearly as impracticable as that of Afghanistan, and of a horde
of tireless mountaineers living under a strong feudal system —
has added the power due to the acquisition of about two hundred
thousand modern rifles. Of these, Jibuti alone supplied one
hundred thousand of the best, and still keeps them so well
supplied with ammunition that it has become the substitute for
small coin as a medium of exchange in the bazaars.

When these facts are considered, the disaster at Adua is
more easily understood. The four Italian brigades, winding
among little-known mountains, with bad inter-communication,
were cut up in detail, in difficult ground, by a terribly effective
rifle-fire ; the odds being ninety thousand Abyssinians to the
sixteen thousand of the Italian force. The result— namely, the
defeat of the latter with a loss of four thousand killed and two

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WITH BRITISH MISSION TO KING MENELIK 289

thousand prisoners — has entirely altered the map and the politics
of North-East Africa.

What may be the future in store for North-East Africa it is
impossible to predict. The frontiers of the restless Christian
kingdom now march on the north with the Moslem frontiers of
Egypt and the Soudan ; and on the south with the Moslem
frontier of British Somaliland. Events on both frontiers will
require constant watchfulness and tact ; and, above all, the most
amicable relations at the court of the present enlightened Negus.
Much depends on the length of Menelik’s life. He is a true
despot, ordering everything, monopolising trade, and controlling
the national resources. Although he himself is a conscientious
reformer, it is impossible to say whether his successor will con-
tinue his wise policy, for the law of the strongest seems to
govern the succession. When it is noticed that the two countries
are nearly equally impracticable and that the politics depend on
the life of the ruler, the comparison between Abyssinia and
Afghanistan ceases !

In describing the characteristics of a people one has to speak
cautiously, but though I desire to do my best for the Shoan,
that best is not much ! The average Shoan of the lower class
presents about the greatest contrast in appearance to the Afghan
there can possibly be. But it is not necessary to go to Asia to
look for superiority ; the Shoan’s own neighbours, the Gallas,
and certainly the Somalis, have many points of superiority over
him which are patent to the most casual observer. To begin
with, the Shoan, though sturdily built, is rather undersized, and
thick-lipped ; and even the most optimistic cannot call his
features pleasing. He has many negro characteristics ; but his
nose, often good, shows signs of a Semitic strain in his blood.
The Somali is taller and much slimmer in build, with smaller
hands and feet, and thinner lips ; but though possessing better
features, he is, I think, darker than the Shoan.

The ordinary Shoan seems, indeed, deficient, when compared
with the Somali, in three important qualities, namely, pluck,
honour, and cleanliness. That he is well led under the feudal
system, tireless on his mountains, and hardy in privation, may
however make up for other deficiencies. Even the wiry Somalis,
who can run with a letter forty miles in under ten hours, say
the “ Amhara ” travel like horses. The Shoan appears to be a
rebel by nature, almost incapable of discipline, except under the
chief to whom he chooses to cling, or of comprehending the

u

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

binding nature of a contract. His manners are the reverse of
agreeable, and his voice is a harsh nasal falsetto, in strong
contrast to the deeper tones of the Somdli. Another contrast is
in dress. While the Shoan in ordinary costume is dingy, the
Somali prefers a dazzling white tobe, if he can get one, and
always washes at every well. A still greater contrast is that
whereas the Shoan is terribly addicted to drink, the Somali will
cheerfully die rather than touch a drop.

To the casual observer the Christian religion, under which
the Abyssinian has lived for over fifteen hundred years, seems
to have done less, at least for the lower class, than has the
Koran for the Somalis. I could not see that the ordinary
Abyssinians were any better educated than the Somali boys,
who, sharper and more emancipated, are seen crowding round
the mullahs receiving oral lessons. And since the mullahs
themselves are always worrying the traveller for Korans and
paper, they at least can read and write.

Somalis, moreover, have not been isolated like the Amhara,
but have mixed freely with the outer world, as firemen in
London, Marseilles, and Bombay steamers, as well as sailors
in dhows and as traders at Aden. When, however, we come
to the superior class the case is altogether different. In
Somaliland there is no aristocracy ; wisdom in advanced age
being the greatest claim to distinction, and in other respects
all Somalis living alike.

No attempt is made to compare the ordinary patriarchal
headmen of the Somali kraals, who cannot rise above a
primitive nomadic life, with the Abyssinian feudal leaders,
many of whom are superior in every way, living under a
more complex system of society, with a kind of heraldry of
titles and offices, and inequality of classes.

There can be no harm in discussing the military powers of
Abyssinia as we should discuss those of any other friendly
nation. Whatever one may think of the individuals of the
lower classes in Shoa, which is after all only a part of Abyssinia,
the Abyssinian army has shown that it has bravery enough to
work satisfactorily as a military machine with modern weapons,
and is capable of bringing a very effective fire to bear on
an enemy. The Shoan has probably, won his victories chiefly
by the real dash, skill, and bravery of his chiefs ; for the
feudal system, if founded on real military strength and not
degenerate, always produces good men at the top. In no

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WITH BRITISH MISSION TO KING MENELIK 291

country probably are the upper classes in greater contrast to
the masses. No doubt, also, much of the reputation for
courage of the Abyssinian army is due to the charges of
spearmen belonging to outlying or subject races who are
probably not Abyssinians at all.

The long Abyssinian frontier which recent treaties have
given us is in some respects similar to our Indian frontier,
but in others dissimilar. The African mountain frontier is
more fertile, not quite so impracticable, and much safer ; for
under the present strong government of Menelik and Has
Makunan the frontier officers may be trusted to leave our
Protectorate alone. We are in many ways dealing with a
more civilised system. But the Abyssinians are more numerous
than our Indian trans-frontier neighbours ; they have greater
powers of organisation and concentration, possessing an abund-
ance of supplies and of gold ; and they are also better armed,
and have organised artillery. It is doubtful, however, if they
are anything like so formidable as the Asiatics for guerilla
warfare ; and possibly their high organisation, and the con-
fidence of their leaders which makes them court decisive action,
are sources of weakness rather than strength. On the other
hand, their individual qualities are scarcely hard and manly
enough for the Asiatic methods of fighting.

If possible, I should have liked to have closed this account
of the doings of the Mission with a narrative of sport. But of
this there was practically none, as we travelled too fast, and
were constantly in a beaten track among a people well supplied
with firearms. Some of us, indeed, got a little feathered game ;
but to the powerful armament I took up, there fell only a single
klipspringer near Laga Hardim ; and two beisa oryx and a brace
of Soemmerring’s gazelles on the Zeila plains. I obtained one
shot at ostriches in the bush between Fantalle and the banks
of the Ha wash gorge, and near the same spot saw numerous
tracks of hartebeests, with a glimpse of the animals themselves,
which were probably Bubalis cohei , or some allied species.

At Tadechamalca, where there is a cjudd thorn -forest over-
shadowing the banks of the Kassan river, I tried for big game,
but failed to score ; there being none at the time in this part
of the Hawash Valley. The reeds and jungle looked, however,
very likely ground for buffalo, elephant, and rhinoceros ; and
the country was very like some of the gullies of the Jibril Abokr
district in Somaliland where elephants abounded a few years ago.

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA ch. xi

The magnificent hunting-grounds of British Somaliland have
lost some of their value now that so many lions have been
shot and the elephants driven away. But no one who has
lived long among the natives subject to their depredations
can have much sympathy for the lions, whether male, female,
or young ; and as regards the elephants, we Lave only ourselves
to blame for not having made the slightest attempt to tame
them, which if successfully accomplished would have saved their
lives, and might perhaps have solved the transport problem on
many of the African routes where camels cannot go and
elephant-fodder grows wild. Ancient evidence in North Africa
and the modern experience of menageries seem favourable to
the possibility of successful domestication.

The other game — the beautiful forms of antelope life — are
likely to survive long, for the Somalis possess no firearms.
And when the lions and elephants have quite disappeared,
there will be fewer shooting parties ; so that for men who
shoot for variety rather than for heavy bags, and who are
chiefly attracted by the wandering life on these healthy desert
steppes and fertile plateaux, the Somali country will lose but
little of its interest and attraction.

CHAPTER XII

NOTES ON THE FAUNA
OF SOMALILAND

The Lion (Felis leo)

Native name, Libah

Lion-shooting involves long
halts of several days among
the Somali karias, with
crowds of natives continu-
ally standing round camp,
the dust from the countless
camels and sheep filling the
air and covering the bushes.
Linder these circumstances
it will be understood that
other game is scarce, and that sitting unoccupied in camp wait-
ing for news of a lion is not always interesting. Frequently
the news brought in of lions having visited karias two or three
miles away, taking a sheep or a heifer, or a young camel, as the
case may be, is unreliable. Yet the hunter must be ready to
start on the instant, and after a tramp lasting from five to ten
hours, he will return as often as not to his tent tired out, the
victim of a silly hoax concocted for the purpose of wheedling
bakshish out of him.

Every few days one of these trips will probably end in a
real find, and then grand excitement will be felt in creeping
among the tunnels made by the dark khansa bushes, looking for
the crouching enemy, which may spring up from any distance

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

and from any direction ; and there is an additional danger in
three or four men being huddled together with rifles on full
cock in such jungle.

As I have been nearly always travelling incessantly and
generally on duty, I have seldom had time to wait among <the
Somali karias for news of lions, and when I have been on leave,
and time has permitted, I have generally preferred to camp
among the mountains and look for koodoo, amid fine scenery
and away from the noise and dust of inhabited country. This,
to my mind, is by far the most fascinating sport in Somaliland.
I have, however, had many shots at lions when marching, and
brought home the trophies of four. To make a good bag, it is
necessary to devote a trip exclusively to lion-shooting ; but to
my mind the bright moments of intense excitement do not come
often enough to compensate for the long monotonous days in
camp.

Lions are still numerous in Somaliland, chiefly in unexplored
parts of the Haud and Ogaden. It is probable that many of
the Haud lions never drink except when they can find pools of
rain-water. They may be encountered at all times of the year
at distances up to fifty miles or more from the nearest water.
The Midgans go after them a good deal, and bring their skins
to Berbera and Aden for sale, but they are seldom in good
condition, being often riddled with spear-holes inflicted wantonly
after death. When a lion has committed so many depredations
among the karias that the men living in them are roused to the
point of banding together to kill him, Somalis and Midgans,
according to their own account, go after him on horseback till
they bring him to a standstill in the open. Then they bait him
by galloping round at full speed and shouting* The lion turns
this way and that, trying to face them as they whirl round ; and
getting confused with the shouting and dust, he falls a prey to
the arrows of the Midgans, who mount and ride away to a safe
distance with the other Somalis, and wait for his death. Some-
times one of the horsemen is knocked over : an angry lion, unless
too done up to make good his charge, being easily able to catch
a bad or tired pony.

The movements of the native encampments seem chiefly to
influence the changes of quarters of the lions, the latter follow-
ing the karias as they move to fresh pastures. When a family,
with its flocks and herds and its karias, moves, its attendant
lions, if there should be any, accompany it, being sometimes

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THE FAUNA OF SOMALILAND

295

man-eaters and more often cattle-eaters. Last June my own
caravan, while returning to the coast from Ogaden, was followed
during two days, over a distance of forty miles, by a pair of
hungry lions. We discovered this by chance, when some scouts
of mine happened to go back along the road.

Several years ago there used to be plenty of lions in Guban,
in the reeds bordering the Issutugan river, and about Kabri-Bahr,
and along the foot of G61is Range. Now the best country for
them is decidedly the Haud Plateau and Ogaden, where there
are still a good many. Milmil is sometimes a good place ; also
the base of Bur Dab Mountain, and the Waredad Plain, where
there are patches of durr grass an acre or two in extent, with
a few shady thorn-trees growing within them. Lions make
their lair in the high grass under the shade of a tree, and as
the grass patches are surrounded by bare red soil or sand, the
pugs are easily found, and the brutes can be driven out into
the open and shot. Lions living in the Haud, where it is
elevated five thousand to six thousand feet, have better coats
and manes than those found in Guban or Og4den, and the best
skins I have seen have come from the elevated ban or open
prairie. All the animals of the elevated country have thicker
coats than those found in the low country, this being, no doubt,
a protection against cold.

The Elephant (. Elephas africanus )

Native name, Mctrodi

The SomMi elephant has within the last few years been
much persecuted by sportsmen, and I am afraid that if this
destruction goes on, in the near future there will be none left
in Northern Somaliland, for they have entirely left their old
haunts. In 1884, when Egypt evacuated Somaliland, elephants
were plentiful on Wagar ancl Golis, coming down to the southern
edge of the Maritime Mountains. Driven in December by the
cold from the high interior, they wandered down the sand-rivers,
feeding on the armo creepers and aloes.

Since Sir Richard Burton’s expedition over forty years ago,
few, if any, Europeans entered Somaliland until 1884, when
two officers from Aden visited Golis in search of elephants
almost simultaneously with Mr. F. L. James’s expedition to
the Webbe. From that date the disappearance of the elephant

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND AB YSSIN1A chap.

has been very rapid, and nearly all the herds have retired to
the mountainous country in which the Tug Fafan takes its rise,
although a few still come down annually into the Gadabursi
country. In 1884 elephants were shot at Dalaat and Digwein,
places near Mandeira in the interior plain north of Golis ; but
since that year I have never heard of them anywhere in this
plain. In 1887 I had to ascend to Wagar before finding any,
and since then they have retired from Wagar and Golis altogether,
and are now, I believe, never found east of Hargeisa, unless we
except herds which wander eastward into the far interior of
Ogaden from the western valleys of the Harar highlands.

The reason that elephants have been driven away to such an
extent is that sportsmen have not been satisfied with the death
of a bull or two here and there, but have slaughtered large
numbers of cows. In the first excitement of elephant-shooting
it is conceivable that a sportsman may shoot two or three cows
as well as bulls, as I have done ; but there is no reason, except
the temptation afforded by exciting sport, why large numbers
of elephants of both sexes should be destroyed in Somaliland.
They do no harm to the few plots of cultivation scattered at wide
intervals, and very few Som4lis will eat their flesh. Though
the elephants themselves are of the average size, this mountain
ivory is probably as small as any to be found in Africa, sixty
pounds being a good weight for a pair of tusks, though greater
weights have been recorded in exceptional cases.

I believe the question of the desirability of training and
using the African elephants for transport is one which will
become more important as Africa is opened up. Provided
something could be done to stop the wholesale slaughter of
elephants by English sportsmen, there is a probability that the
Somdli Protectorate would become restocked, for in the chaos
of rugged gorges which descend abruptly from the Harar
highlands into Og&den there are still plenty. I do not think
that a moderate amount of elephant-shooting, properly regulated,
does much harm, but the herds are certain to leave places where
they have been hunted without respite season after season, and
large numbers slaughtered.

In the G61is Range there are many of the old elephant-paths
existing, but bones are seldom found ; and the Somdlis have a
theory to account for this. In 1886 I went to Digwein, where
an officer had shot a bull elephant two years before, and I was
shown the exact spot where it had been killed ; and rummaging

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THE FAUNA OF SOMALILAND

297

among the bushes we found the jaw-bones, with the grinders
still embedded in them. The Somalis said this was all that was
left, because the Esa Musa cattle and the koodoo had eaten all
the soft parts of the bones.

SOMALI RH I N OCE ROS(Ithinoceros bicornis).

The Black Rhinoceros ( Rhinoceros bicornis)

Native name. Wiyil

For years the black rhinoceros has been known to exist in
the interior of Somaliland ; and going farther in every year, I
have been expecting to come to its ground. The first SomMi
rhinoceroses were shot by my brother and myself in our
Abyssinian border-trip in August 1892, and since then but few
have been bagged by Europeans. They come far north of the
range of the zebras, sometimes wandering as far towards the
coast as the grass-plains of Toyo, a hundred miles south of

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

Berbera, where they hide in the latches of durr grass. They are
common in the southern parts of the Haud ; but I never found
any signs of them during many expeditions in the Habr Awal,
Esa, and Gadabursi countries. They are most common in the
valleys of the Tug Jerer and Tug Fafan, and thence southward
as far as the Webbe; and they are also plentiful beyond the
Webbe in Gallaland. Bhinoceroses are said to exist to the
south-east of Berbera, but in our trip to the Dolbahanta country
we never saw traces of them.

We found them to be the most stupid game animals we
encountered, and easily approached if the wind wras right.
They were not very prone to charge, and in their blind, head-
long rush seemed to see nothing, so that by stepping to one
side and standing perfectly still a man would probably be safe.
The transparent and thorny nature of the billeil bush, which
is always their last sanctuary, renders a man rather helpless,
and if seen and charged, and unable to find elbow-room owing
to the walls of impenetrable thorns, he would probably be killed.
Ehinoceros-shooting is very exciting, but it is chiefly the nature
of the jungle which makes it so. I have never seen more than
three of these brutes together. The ground they usually prefer
is a network of stony, broken hills, covered with galol or billeil
jungle, and having some river-bed not too many miles distant,
where they can go at night to drink and bathe. They travel
considerable distances to the river, and wander all night up and
down the channel looking for a convenient pool, and making a
maze of tracks in the soft sand. The Abbasgul, Malingiir, and
Rer Amaden tribes eat their flesh when hungry ; and I found
it good, and once lived for a week on little else.

We could usually cut from fifteen to thirty fighting shields
from each rhinoceros, three-quarters of an inch thick and from
fifteen to eighteen inches in diameter, worth about a dollar
apiece at the coast. Everywhere in Central Ogaden the
caravan-tracks are furrowred in grooves a yard or more long
and six inches deep, which look like the work of a plough.
This is done by the rhinoceros as he walks along. A good pair
of bull’s horns measure nineteen inches for the front and five
inches for the back one.

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299

Antelopes — The Beisa Opyx ( Oryx beisa)

Native name, Beit

The beisa oryx is a stoutly-built antelope, standing as high
as a donkey, and inhabiting open, stony ground, barren hills,
or open grass plains. It is fairly common and widely dis-
tributed over Somaliland, and may be found in all kinds of
country except the thick
jungle with aloe under-
growth so much liked by
the lesser koodoo, and the
cedar-forests on the higher
ranges. The best beisa
ground is in the Haud and
Ogaden.

The beisa feeds chiefly
on grass, and is often found
far from water. It has keen
sight, and probably protects
itself more by this than by
its sense of hearing or scent.

Beisa are found in herds of
from half a dozen to thirty
or forty, chiefly composed of
cows. The only antelopes
which go in very large herds
in Northern Somaliland are
the hartebeest and Soemmer-
ring’s gazelle. Bull beisa are found wandering singly all over
the country, and possibly these make up in number for the
preponderance of cows in the herds.

Sometimes two or three cows with calves will be found
together, making up a small herd of half a dozen. It is nearly
impossible to distinguish which are the bulls in a herd, and
they are so few in proportion to the cows that it is best, if
shooting for sport alone, not to fire at herd animals at all. The
bull is slightly thicker in the neck and higher in the withers
than the cow ; and the horns, though an inch or two shorter in
the bull, are more massive, especially about the base, and more
symmetrical, whilst the cow’s horns are frequently bent and of
unequal length. The beisa is often revengeful when wounded

Length of horns, 34^ inches.

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

and brought to bay ; twice I have seen a wounded one make a
determined charge into a mob of Somalis armed with spears.

The Midgans, who are armed with bows and poisoned
arrows, hunt the beisa with packs of savage yellow pariah dogs ;
the thick skin round the withers of a bull is made by them into
a white gdshan or fighting shield. The method of hunting, as
carried out by the Midg&ns in the Bulhar Plain, is as follows :
Three or four of them, with about fifteen dogs, go out just be-
fore dawn, and walk along silently through the scattered thorn-
trees till fresh tracks are found, which are followed till the
game is sighted. By throwing stones, whistling, and other signs
which they understand, the dogs are showm the herd, and settle
down to their work. The dogs run mute, the men following
at a crouching trot, which in a Somali is untiring ; and this
lasts until the dogs open in chorus, having brought the game
to bay. The beisa make repeated charges at the dogs, which
they often wound or kill. If the latter can avoid the sharp
horns of the mother, they fasten on to a calf, and sometimes
the whole herd will charge to the rescue. The Midgans run
up silently under cover of the bushes and let off a flight of
poisoned arrows into the herd, which, seeing the human enemy,
take to flight. Frequently an animal wounded by a poisoned
arrow takes a line of its own, and is in due time carefully
followed up and found dead, or it may be pulled down in its
weak state by the dogs.

It was many years ago, while wandering with my hunter,
Ali Hirsi, in the Bulhar Plain, that I first saw the trojfliies of a
bull beisa, and at once resolved that I would hunt nothing else
till I had brought down a specimen of this beautiful antelope.
As we were walking through a thick part of the bush we
suddenly came upon a group of four Midgans engaged in light-
ing a fire under a large gudd thorn-tree. Besting against
the trunk was the head of a freshly-killed beisa bull, with a
grand pair of horns, starting in continuation with the forehead
and sweeping back in a slight curve to a length of thirty-four
inches. On the branches strips of beisa meat were hanging,
and on the ground lay the rest of the carcase and the skin,
which a man was cleaning with a knife. Bound the tree nine
pariah dogs lay about ; they were gnawing offal, and got up
lazily, as I approached, to show their teeth and growl, till
kicked into silence by one of the Midgans. The group was a
striking one, and although I have since, while feeding my

XII

THE FAUNA OF SOMALILAND

SOI

followers in the interior, shot numbers of beisa, none have
appeared to me so fine as this first one which I had not the good
fortune to shoot. I haggled with the MidgAns for the head
and got it for two dollars, and also engaged them with their
dogs to come hunting with me on the first day on which I
should be able to get away from Bulhar.

At midnight, a week later, I rode out on a camel, accom-
panied by Ali Hirsi, the four Midgans, and nine dogs. We
slept for a few hours at a MidgMi karia on the plain, and at
dawn struck due south into the heart of the bush. As it
became hot, after having seen nothing but walleri and small
gazelles all the morning, we sat down to rest, sending a boy,
one of the Midgans, up a thorn- tree to watch. The dogs lay
round us panting, with their tongues hanging out, and all the
men were soon asleep under the shade, except my Midgan
sentry, who was softly intoning his Mahomedan prayers as he
sat perched on the tree. Suddenly he stopped them with a
jerk, slipped down the trunk of the tree, and came running to
me snapping his fingers. We all got up, and the Midg&ns, by
whistling and throwing pebbles, put the dogs on to the broad
path of a herd of beisa. Off we went, and after running for
five minutes as fast as our legs could carry us, the dogs being
well out of sight, we heard a clamour in the distance ; and
crouching low as we ran, came into a glade where we found
the herd crowded together round a thicket, keeping the dogs
back, the beisa charging repeatedly and the dogs dodging
nimbly, trying to cut out the young calves. Directly the beisa
caught sight of us they scattered like a bursting shell. I ran
hard to cut off some of them, jumping over low mimosas and
stepping on large thorns, and the Midgans sent a flight of
poisoned arrows whizzing past me at the flying herd. The
Midgans, I knew, wanted meat, so I dropped a large cow with
the *500 Express as she galloped past at forty yards, rolling
her over in her tracks. The Midgans, rushing up, breathed a
short prayer, slashed her throat open, and then stood clear from
the quivering body, while all the dogs fastened on to a calf,
which was soon lying beside the cow with its head cut off ;
and after half an hour spent in lighting a fire and roasting beisa
meat, we loaded up the rest and made for Bulhar.

I have had several trips with these Bulhar Midgans in search
of beisa. Their camping arrangements are primitive, and many
a time have I helped them to light a fire by rubbing two sticks

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA char

together. Special wood had to be chosen, and it generally took
from ten to twenty minutes to get a light.

The skin on the withers of a bull beisa is much thicker than
elsewhere, being about three-quarters of an inch thick. The
average length of horns in a good bull is thirty-two inches, in a
cow thirty-four inches. Young beisa, when caught and confined
in an enclosure, sometimes show their stubborn, wild nature by
charging the bars, head-down, and so killing themselves ; a case
of this kind once occurred in Berbera. The flesh of a calf beisa
is, in my opinion, more delicious than that of any other antelope,
and lions are particularly fond of it. These calves, when young,
are very like those of English cattle in appearance, but smaller,
with stumpy, straight horns a few inches long. They give out
a peculiar half-bleat, half-bellow, when attacked by dogs or
wounded. We fell in with young calves about the middle of
August in two successive years. Beisa sometimes strike side-
ways with their horns as we use a stick. When very angry
they lower them till nearly parallel with the ground, and make
a dash forward for a few yards with surprising swiftness. Beisa
are often seen in company with hartebeests and Plateau gazelles.

The Koodoo ( Strepsiceros kudu)

Native name, Godir or Goridleh Godir (male) ; Ader-yu (female) ; Ader-yu
(collective name for herd-animals of both sexes and all ages)

Koodoo are found in mountainous or broken ground where
there is plenty of bush and good grass and water. The best
koodoo - grounds in Somaliland are G61is Bange and the
Gadabursi Hills. Koodoo scarcely exist in the parts of Ogaden
I have visited. Either they never existed there, or, as my
followers declared, they died of the great epidemic of cattle
disease four or five years ago. Og&den Somalis constantly offer
to show koodoo to a sportsman, but they appear to mean the
lesser koodoo ; and this they call Godir , knowing apparently of
only the one kind. The Ishak tribes, on the other hand, have
names for both.

Sometimes a solitary old bull will make his mid-day lair close
to water, in some quiet part of the hills. They are very retiring,
and live in small families, two bulls and seven cows being the
largest number I have noticed together. They prefer the
steepest mountains, but wander at night in search of grass in

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303

broken ground in the neighbouring plains. An old male with a
heavy pair of horns seems to avoid thick jungle, where they may
catch in the branches, and likes to spend the heat of the day
under the shadow of some great rock on the mountain side,
where he can get a good view around. His eyes, nose, and ears
appear to be equally on the alert, and he is often very cunning.
Although such a heavy animal, he is a good climber and is hard
to stalk, but, once successfully approached, the steep nature of
the ground generally yields him up an easy victim to the rifle.
The alarm-note of the female koodoo is a loud, startling bark,
which echoes far into the surrounding hills, and is similar to
that of the Indian sambar hind. The bark is accompanied by
an impatient pawing of the ground with the hoofs.

The habits of the greater and lesser koodoo correspond
respectively to those of the sambar and spotted deer of Southern
India. Greater koodoo live in the mountains, and lesser koodoo
on the bush-covered slopes at their base. Koodoo are generally
timid, but care must be taken when coming suddenly on them,
as I once saw an unwounded bull make a determined charge
from some thirty yards5 distance at a man sent to stop the
mouth of a gorge. The man jumped to one side and threw his
spear, grazing the flank of the beast, which then galloped into
the plain below and escaped.

The koodoo is the largest of the Somhli antelopes, a big
bull standing about 13 hands 1 inch; and although an active
climber, he is not fast on level ground. A fairly good pair of
horns in Somaliland will measure 3 feet from base to tip, and
50 inches round the spiral of each horn. The largest I have
seen measured 56 inches round the spiral. The koodoo is rare
except in the mountains, and is found on the highest ground of
Northern Somaliland, inhabiting the top of Wagar Mountain
and Golis Range, which rise to about six thousand eight hundred
feet. It has lately become scarce even in these parts.

The Lessee Koodoo ( Strepsiceros imberbis)

Native name, Godir or Arreh Godir (male) ; Ader-yu (female) ; Ader-yu
(collective)

This is, to my mind, quite the most beautiful of all the
SomMi antelopes ; the skin being more brilliantly marked and
the body more gracefully shaped than that of the greater
koodoo. The lesser koodoo is rather smaller than the beisa.

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

Tlie lesser koodoo is found in thick jungles of the larger kind
of thorn-tree, especially where there is an undergrowth of the
liig or slender pointed aloe, which is of a light green colour, and
grows from four to six feet high. This antelope may also be
found hiding in dense thickets of tamarisk in the river-beds.
It is not found in theg open grass-plains, and I have never seen
one in the cedar-forests on the top of
Golis. Its favourite haunt used to be
along the foot of this range, and I do
not think its numbers have been much
diminished of late years. By far the
best lesser koodoo ground I visited is
the thick forest on the Webbe banks,
near line and Karanleh. These Webbe
specimens are different from those found
under Golis, as they are smaller, have
shorter horns, are still more brilliantly
marked, and have hoofs nearly twice
as long. The hoofs of a Webbe lesser
koodoo are, like those of a Webbe
bushbuck, of extraordinary length.

The lesser koodoo likes to be near
water, and living as it does among the
densest thickets, its ears are wonder-
fully well developed. It has powerful
hind -quarters, and is a strong leaper,
the white bushy tail flashing over the
aloe-clumps as it takes them in great
bounds. They are very cunning, and will stand quite still on
the farther side of a thicket listening to the advancing trackers,
then a slight rustle is heard as they gallop away. The best way
to get a specimen is to follow the fresh tracks of a buck, the
sportsman advancing in a direction parallel with that of the
tracker, but some fifty yards to one flank and in advance ;
a snap shot may then be got as the koodoo bounds out of
the farther side of a thicket, but you may be months in the
country before getting a really good buck. They go in herds
of about the same number as those of the greater koodoos. Old
bucks are nearly black, and the horns become smooth by rubbing
against trees ; and scars of all sorts remain on the neck, being
the result of wild rushes through the jungle or fights with other
bucks. The average length of a good buck’s horns is about

LESSER KOODOO.

Length of horns straight,
2’7J inches.

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THE FAUNA OF SOMALILAND

305

25 inches from base to tip. The longest I have shot or seen
were between 27 and 28 inches in length in a straight line.1
The horns are very sharp, but I have never seen a lesser koodoo
attempt to charge.

The Somali Hartebeest ( Bubalis swaynei )

Native name, Sig

The Sig or Somali hartebeest was described by Dr. Sclater ;
his description and notes ( P.Z.S. , Feb. 1892) being taken from
specimens shot and sent home by myself. I was not the first to
shoot the Sig, but mine were the first specimens submitted to
scientific investigation.

South of Golis Range, and at a distance of about one hundred
and twenty miles from the coast, are open plains from four to six
thousand feet above sea-level, alternating with broken ground
covered with thorn-jungle. These patches of ban or prairie are
the only kind of country where the hartebeest is to be found.
Not a bush is to be seen, and some of these plains are thirty or
forty miles in extent. I first saw the Sig when coming on to
ground which had not then been visited by Europeans, and found
one of these plains covered with hartebeests, there being perhaps a
dozen herds in sight at one time, each containing three or four
hundred of these antelopes. Hundreds of bulls wTere scattered
singly on the outskirts and in spaces between the herds, grazing,
fighting, or lying down. The scene described was at a distance
of over a hundred and twenty miles from Berbera.

The hartebeest bulls are very pugnacious, and two or three
couples may be fighting round the same herd at once. Perhaps
the easiest way to get a specimen is to send a couple of Midgans
round above the wind to drive them towards you, at the same
time lying down in the grass. In this way a shot may be got
within a hundred yards, but no one would care to shoot many
hartebeests, except for food. There is no chance of creeping up
to hartebeests unless the huge ant-hills, often twenty-five feet
high, are conveniently situated.

Often beisa and Soemm erring’s gazelles are seen in company
with these great troops of hartebeests, but the beisa are much

1 These were measured by the writer on the spot soon after the animal was
killed. But a few years later, after they had been exposed in a collection,
they were found to have shrunk over half an inch.

X

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

wilder. The hartebeests are rather tame, and they and the
Soemmerring’s gazelles are always the last to move away.
Hartebeests have great curiosity, and will frequently rush round
a caravan, halting now and then within two hundred yards to
gaze. This sight is an extraordinary one, all the antelopes

Length of horns on curve, 20 j inches.

having heavy and powerful fore-quarters, while the hind-quarters
are poor and fall away ; the coat is glossy like that of a well-
groomed horse. In the mid-day haze of the plains they look
something like troops of lions, as the powerful head and neck
are of a different shade of chestnut from the rest of the body.
The pace of the hartebeest is an ungraceful, lumbering canter,
but it is probably the fleetest and most enduring of the Somdli

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THE FA UNA OF SOMALILAND

307

antelopes. The largest herd I have seen must have contained a
thousand individuals, packed closely together, and looking like
a regiment of cavalry, the whole plain round being dotted with
single bulls.

From their living so much in the open plains the hartebeests
must subsist entirely on grass, for there is nothing else to eat ;
and they must be able to exist for several days without water.
They are the favourite food of lions, and once, when out with
my brother, I found a troop of three lions sitting out on the
open plains, ten miles from the nearest bush ; they had evidently
been out all night among the herds, and on their becoming
gorged, the rising sun had found them disinclined to move.
The hartebeest is about as large as a donkey. The horns
vary greatly in shape and size ; there are the short massive
horns and the long pointed ones, and all variations between.
Some curve forward, with the points thrown back ; others
curve outwards in the same plane with the forehead, the
points turning inward. [ never heard of hartebeests in the
whole of Guban or anywhere in the parts of Ogaden which I
have visited ; I have seen them on open plains in the Haud and
Ogo, and nowhere else.

Wateebuck ( Cobus ellipsiprymnus)

Native name, Balanka, among the Aclone (Webbe negroes) ; corrupted to
Balango by the Somalis

I believe there are no waterbuck to be found in Somaliland
except on the banks of theWebbe Shabeleh, and perhaps the Lower
Nogal, near the east coast. There are none on the Tug Fafan,
at any of the points where I have crossed it. They are said to
be numerous all along the Webbe Ganana (Juba), the course of
which lies chiefly through Gallaland.

The first important collections of the waterbuck were, I
think, made by Colonel Arthur Paget and myself on two
independent but simultaneous expeditions to the Webbe. I
found these antelopes plentiful all along both banks of the
river, from Ime down to Burka in the Aulilian tribe, which was
as far as I followed the stream. They lie up in the dense forest
which clothes both banks of the river for some two hundred
yards from the water’s edge ; and feed in the open grass flats
outside the belts of forest. They go in small herds of about

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

fifteen individuals, though most of the herds I saw consisted of
only four or five, with one old buck.

The habits of the Somali waterbuck are, I believe, similar to
those of the same species in other parts of Africa. They feed
chiefly on grass, delight in a mud-bath, and take to the water
readily ) a wounded buck which I was following in thick forest
tried to escape by swimming the Webbe, some ninety yards
across, and we shot him as he galloped along the farther bank.
The bucks on the Webbe vary much in colour, from brownish-gray
to nearly black. The white lunate marking over the tail is always
present ; some heads have the forehead bright rufous-brown, but
others are nearly black in this part. The flesh is eaten by the
negroes of the Webbe, but not by Somalis. The horns obtained
on the Webbe are small compared with waterbuck horns from
Southern Africa ; out of some fifteen heads of old bucks collected
by me at different times none reached twenty-five inches.

Somali Bushbuck ( Tragelaphus scriptus decula)

Native name, Dol

This bushbuck is somewhat larger than a fallow deer, and is
common in the dense forest on the Webbe banks ; it is the
most wary and difficult to shoot of all the game animals I have
ever encountered. I never heard of its existence till my second
expedition to the Webbe. At Karanleh I obtained from the
natives several skins and horns of Dol , which had been caught
by means of disguised pits, with a stake in the bottom of each.
These pits are made by the Adone, and are funnel-shaped, about
eight feet deep and five in diameter at the top. They are dug
in the densest jungle, in the paths most frequented by the bush-
buck when going to and returning from the water. Some of
these paths are long tunnels three feet high, bored through the
masses of vegetation for fifty yards or more, and often I could
only get to the river by creeping on all-fours through these
tunnels ; this may be exciting work when it is considered that
many kinds of game, including the lion and rhinoceros, use them.

On my arrival at Karanleh I sent skilled negroes to repair
all the pits within a mile or two of my camp, in the hope of
getting a specimen. During a month spent on the Webbe banks
I shot only one young buck, but organised three or four drives,
in one of which my men shot a buck.

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THE FAUNA OF SOMALILAND

309

The longest horns were a pair I picked up, measuring about
seventeen inches in length. The females are hornless. The
young of both sexes are of a distinct reddish-brown, getting
darker as they grow older, and the natives say the old bucks

SOmXlI BUSHBUCK OR DECULA ANTELOPE ( TrageXaphus scriptus decula).
Length of horns, 16 inches.

become nearly black. The hair is generally worn off along the
spine. There are four or five transverse white stripes and white
spots, sometimes as many as thirty, on each side, more numerous
in the young animals. The neck is scantily covered with short
hair, and in the two young bucks we killed was very slender.

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

The flesh is good eating. I am not aware that the bush buck
exists anywhere in Somaliland except the dense forest close to
the banks of the Webbe.

Clarke’s Gazelle ( Ammodorcas clarlcei)

Native name, Dibatag or Diptag

The Dibatag was first shot by Mr. T. W. H. Clarke in 1891
during his trip to the_Dolbahanta and MarehMi countries, far

to the south-east of
Berbera. Just a week
after his specimens had
been sent to England,
I bought in Berbera
two pairs of horns with
the face-skins attached,
and sent them to Dr.
Sclater believing them
to belong to a new
antelope ; but by this
time Mr. Clarke’s speci-
mens had been examined
by Mr. Thomas, who de-
scribed the species.

The Dibatag is com-
mon enough in some
parts, but is very local
in its distribution.
Since Mr. Clarke first
discovered it, a few
have been shot by sports-
men in the eastern parts
of the Haud.

I have been singu-
larly unfortunate with
this antelope, never hav-
ing been in the country
where it is found till
I went to the Nogal
Valley. At that time the dry season was at its height, and
game was scarce and shy, so I never got a Dibatag till June

CLARKE’S GAZELLE (Ammodorcas clarkei).
Length of horns on curve, 9| inches.

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THE FAUNA OF SOMALILAND

311

1893, when on my return journey from OgMen across the
waterless plateau I made a detour of several days to the east
on purpose to shoot one.

I searched for Dibatag at Tur, a jungle due south of Toyo
grass-plains, the distance being some eighty miles from Berbera,
and was lucky in getting one good buck and picking up two
pairs of horns. I saw a good many, but all were wild and shy.
This is their extreme western limit, and they never, I believe,
come so far south as the G61is Bange. Farther east, towards
Bur’o, they are more plentiful and less shy.

Dibatag are difficult to see, their purplish - gray colour

matching with the high durr grass in the glades where they
are found. The glossy shining coat reflects the surrounding
colours, making it sometimes almost invisible ; and at the best
of times its slender body is hard to make out. I have often
mistaken female Waller’s gazelles for Dibatag , and once shot
one of the former in mistake for the latter. The habits and
gait are much the same, save that the Dibatag starts off with
head held up, and the long tail held erect over the back nearly
meeting the head, while Waller’s gazelle trots away with its
head dowTn and its short tail screwed round. Like Waller’s
gazelle, the Dibatag goes singly or in pairs, or small families
up to half a dozen.

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

As is the case with Waller’s gazelle, the Bibatag is enabled
by its long neck and rather long upper lip to reach down
branches of the mirndsa bushes from a considerable height.
The shape of head and way of feeding of both antelopes are
giraffe-like, and I have seen both standing on the hind-legs, with
the fore-feet planted against the trunk of a tree, when feeding.
I have seen Dihatag feeding both on thorn-bushes and on the
durr grass. Both Waller’s and Clarke’s gazelles can live far
from water. The country most suitable for Bibatag is jungle
of the khansa or umbrella-mimosa, alternating with glades of
durr grass, which grows about six feet high. The females are
hornless. The Bibatag is a graceful antelope, standing higher
than an Indian blackbuck, but weighing probably a good deal
less.

Waller’s Gazelle ( Lithocranius w oiler i)

Native name, Gerenuk

The Gerenuk is the commonest and most widely distributed
of the Somdli antelopes except the little Sakaro , which springs
like a hare from every thicket.

The long neck of the Gerenuk , large giraffe-like eyes, and
long muzzle, are peculiar to this species and the Bibatag. The
Gerenuk is more of a browser of bushes than a grass-feeder, and
I have twice shot it in the act of standing on the hind -legs,
neck extended, and fore-feet against the trunk of a tree, reaching
down the tender shoots, which could not be got in any other
way. Thus not only the appearance, but the habits of the
Gerenuk are giraffe-like. The skul] extends far back behind
the ears like that of a camel.

It is found all over the Somali country in small families,
never in large herds, and generally in scattered bush, ravines,
and rocky ground. I think it subsists almost entirely on bushes,
as it is constantly found in places deserted by beisa and all
other antelopes because there was no grass. Perhaps the Gada-
bursi country is the best ground, but the Gerenuk is almost
ubiquitous and need not be specially looked for. I have never
seen it in the cedar-forests which crown G6Jis, nor in the tree-
less plains of the Haud. It is not necessarily found near water,
— in fact, generally on stony ground with a sprinkling of thorn
jungle.

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The gait of this antelope is peculiar, and when first seen a

Length of horns on curve, 15§ inches.

buck will generally be standing motionless, head well up, looking
at the intruder and trusting to its invisibility. Then the head

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

dives under the bushes, and the animal goes off at a long crouch-
ing trot, stopping now and again behind some bush to gaze. It
seldom gallops, and its pace is never very fast. In the whole
shape of the head and neck, with the extended muzzle and
slender lower jaw, there is a marked resemblance between the
Gerenuk and the Dibcitag. The texture of the coat is much
alike in both. The horns of immature buck Gerenuk have
almost exactly the same shape as those of the Dibcitag. The
average length of Waller’s gazelle horns is about thirteen inches.
The females are hornless ; they sometimes lose or desert their
young ones, as I have now and then come on fawns living
alone in the jungle. The Gerenuk stands a good deal higher
than an Indian blackbuck, but would be about the same weight.

Scemmerring’s Gazelle ( Gazella soemmerringi)

Native name, Aoul

When first I was staying at Bulh&r, Aoul could be seen from
the bungalow grazing on the plain. The Bulh&r Maritime
Plain used to be full of them, but they have been so persecuted
by sportsmen that they have now retired to some distance. The
bush in the Bulh&r Plain is delightful for sport when not over-
run by the Somali flocks and herds.

The Aoul weighs about the same as the Gerenuk , but has a
shorter neck and a more clumsy-looking head, and is altogether
a coarser animal. It is a grass-feeder and lives in the open
plains or in scattered bush, never in thick jungle, and prefers
tolerably flat ground. The white hind- quarters can be seen
from a great distance, making a herd look like a flock of sheep
in the haze of the plains. I have never seen them in the cedar-
forests on the top of Gblis, but in the hartebeest ground to the
south they are common, and may often be seen in large herds
along with the hartebeests, and they are abundant all over the
Haud and Ogaden and near the Webbe.

They are, I think, the most stupid and easy to shoot of all
Somali antelopes, and their habits are identical with those of
the Indian blackbuck, although they are not equal to it in beauty
and grace of movement. Aoul often make long and high jumps
when going away, presumably to look over the backs of the
others. They are inquisitive like hartebeests, and will follow a
caravan in the open ; if fired at, they make off across the front,

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315

stretching themselves out at racing speed, and drawing up in a
troop now and then to gaze.

If much meat is required, it is easy in scattered bush for a
man on foot to run into a large herd and shoot several. The
bucks will often be seen fighting or chasing each other at full
speed. Solitary bucks are sometimes found, and I once saw
about fifteen young fawns gathered together a mile away from
the main herd. The largest herd I have ever seen in the
BulMr Plain contained about two hundred individuals, but I
have seen over a thousand together in the open plains of the
Haud.

Aoul can live a long way from water. Near the coast they
often come down close to the shore, possibly to lick the salt
pebbles. A wounded buck does not hide, but will lie down in
the most open spot he can find, and there will generally be a
circle of jackals waiting round him. They can sometimes be
easily shot at dusk, when they are apt to blunder close to a
caravan. The horns vary in shape, and are often malformed or
wanting in symmetry, being generally lyrate, the points turning
inwards and forwards. The largest pair I have seen measured
seventeen inches, following the curve ; the average is about
fourteen inches.

The Guban ok Lowland Gazelle ( Gazella pelzelni )

The Ogo or Plateau Gazelle ( Gazella spekei)

Native name of both, Dero.

The plateau gazelle, which has the ridges of loose skin over
the nose well developed, inhabits the elevated country, com-
mencing about thirty-five miles inland. It is found south of
G61is, in Ogo and in the Haud, as well as in Ogo-Guban, the
country near Hargeisa where Guban rises gradually into Ogo.
I have shot numbers of gazelles for food at various times, and
have always noticed that the plateau variety has a much thicker
and longer coat than the other. This is possibly the result of
natural selection, as the high plains of Ogo and the Haud, wdiere
it lives, are subject to sweeping cold winds, and the nights very
cold. The altitude of these plains inhabited by the plateau
gazelle is from three thousand to over six thousand feet, but
doubtless they go much lower towards Ogaden. The great step

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

of Golis, with its prolongations east and west, which rises some
forty miles inland and separates Guban, the low coast country,
from Ogo, the high interior country, forms the natural line of
demarcation between these two gazelles.

The short-coated, light-coloured lowland gazelle, which re-

sembles the former in size, is found below in Guban, to the north
of G61is. I have generally observed that the gazelles of the low
country carried rather longer horns than those of the plateau
gazelle, which are shorter, thicker, more curved, and better annu-
lated. The habits of both are alike. They go in moderate
herds of from three up to about ten, and are fond of stony or
sandy undulating ground and ravines, thinly dotted with mimdsas.

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Both kinds are fond of salt, but do not want water, and it is
hard to understand what they can pick up to eat in the wretched
ground frequented by them. They generally avoid thick bush,
and have curiosity which amounts to impudence, but are
wonderfully on the alert and hard to shoot, seeming to know the
range of a rifle, and presenting a small target.

The Klipspringer ( Oreotragus saltator)

Somali name, Alahud

These small antelopes live in the most rugged mountains,
poising themselves on large boulders and leaping from rock to
rock. They are neither shy nor hard to shoot. Golis and

KLIPSPRINGER ( Oreotragus saltator).

Length of horns, 3J inches.

Assa Ranges, and the hills near Gebili, are the best ground in
which to look for them. Alahud go in twos and threes. The
longest horns I saw in Somaliland were about three and a half
inches in length. The females are hornless. The coat is very
coarse, resembling that of no other antelope ; the hairs being
almost like quills, and so loosely planted in the skin that it is
difficult to preserve a specimen. The hoofs are also peculiar,
being nearly cylindrical, and cup-shaped underneath.

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

The Dik-Dik or Sakaro Antelopes

Sakaro Guyu ( Madoqua swaynei)

Sakaro Gol Ass (Madoqua phillipsi)

Sakaro Gussuli (Madoqua guentheri)

General native name, Sakaro

These little antelopes weigh less than an English hare, and
I think Guyu must be among the smallest of the antelope tribe.
In all three the horns are well corrugated at the base, sharply
pointed, and from one inch to three inches long. The eyes are
enormously large in proportion to the size of the head.

M adoqua phillipsi. M adoqua sivayne i.

DIK-DIK ANTELOPES.

Length of horns, 2^ inches.

The Gol Ass (i.e. “red belly”) is the ordinary Dik-Dik, found
all over Guban and Ogo and in parts of the Hand and Ogaden.
The Guyu differs in being very much smaller, and having the
sides of the belly yellowish-gray instead of reddish-yellow. It
appears to be found in the localities frequented by the Gol Ass.
In fact both have been shot indiscriminately by sportsmen under
the name Dik-Dik, which is the term used by Europeans, who
have often noticed the great variation in the size of adult
specimens. My attention was first called to the two native
names only at the end of my last expedition, which led to the
discovery that they represented distinct species.

I came on Gussuli for the first time about a day’s journey
south of Seyyid Mahomed’s village in the Malingur tribe, and
found it to exist all over the Eer Amaden country. Its range

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319

coincides nearly with that of the rhinoceros, and it is found, like
the latter animal, in parts of the Haud, where its ground over-
laps with the range of the Gol Ass. The Gussuli is if anything
slightly larger than the Gol Ass, and of a dead gray colour, with
a white belly. The female appears to be much larger than the
male ; and it is a safe rule, when trying to shoot the buck of a
pair, to aim at the smaller one.

The Gol Ass and Guyu have short muzzles, while that of the

Gussuli is very long, resembling the snout of a tapir. The two
former are found in pairs, seldom more than three being seen
together. They give a shrill alarm-whistle, uttered two or three
times in quick succession, and are often a nuisance, being apt
to disturb more valuable game. The Gussuli start up three or
four at a time, and sometimes the undergrowth seems to be
alive with them. These small antelopes are very easily knocked
over with a shot-gun and No. 4 shot. They give good sport
in the evening, when they are liveliest, especially if followed
silently and fired at with a rook-rifle, for they give plenty of

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

chances when they stand to look back. The female exposes
herself most, and is consequently most often shot. All Sakaro
prefer broken ground, where there is good cover of low scrub
or aloes, and they are never seen in open grass plains. They
lie close like hares, and when disturbed dart out with successive
hops, at a great pace. I have often seen about eighty Sakaro
in the course of a day’s march. They nibble the young shoots
of the low khansa and other bushes ; and like to be near water,
going to drink at mid-day and just after nightfall.

After my second Webbe trip I collected specimens of the
three kinds, which, with those already collected by Mr. Lort
Phillips and other sportsmen, enabled Mr. O. Thomas to ascer-
tain that all were new ; and they were then described by him
( P.Z.S. , April 1894), and called respectively Madoqua swaynei ,
M. phillipsi , and M. guentheri .

The Balra Antelope ( Dorcotragus megalotis)

Native name, Bair a

The Baira antelope, which my brother and I believed to be
new, was described by Herr Menges ( Zool . Anz. xvii. 1894) as
Oreotragus megalotis. Specimens had been submitted by me to
Mr. O. Thomas, who pronounced it new a few days before Herr
Menges brought his specimens forward in Germany for the
purposes of description.

I first heard of it near Ali-Maan, in the Gadabursi country,
among very rugged hills, in the autumn of 1891, when my
brother saw two, but failed to get a shot. He described them
as reddish antelopes, rather larger than the klipspringer, with
small straight horns, bounding away among the rocks in exactly
the same manner as the klipspringer.

On my last trip the SomMis assured me that I should find
them on Wagar Mountain and on Negegr, which is its eastern
continuation, lying about forty miles south-south-east of Berbera,
and rising to between six and seven thousand feet. They said
it wtis nearly as large as an ordinary plateau gazelle, but reddish;
also that it inhabited ground similar to the klipspringer, but
was shy and difficult to shoot. On leaving the coast on my
last trip I sent men in to look for the Baira , offering a reward
for a good head and skin of a male and female, and gave in-
structions to my agents in Berbera and Aden to pay the reward
and send me the specimens.

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321

Grevy’s Zebra ( Equus grevyi)

Somali name, Fer’o

Grevy’s zebra, described, I believe, by the French from a
zoological garden specimen, was first shot in Somaliland by
Colonel Paget and myself on our simultaneous expeditions early
in 1893. I found these animals at Durhi, in Central OgAden,
between the Tug FAfan and the Webbe, about three hundred
miles inland from Berbera, and shot seven specimens, all of
which were eaten by myself and my thirty followers ; in fact,
for many days we had no other food, although this was no hard-
ship, for the meat is better than that of most of the antelopes,
and is highly prized by the Per AmMen and Malingiir tribes.
The zebra was very common in the territory of these two tribes.
The country is covered with scattered bush over its entire
surface, and is stony and much broken up by ravines ; the
general elevation being about two thousand five hundred feet
above sea-level. Those which I saw (probably not more than
two hundred in all) were met with in small droves of about
half a dozen, on low plateaux covered with scattered thorn-bush
and glades of durr grass, the soil being powdery, and red in
colour, with an occasional outcrop of rocks. In such country
they are easy to stalk, and I should never have fired at them
for sport alone. I saw none in the open flats of the Webbe
Valley, and they never come nearly so far north as the open
grass plains of the Haud, Durhi south of the FAfan being, I
think, their northern limit. The young have longer coats, and
the stripes are rather lighter brown, turning later on to a deep
chocolate, which is nearly black in adult animals.

Zebras are very inquisitive ; when we were encamped for some
days at Eil-Fud, in the Per Amaden country, they used to come
at night and bray and stamp round our camp, and wrere answered
by my Abyssinian mule. The sounds made by the two animals
are somewhat similar.

Wild Ass (Equus asinus somalicus)

Native name, Gumburi

The wild ass is common in sterile parts of Guban, especially
to the east of Berbera. In OgAden its place is taken by the
zebra. It is a fine animal and has striped legs. It can scarcely
be considered as fair game to the sportsman.

Y

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

Miscellaneous Notes

Leopards ( Skabel ) are very abundant in Somaliland, and are
the great scourge of the shepherds. They spring into karias at
night without fear, and nearly all the losses among sheep and
goats are caused either by leopards or hyaenas. On Golis Range,
round Mandeira, they are especially common, and it is not an
unusual thing to hear them coughing by day from the shelter of
some cave in the mountains. The sound is most like that of a
saw being drawn to and fro through a plank, only much deeper,
and can be heard at a great distance. Leopards are so stealthy
that they are seldom seen by day. The best way to kill one is
to wait among the tribes near the foot of the mountain, and
having found a karia particularly favoured by them, to construct
a shelter and tie up a goat (preferably a half-grown one), which
will bleat ; if the leopard charge the goat, it is best to wait till
he is quietly lying over the victim drinking its blood, offering a
certain shot. Another way is to find out the cave where the
leopard lives, and to tie up a goat just before dusk and sit over
it for half an hour.

Leopards are found in all kinds of ground, and not necessarily
in hilly country. I have had them spring into my camp more
than a dozen times, and one which could not get over our zerlba
in any other way, ran along the branch of a tree under which
our camp had been pitched, and dropped perpendicularly down
among us, close to the goats ; luckily he was driven off in time by
the sentry. Many goats have been killed inside my camp by
leopards.

Wart-hogs ( Phacochoerus cethiopicus ), called Dofar by the
SomMis, are common, especially along the base of Golis. Most
of the ground which they inhabit is not suitable for hard riding,
so when they have exceptionally fine tusks they are shot. The
Som&li, being a good Mussulman, will touch neither a dead wart-
hog nor the knife which has been used in cutting off the head ;
and if tempted by a fine pair of tusks to kill a wart-hog, the
traveller must be ready to tackle this job himself. It is tough
work skinning the head, and annoying to have to hang the tin
box or bucket, in which the skull has been packed, daily on a
camel, to say nothing of preserving the head and cleaning the
skull. I have always done this work myself with as pleasant a
face as possible, in spite of strong looks of disapproval from the
natives ; and the few wart-hog skulls I have brought home well

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323

repaid me for my labour. It is worth knowing that a Midg^n or
a starving Somali may sometimes be bribed to do this unclean
work, provided no one is looking on and the matter is kept a
secret.

Ostriches (G or emu) are occasionally seen on level plains all
over the country, especially where the bush is not very thick.
They are only numerous in the open prairies ; and are terribly
shy. The best rifle to take in hand on seeing an ostrich is the

WART-HOG ( Phacochcerus cethiopicus).

Outside width in a straight line across tusks, 12| inches.

Lee-Metford. As a rule, they are seen running along at a great
pace at a distance of between eight hundred yards and a mile
away, having seen the human beings first. Or they stand
perfectly still, with their bodies under cover and their small heads
looking over the top of a bush if there is one to be found. In
all our journeys my brother and I only succeeded in shooting one
cock ostrich each.

In 1891, on the plain south of the Miriya Pass, my brother
and I witnessed an instance of the manner in which Midgdns

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

hunt the ostrich. We saw an ostrich and its half-grown chick
walking over the bare plain, followed by an unladen camel, behind

which were stalking
the Midgans. They
said that they had
been after the birds
since the morning of
the day before, and
having already killed
the female, hoped to
get the male bird then
or on the following
day, and if successful
they would catch and
rear the young one.
Ostriches are said to
be often shot by fol-
lowing them on horse-
back, the riders being
placed in relays along
the probable line of
flight. They are kept

MALE PLATEAU GAZELLE (Gazella spekei). moving by day to pre-

Length of horns on curve, 11* inches. Vent their feedin& f 0r

they cannot see to move
or feed by night, so that in a few days they become weak and
are thus easily ridden down. Midgdns often keep a few of them
tame, no doubt mostly caught when very young, but I have
never seen ostrich-farming on a large scale in Somaliland.

The spotted liysena ( W ardha) is very common, but the striped
hyama ( Didar ) rather rare. There is a wild dog called Yei,
which the natives say hunts in packs, but I have never seen one.
Spotted hyaenas prowl round the zerfba of the traveller every
night, looking for scraps of meat. I have had goats carried off
when tethered tothezerlba. Among the karias they sometimes
carry off children and kill women, and men found alone in the
bush are often attacked by them, the face being nearly always
seized and a large piece torn away. So voracious is the hyaena
that it often pulls off the tail of a camel or the udder of a
cow.

Crocodiles (Jahaz) swarm in the Webbe Shabeleh river. There
are a few schools of hippopotami ( Jer ), one of which had its usual

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325

abode near Sen Morettu, but I failed to find it, only coming upon
the fresh tracks.

There are giraffes (Giri or Halgiri) in the Aulihan country,
three days from Burka on the Webbe, but I gave them up for the
chance of going to the Arussi Gallas. This animal differs from
the South African giraffe in its markings. The South African
form is more spotted ; the Somali form has lighter markings, and
the patches of colour are divided into more hexagonal and sex-
agonal shapes, as pointed out in a letter to the Field by Mr.
Rowland Ward in February 1894, who gave a description of the
first one shot in Somaliland by Major Wood.

While on the Webbe I was informed that four buffalo ( Jamus )
bulls had strayed from the Gerire Galla country through eighty
miles of bush, and had taken up their abode in the forest on the
Webbe banks at Sen Morettu, four years before my visit to that
spot. My informant, a Gilimiss Somali, told me that his father
had killed two, two years before, with poisoned arrows. I found
the fresh tracks of the remaining two, and tried for a whole day to
get a sight of them, but unsuccessfully. Buffaloes are said by the
Gallas to be plentiful on the Webbe Web, a tributary of the Juba,
iour days distant from Karanleh.

Baboons (Ddger) are occasionally seen in the rocks round
the river-beds, especially in different parts of Guban. My first
meeting with these animals was an interesting experience. It
was when on my first surveying expedition, and while encamped
at Aleyalaleh on the Issutugan river, with an escort of Indian
cavalry and mounted police, that I first saw baboons. At this
spot the river cuts deeply into a plateau, forming a gully two
or three hundred feet deep. A troop of some two hundred
baboons came down towards evening from the cliffs, on their
way to drink at the stream. Several of the old males were
nearly as large as retriever dogs, and had handsome gray manes,
which at dusk gave them the appearance of lions. There were
several females carrying young ones on their backs, and as the
long strings of baboons climbed along the narrow ledges, they
kept up a hoarse barking which sounded very like language,
and could be heard from a great distance echoing among the
hills. They are savage brutes, and take up positions as if to
dispute the passage of any one climbing the cliffs ; and I have
no doubt, with his long teeth and great strength, one of the
old males could kill an unarmed man.

I had given the troopers some spare cartridges to amuse

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap.

themselves with, by taking shots at marks, and the native
officer, who had been strolling about below the cliffs, fired a
shot at an old male baboon and brought him down. I was in
camp, and on hearing a hot fire going on, ran out, thinking we
were attacked by raiders. It transpired that an Arab camel-

FEMALE PLATEAU GAZELLE (Gazellci spekei).
Length of horns on curve, average 9 inches.

man had been sent up to the base of the cliffs to get the body
of the baboon, and had been attacked by the whole troop from
above, having to beat a hasty retreat under cover of the fire
from several Sniders, and on my joining the men, another male
fell to my Express, tumbling perpendicularly nearly fifty feet
down the cliffs. When at last we secured the carcases, I was
struck by their wonderfully human-like appearance, and have

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327

never again brought myself to shoot a monkey. I have seen
baboons scores of times since, and have never molested them,
and as they soon gek over their shyness and fear of man, I have
been able to watch their habits closely.

Besides these maned baboons, we found in the belt of forest
on the Webbe banks a maneless baboon and a small tree-
monkey. In parts of this forest the monkeys and baboons
simply swarm. They spring about everywhere above and
around the traveller, and the stench is nearly unbearable.

Among game-birds the most noticeable are three kinds of
the bustard tribe ( Salalmadli ), three species of guinea-fowl
( Digirin ), partridges, sand-grouse, and a wild goose in Ogaden.
Birds of prey are very conspicuous, there being at least two
kinds of vultures ( Gur-Gur ) and a small black and white eagle,
kites, ravens, and the great black and white carrion-storks,
which stand about four feet high and have very large orange-
coloured beaks.

Jackals ( Dowcio ), with black and silver backs, are very
common ; also foxes, a small variety of hare ( Bokheila ), a badger
very like the English kind, two kinds of squirrel, gray and brown
(. Dabergdli ), and the little rock-rabbits (Bauncc). There is a
mouse-coloured animal of the weasel kind ( Shok-Shok ), which
lives under the roots of trees and hunts in packs. Snakes are
numerous, three kinds most often met with being an adder
( Abeso ), a variegated rock -snake ( Abcjuri ), and a black snake
called muss, all of which are said to be very deadly. There is
also a lizard nearly four feet long. Among the insects may be
mentioned mosquitoes ( Kan-dd ) — they are only troublesome,
however, on the W ebbe and in the Esa and Gadabursi countries ;
two kinds of gadfly ; a large spider ( Hangeyu ), which produces
a web almost exactly like golden silk, to be found in any old
zeriba in the Haud ; scorpions, and two kinds of centipede
(Hangagdri).

APPENDIX I

On Fitting Out Somali Expeditions
General Observations

Example I. — Calculation of six weeks’ trip to Guban and Ogo— Composition of caravan,
and expenses.

Example II. — Eight weeks’ trip to the Haud and the more accessible parts of Ogaden.

Example III. — Sixteen weeks’ trip to distant Ogaden and the Webbe — General notes
on trips to the Webbe and Gallaland — Notes on caravan defence— Notes on
preliminary steps, and how to engage and pay off a caravan.

For an English sportsman, Somaliland is probably the best hunting-
ground in Africa. The climate is healthy, and not too hot in the higher
districts ; the English are universally popular, and the natives appreciate
sport. The caravan, when once properly provisioned at the coast, renders
one independent in a country practically without villages or supplies.
The game is shy and not too easy to get, which is an advantage from a
sporting point of view. There is room for many simultaneous expeditions
if they are only pushed into unexplored ground, and a great variety of
game is found within a limited area. Above all, there is easy access to
the Somali coast from civilised parts.

I have been asked so often to give information to intending travellers
to Somaliland, that, for the guidance of those who contemplate visiting
that country, I publish the following suggestions.

It is not to be expected that every traveller can share the same views
on subjects connected with the fitting-out of an expedition. ; but by way
of illustration I shall calculate a few examples of the caravans which I
should myself organise for certain definite objects. Whether the intending
traveller agree with me or not, he will at least gain an insight into some
of the more necessary details connected with the needs and precautions
attendant upon the fitting-out and conducting of caravans into the interior
of Somaliland.

To begin with, if there are two or more Europeans in an expedition, in
my opinion each should have his own caravan complete. There are
several reasons for this. Where there are two or three Europeans with
a combined caravan of mixed servants, it is difficult to ensure that equal
loyalty shall be extended by the Somalis to each member of the party.
Interests clash, and the result has, according to all I have heard, too
often been a spoilt trip. In my journeys with my brother the value of

330 THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

distinctly organised caravans was recognised at once, and we held to this
system throughout, the result being that even our servants and camelmen
pulled well together, and we had no difficulties.

It is convenient in safe country, when an increase of sport can be
obtained thereby, for the different Europeans to separate. Thus A hears
of a lion two days’ march away ; B goes three days’ march in the opposite
direction to search a valley believed to contain elephants ; C forms a
camp in the hills twenty miles away for a week’s koodoo-shooting. In
unsafe country, or where there is sport for all at one spot, the camps may
be reunited, the dinners clubbed together, the tents pitched side by side,
and the camels joined into one herd. But the distinct organisation of
each caravan should be preserved, under the command of its own white
leader, assisted by his Somali headman. In this way only, with the
maximum of supervision, aided by a feeling of esprit de corps between the
different caravans, can the maximum of work be got out of Somalis.

I am against taking servants from India. They require a great deal
of water, and are at enmity with their surroundings in a country where
there are practically no villages or bazaars, and where they are almost
“put to Coventry” bv the natives. Somalis think them effeminate,
saying they may be men in the town, but that they become women in
the bush, especially in the waterless Haud ! In our Dolbahanta journey
the women ran after my Madras cook, who was dressed in flowing white
with a large turban, and asked him whose wife he was ! Sometimes when
my brother was out of camp, the Somali members of the expedition used
to throw stones at his Punjabi “bearer,” and although a fine fellow in
his own country, among the strange surroundings he used to break down
and ask to be sent to the coast. It is not necessary to take Indians ; for
Somalis, though often rather rough as servants in a civilised household,
pick up their duties quickly, and are good enough for the jungle.

In fitting out a caravan, the chief factors governing the calculation
are : —

(1) What is the minimum number of armed men that should be taken
into the district to be visited.

(2) Whether or not the district is waterless.

(3) The duration of the trip.

As regards the first consideration, I will mention different districts,
and state what escort I should take into each, assuming political con-
ditions to be as favourable as they were in 1893. Local disturbances of
course arise, but on the whole the country is becoming safer every year
for Europeans. My estimate may soon be out of date ; and the political
authorities in Aden, who are in touch with events in Somaliland, must be
consulted as to the strength of the escort. Permission must be obtained
from the same authorities to enter Northern Somaliland at all. And
certain rules have been framed for sportsmen.

At ordinary times I should ride about alone, though of course armed,
within the area contained by lines joining Berbera, Wagar, Hargeisa, and
Elmas Mountain ; and in this area the natives may often be seen unarmed.
As a matter of fact a sportsman should always have a few Somalis in
attendance, either armed with his spare sporting rifles or with their own
spears. A European who went unarmed about the country would excite
the universal derision of the natives, for it is their own fashion to go armed.

Outside this area, in the explored parts of the British Protectorate,

APPENDIX I

331

I think from eight to fifteen rifles should be distributed among the
followers ; and on the Abyssinian border, or in the Gadabursi and
Dolbahanta countries, fifteen to thirty rifles. In distant Ogaden, on
the Webbe Shabeleh, and on the western Galla border, I recommend
from twenty to thirty rifles, and the same in the unexplored country
along the coast east of Karam. For the nearer Galla tribes south of the
Webbe, and for the Aulihan Somalis, I should take from thirty to fifty
rifles. For a distant exploration into the far interior of Gallaland, likely
to be inhabited by hostile natives, were I going on such an expedition,
I would not take less than from fifty to one hundred and fifty rifles.
These estimates are necessarily very rough, for so much depends on the
number of camels to be protected and the number of white men ; and in
the last case I have given my opinion on evidence obtained from the
Somalis, and not with any personal experience of the Galla country itself.
The strongest escort I have had at any time in my Somali trips has been
a >ut thirty rifles.1

The object of these escorts in all but the last case is to guard against
a possible raid by some robber band. Once, to my knowledge, in the
Jibril Abokr country, an English sportsman’s camp was, during his
absence, sacked by some of these rascals. At night, too, the caravan of
a European might easily be mistaken for that of Somali traders, and in
case of an attack it would be awkward, not to say undignified, for the
caravan to be incapable of defence. It is very unlikely that the authorities
at Aden would allow any traveller to go into the interior without his
having made some provision of this sort.

Hostility from any Somali tribes, as a whole, has not entered into my
calculations, because only a large escort, such as I have advised for distant
Galla explorations, could stay in the country in the face of a combined
movement of the natives. Even with a large escort the country would
soon be rendered uninhabitable by tampering with wells and other
expedients which Somalis thoroughly understand, and the traveller would
be forced to retreat, or advance so rapidly to a more friendly tribe that
enemies would have no time to collect. It is with the consent of the
natives that we travel, because the English are popular, and no hostility
need be feared except the unlikely chance of an attack by robbers, made
probably by mistake. No robbers armed only with spears would, as a
general rule, knowingly attack the well-armed caravan of a European.
There have, however, been one or two exceptions. The country is only
really dangerous to a native traveller, and that it is so the daily police
records at Berbera show.

Example 1 2

We will first suppose that a single European proposes to spend six
weeks travelling, purely for sport, in the explored parts of the British
Protectorate, political conditions being favourable. We will assume that
he does not wish to extend his wanderings far into the Haud. The above
trip would be suitable for a sportsman from Aden having very limited

1 Since the above was written, by the treaty with Abyssinia in 1S97, sportsmen are
not allowed to cross the border with armed escorts.

2 These examples were written before the prohibition to take armed parties across
the Abyssinian border came into force.

332

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

leave, as those from London or Bombay would probably go farther and try
unexplored ground.

The minimum number of personal servants will be as follows : —

One body servant to look after the tent and bedding, and lay out the
meals. He should also be able to interpret.

One cook.

Two hunters ( shikaris ) to track, collect news of game, carry spare
rifles, clean them, and skin and prepare specimens.

One personal camel man to lead, saddle, and tend the Somali camel
which will be ridden, at a walking pace, by the European traveller. I
have found this method of progression, though slow, irksome and rather
uncomfortable. Whenever game is sighted it is possible to jump off for
a shot, or fire from the camel’s back. Spare rifles, ammunition, blankets,
and food can be carried, which would be impossible where a pony is ridden.
A pony requires water in the Hand, whereas a Somali camel does not. In
long expeditions, where expensive arrangements are made on a large scale,
it may answer to take a good Arab trotting camel from Aden. These camels,
though excellent in every way, require grain daily, and water at least
every second day ; while Somali camels, though incapable of trotting, have
the advantage of picking up their own food by the wayside, and can, at
a pinch, march without water for nearly a fortnight. If it is decided
to take'ponies, they can be obtained nearly anywhere in Somaliland.

For the led camel an Arab pad saddle must be bought in Aden, and
as it is sometimes difficult to procure, it might with advantage be ordered
beforehand.

The following articles may be carried on the camel riden by the.
European : —

A pair of saddle-bags.

Haversacks containing food and spare ammunition.

Small hand camera.

A couple of spare sporting rifles.

Two or three blankets.

Large water-bottle.

Prismatic compass (if used).

It is the duty of the personal camelman to see that these are correctly
packed on the camel at the beginning of a march, and safely housed in
the tent on camp being pitched.

Thus we have five personal servants. The remaining servants will be
camelmen for the baggage camels, and temporary servants who may be
engaged for short periods in the interior, such as guides. Some of the
camelmen should know something of the line of proposed travel, and be
able to act as guides if local men fail.

Over all, whether personal servants or camelmen, should be placed a
headman or caravan commander, who will also be interpreter and con-
fidential adviser to his European master. He should know whichever of
the three languages — Arabic, Hindustani, or English— -his master wishes
to make the medium between himself and the natives. His business is to
superintend the loading of the camels, select the site for the halting-place,
and superintend pitching the camp ; to interview chiefs and natives who
visit the camp, to have military command of the caravan in the absence of
his master, to arrange for the relief of sentries at night, and choose the
place for the zeriba and the watch-fires.

APPENDIX I

333

Assisted by one of the camelmen, who will have extra pay for the
purpose, he should weigh out the daily rations, and be responsible for all
native food, and for any game-meat handed over by the hunters. In fact,
he is responsible to his master for everything that goes on in the caravan.

On this man the success of the expedition chiefly depends. Having
once chosen my headman, I allow him to suit himself as regards engaging
camelmen, insisting that they shall not all belong to one tribe. I always
choose my personal servants myself.

In order to calculate roughly the number of baggage -camels and
camelmen required, it will be necessary to estimate the number of loads
that would have to be carried if the rations and spare ammunition of the
camelmen were left out. That is, we must first ascertain the number of
camel-loads which would be a constant quantity in the calculation.

Whatever the number of baggage-camels and camelmen may be, the
European, the headman, and the five personal servants are a constant
quantity. Three natives engaged locally in the interior may be added to
this number, so without counting the baggage camelmen we have one
European and nine Somalis to provide rations for.

Thus we have the following camel-loads, namely, —

(a) 42 days’ rations for 1 European.

(&) 42 days’ rations for 9 Somalis (witli percentage for guests).

(c) Baggage of the European.

(d) Sporting ammunition, spare ammunition for 9 Somalis, and extras.

We will add up these items. Let A be the resulting number of cam el -

loads.

By a simple calculation we can now tell how many baggage camels and
camelmen we shall want. Thus —

The custom is for one camelman to look after two camels.

A camelman’s rations (with percentage for guests) for 42 days will be —

Bice

Dates

Ghee

His spare ammunition, say

Total . 89 lbs.,

or a third of a camel-load.

Thus, as one camelman looks after two camels, the weight due to his
rations and ammunition will put one-sixth of a camel-load upon each of
them ; and so to carry five of the loads A we shall want six camels.
Hence divide the number A by five and multiply by six, and we shall
have the number of camels we must purchase for the caravan, and the
number of camelmen we must engage to look after them will be half this.

I consider 275 lbs. a fair load of European baggage for a Somali camel,
not counting the weight of the camel-mats. All compact weights, such as
dates, are difficult to carry, and 260 lbs. is a full load ; while loads dis-
tributed over plenty of surface, such as rice loghs or water in several hdn s,
are easily carried, and so in such cases the loads may go up to 340 lbs.

If we allow camel-loads for 42 days’ rations for one European, and 2J
for his baggage (including tent, cooking-pots, spare rifles and ammunition,
and so forth), 1 camel for cloth and extras, and 3 for Somali rations, then
A stands for 8, and our caravan will require by our rough calculation ten
baggage camels and five camelmen.

334 THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

One of these camelmen will be given a slight increase of pay, and be
made makadam in charge of the camels and camelmen, under the head-
man of the caravan.

The duties of the camelmen will be to load and unload the camels, lead
them when on the march, keep guard over them when grazing, and water
them when necessary.

In addition to the special duties of camelmen, servants, and hunters,
every Somali member of the expedition, including the headman, should
take his share of the following duties which are necessary for the common
comfort, namely, —

To carry a ride or spear and aid in defence if necessary.

Sentry duties in camp.

Collecting firewood for the watch-fires.

Water-supply for camp use.

Forming the zeriba round the camp.

If every Somali, without exception, is made to take his share in these
duties there will be no jealousy or trouble. The European, to whom the
climate is strange, should be the only man exempt from such duty ; but
when away from camp, with only two or three attendants, I was accus-
tomed to take my share.

There being such a small force, it will pay to arm the eleven men with
good weapons, such as Martini or Snider carbines, or Remingtons. I
have also generally given or lent my men the following equipment,
namely, one “khaki” drill coat, with pockets; one cartridge-belt and
pouch to contain an oiled rag, one brown blanket, and one cheap
butcher’s knife in leather sheath. This equipment is not absolutely
necessary, but is desirable if the escort is to be smart and efficient. The
cartridge-belt should be made to contain thirty cartridges, of which a few
should be loaded with buckshot for sentry-duty at night. It is necessary
to be careful that men who may accompany their master when shooting
have no white about their clothing, as it drives away game.

The headman, five personal servants, and five camelmen, eleven in all,
will be the permanent party engaged beforehand, who will serve through-
out the trip and return with the caravan to the coast. In addition,
enough food should be carried for the following temporaiy servants, to be
engaged locally in the interior and dismissed again as required, namely, —

Two guides, one being for the white man, to accompany him and the
two hunters when out shooting ; the other, who may with advantage be
an influential Akil,1 to guide the camel caravan.

One small boy, to look after milk-goats, sheep, or donkeys, which it
may be necessary to buy in the interior and drive with the caravan.
Donkeys are useful as fcaits for lions.

We shall require to buy twelve camels, ten being for baggage, one for
the European to ride, one a spare animal without mats or load. About
10 per cent is a good proportion of spare camels. They are not absolutely
necessary, but desirable.

We will now accurately calculate what will be the loads, and whether
the ten baggage camels will be able to carry them.

The loads will come under the following heads : —

(a) Rations, 42 days, for 14 Somalis (with percentage for guests).

(b) Rations, 42 days, for one European.

1 I.e. a “ wise man,” elder, or petty chief.

APPENDIX I

335

(c) Private baggage, tent, and instruments of European.

{cl) Spare ammunition for escort, and spare sporting ammunition.

{e) Cloth for payments in the interior, a large cooking-pot for the men,
and miscellaneous extras.

Although it is advisable to allow for a day’s water being carried on any
Somali expedition, we will neglect water-supply in the present calculation.
It is fully gone into in Example II.

The rations for a caravan follower are 1 lb. rice, J lb. dates, and 2 oz.
ghee (clarified butter) per man per diem.

The dates are sold at Aden and Berbera, compressed into a solid mass.
They are good eating even for a European, when fairly fresh, and they
keep in good condition for a few months.

The ghee is required for mixing with the daily allowance of boiled rice.
In the early days of our Protectorate the ghee -ration was fixed for
Government followers at 1 oz., but as nearly all the complaints and
caravan-troubles were traced to insufficiency of ghee, my brother and I
gave 2 oz. in our later expeditions, and then everything went smoothly. It
will be found that the ghee disappears quickly, being the most popular
part of the ration ; the dates come next, and the rice last. Dates often
come in handy when a native has to be sent on a two or three days’
errand through the bush.

It has been my custom to take into the interior a spring-balance or
steelyard reading to about 90 lbs., and every fortnight to check the
consumption of rice, dates, and ghee in bulk. A gallon measure and a
pair of small scales should not be forgotten.

Daily at the camps several natives will appear at about meal-time as
self- constituted guests. To such it should be explained politely, but
firmly, that there is water in the well and grass upon the plain, but no
food in camp for loafers. A present of a pinch of tobacco will turn the
applicant into a friend for life.

It is desirable, however, to set aside a proportion for necessary guests,
and after calculating the rations for the members of the expedition I
usually add the following : — Rice, J ; Dates, \ ; Ghee, J.

The rice-ration for 14 Somalis for 42 days will be 588 lbs. ; add J for
guests, and we have 686 lbs. Rice is sold in bags containing each about
170 lbs. ; and before starting each bag should, for convenience of loading,
be broken up into three long sausage-shaped bags, called logics. Two
bags of rice, or six logics, make a camel-load.

Thus we have, rice, 2 camel-loads. The dates-ration for 14 Somalis
for 42 days will be 294 lbs. ; add J for guests, and we have 368
lbs.

Dates are sold by the gosra , weighing about 130 lbs., enclosed in a
rough reed basket or bag. For convenience of transport this is divided
into two parts, and two gosras, or four half gosras , go upon one camel.
Thus we have, dates, 1J camel-loads.

The ghee ration for 14 Somalis for 42 days will be 1176 oz. ; add J
for guests, and we have 1764 oz., or 110 lbs. The ghee is sold by the
gumba, a goatskin-bag closed at the mouth by a framework of sticks and
a lump of clay. Each gumba contains 25 lbs. ghee or less. We will
suppose the 110 lbs. ghee is carried in five gumbas, weighing with their
contents 145 lbs. Thus we have, ghee, \ camel-load.

It tends to cheerfulness if a small supply of native coffee, tobacco, and

336

THROUGH SOMALILA/VH AND ABYSSINIA

salt be carried for the men. The tobacco is chewed, and the coffee drunk
before early marches on cold mornings.

Next we have to calculate for the stores of one European for 42 days.
1 recommend that several wooden boxes be made, measuring about 1 foot
6 inches by 2 feet, and 1 foot 1 inch deep, capable of being padlocked,
with the cover on hinges, and two rope handles for convenience of
handling. All the liquids which have to be kept in bottles may go in
one box, and all the tinned and other stores in another, the pair con-
taining a fortnight’s supply, and each loading up to about 65 lbs.

The liquids will be something like the following (a fortnight’s
supply)

Whisky . . . . . .2 bottles

Carbolic oil (for sores of men or perhaps camels) . 1 bottle

Carbolic acid, strong .... 1 small bottle

Cocoanut oil for lamps . . . .a supply

Turpentine for preparing skins . . about 6 bottles

Oil for cleaning rifles . . . .a supply

Two or three bottles of tart fruits.

A bottle of pickles.

The stores will be something like the following (for one fortnight) :

Tea

Coffee

Cocoa

Sardines

Candles

Matches

Tinned potato powder
Soap

Pepper 1
Mustard 1
Salt1

Potted meats
Biscuits
Rice
Jams

Swiss milk

Sugar 1
Tinned butter
Tinned soups
Oatmeal
Flour 1

Powdered alum1 (for
preparing skins)
Tinned fruits

Of Swiss milk very little need be taken, as milk-goats can be bought
and driven along with the caravan. Soups are most useful, and I usually
take about ten tins for a fortnight. Fresh potatoes can be bought in
Aden, and will last for the first three weeks of the trip. They would go
in a separate sack. Onions may be taken in the same way. Biscuits
and small tins of potted meats, provided salt-kinds such as anchovy and
bloaters are omitted, are useful to carry in the pocket when out for a
day’s hunting. The salt-kinds are objectionable as they induce thirst.
I seldom carried any large tins of meat. Dried game meat can always
be saved, to be used in case of emergency.

I only used lamp -oil for two bull’s-eye lanterns which I kept for
theodolite work. They make good night referring-points if fixed half a
mile away. I had candle-lanterns for camp use, and spring candlesticks
with glass globes for the tent.

Four of these boxes, containing stores or liquors, will go on one camel.

Thus we have — European rations and stores for 42 days, 1J camel-
loads. For private baggage, tent, instruments, cooking-pots, and bed-
ding, allow 2 camel -loads. For cloth, large cooking-pot for the men,
bags of spare ammunition for sporting rifles, and extras, we will allow
1 camel-load. The men will carry thirty rounds each in their cartridge-
belts or pouches, and for such a short trip it will not be necessary to

1 These stores should be sewn up in small bags, each to contain a fortnight’s supply.

APPENDIX I

337

have more than fifty rounds per man carried in one box. A little
buckshot and blank ammunition should also be carried, the latter being
useful for drill and firing salutes.

Sporting ammunition should be carried in haversacks or magazines
distributed about the loads, each rifle having its own bag of ammunition ;
and a little should be carried in a couple of haversacks on the riding
camel, ready to hand. The sporting cartridges for the day’s use should
be carried in the pockets of the sportsman and his two hunters. If one
large box of spare sporting ammunition and one box of Snider ball
ammunition be also carried, we must allow — spare ammunition, \
camel-load.

The loads for the ten baggage camels will be as follows : —

Camel-loads.

(a) Native rations ...... 4

( b ) European rations . . . . 1J

(c) Private European baggage . . . .3

(d) Ammunition ...... \

(e) Cloth and other extras . . . .1

Total 10

The expenses of such a trip may be conveniently grouped as follows

(1) Purchase of tent, rifles, and kit in London or Bombay.

(2) Passages to and from Aden.

(3) Hotel expenses in Aden.

(4) Purchase of necessaries at Aden.

(5) Passage from Aden to the Somali coast and back.

(6) Purchase and sale of necessaries at the coast,

(7) Purchase and sale of camels at the coast.

(8) Petty expenses in the interior.

(9) Pay of men of the caravan.

Only in the case of the last four items— that is, the sums which will
be actually spent in Somaliland itself — can I give estimates ; but it is
just in these items the local knowledge is so valuable.

The currency used at Aden and the Somali coast ports is silver,
usually rupees, or dollars (worth 2J rupees) ; and the rupee is constant
as regards purchasing power. The value of a rupee in English money
can be found daily in the newspapers. When I was last at Aden a
sovereign was worth about 16 rupees. A large supply of 2-anna pieces
is necessary.

Purchase of Tent, Rifles, and other Kit

I recommend a double-fly 80 lb. “Cabul” tent. Somalis, who take
shelter from rain under camel-mats, do not require a tent. I consider
that in a comparatively dry country like Somaliland camp-furniture is
superfluous. My tent arrangements are very simple. Between the two
tent-poles five of the wooden store-boxes are placed side by side. One
set of soft camel-mats (the Somali substitute for a pack-saddle) is spread
over the boxes, and my blankets and pillow go over all. When
marching fast I never pitch the tent at all, and in this case the
boxes are piled to windward, to form a rampart about five feet high.
Camel-mats are thrown over for a roof, and the bed is spread out on

Z

338

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

the ground beneath. The mats may be thrown off when it is not
raining, as in fine weather if there is no dew I prefer to have nothing
to shut out the sky. This arrangement gives less trouble to the men,
who may be tired after a long march, than pitching the tent ; and it is
much easier to load up for the early morning march. By day, when
marching fast, I halt for three hours about noon, without pitching the
tent, if two good trees are to be found.

When the tent is pitched the bed is arranged on the store-boxes,
taking care that those which contain “expense stores” are not so used,
as it is annoying if the cook is constantly disturbing the bedding to
open boxes. Against one pole rests a jar of water, kept cool by the
wind blowing upon the porous earthenware. This jar is carried on the
camel in a framework of sticks. It can be bought in Berbera for half
a rupee, and the butler may be rewarded with two rupees if it is brought
back to the coast unbroken. The iron tent-pegs1 should be handed to
the same official, and, say, two annas given for every peg which finds
its way back to the coast. The Somalis, though not naturally petty
thieves, cannot resist iron tent-pegs ; they are easily secreted, and dis-
posed of to jungle natives, who make spears with the iron. All cutlery
if not looked after is apt to disappear in the same way. At the back of
my tent I usually stood a large bucket of water and waterproof sheet, or
an india-rubber bath. Table and chairs I seldom took. In case of meet-
ing Europeans, a substitute for a dining-table and chairs can be arranged
by the help of the store-boxes, draped with different-coloured blankets.

The first thing after the tent has been pitched, two auss, or smooth
grass camel-mats, are laid down as a substitute for floorcloth. To the
right of the bed, on the ground, are laid small articles which may be
required at a moment’s notice, including the favourite rifle and cartridge-
belt. At night this rifle is kept loaded, with a strip of white paper
gummed along the central rib from the back - sight to the muzzle.
When a leopard jumps into the middle of the camp, or there is a
“war-scare,” one or other of which incidents occurs on an average
once a week in Somaliland, it is convenient not to have to waste
valuable seconds in fumbling for these things in the dark. On the
ground, to the left of the bed, are arranged haversacks, small camera,
spare rifles, medicine-bag, instruments, a pair of saddle-bags, and other
such articles ; and to the right of the pillow is placed one store-box,
and on it a candle-lantern, matches, and the favourite book, which is
an absolute necessity of camp -life. For the spare clothing, books,
spare instruments, stationery, and other articles, I recommend strong tin
uniform -cases, or steel trunks, instead of leather trunks, because they
can be left out in the rain without damage. Leather trunks are soon
pulled out of shape by the loading ropes, and are liable to be utterly
ruined by white ants in a single night. The tin cases may be painted
white with ship’s paint ; when painted black they absorb the sun’s rays
and bake everything inside. Photograph plates and other perishable
articles should be carefully packed to avoid damage from excessive heat,
the sun’s rays being so powerful ; for instance, at noon in Guban a rifle
barrel, if left lying exposed, soon becomes too hot to touch.

The sporting battery which I should take were I now fitting out an
expedition, would be —

1 The stony nature of much of the country renders these necessary.

APPENDIX I

339

One double *577 Express rifle (with 250 cartridges for six weeks).

One double 8-bore Paradox ball-gun (witli 150 ball cartridges and a
few buckshot).

One double 12-bore Paradox ball-gun (with 100 ball, 200 shot).

One single Lee-Metford '803 rifle (with 300 rounds).

The cartridges should be filled and soldered up in tin in convenient
quantities by the gunmaker. I have never taken the trouble to load rifle
cartridges ; a good maker will load them well, and if soldered up they
will keep for months. I believe most of the letting off and wounding of
game is due more to the inability to get close enough than to defects in
rifle or cartridges. For the open plains, when the game is shy, the Lee-
Metford will be useful. The grass is often so short that shots may be
taken on the back position. Every shot knocks up a puff of dust, en-
abling one to correct the aim. In the case of an antelope the neck should
be aimed at, so that the animal will be missed or killed ; and a deadly
shot is when the animal is standing bead-on, so as to present the length
of the body to a raking bullet. If the distance be very great, the animal
will, if unwounded, stand for several shots. In this way long shots are
not unsportsmanlike, and I must confess to a feeling of pleasure when an
almost black bull hartebeest, whose horns have been admired at leisure
through the telescope, and who has been standing four hundred yards
away, drops dead. To fire at random into a herd, unless meat is urgently
required, is utterly indefensible.

In buying rifles there is a choice of makers. Personally I have nearly
always gone to Messrs. Holland and Holland for my rifles and ammuni-
tion, and have been perfectly satisfied with the way I have been treated.
Their eight-bore Paradox ball-gun I consider the best weapon in the
market for heavy game such as elephant or rhino. I had a four-bore rifle
with fourteen drs. and hard spherical ball, but found that the conical
steel-core projectile of the eight-bore gave greater shock and penetration.

Snider carbines are useful weapons lor the escort, and it may be noted
that the ammunition makes excellent practice at short ranges when fin d
out of a *577 Express. This can be done if the chamber happens to be of
the right shape, and the knowledge has been useful to me more than once,
although whether such a proceeding is good for the rifle is questionable.
A revolver or pistol is a useful weapon to carry, especially if one wanders
in the bush alone. I recommend, if a double shikar pistol be taken, that
one of about '577 or twelve-bore be chosen, with one trigger for both
barrels on the Lancaster principle. When after lion or leopard, and not
well backed up by the gunbearer, a situation may arise where such a
pistol would be handy. In a home charge the rifle would be knocked
out of the hands, but the pistol, being on the belt, would always be ready.
I have known two cases of a native trying to beat off a lion with his bare
hands. One man was successful and the other lost his life. I feel sure
that in the latter case a pistol would have made all the difference. It is
worth remembering that when buying a Lee-Metford rifle of military
pattern, the bayonet should be supplied with it, as it is a perfect shikar
knife for the belt.

In disturbed country, where an attack by robbers may be apprehended,
the eight-bore Paradox gun loaded with S.S.G. slugs would be a good
night weapon to rely upon. I therefore recommend that a few cartridges
be so loaded for this and the twelve -bore. Among the ‘577 Express

340 THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

bullets should be about 10 per cent of hardened, solid bullets. They may
be very useful in finishing off heavy game.

When after thick-skinned game, such as elephant or rhino, I think
the Lee- Met ford would be a useful rifle, provided a quiet head-shot could
be obtained with the animal standing still, both barrels of the double
eight-bore being kept in reserve for use if it should get into motion.
Although I have always believed in large-bore rifles, I think there is a
great future in store for the small-bores of the Lee-Metford class, having
a long bullet and plenty of powder. Although the section is so small,
the great remaining velocity of the Lee-Metford bullet causes a consider-
able shock to the animal, especially if the latter has been standing end-
on, and the bullet has raked forward for some distance. I consider the
Lee-Metford about the best rifle for beisa-sliooting in uninhabited country,
and have in my latter trips had great success with it. I used the ordinary
military cartridge.

With each of the sporting rifles there should be a strong magazine bag,
which can be slung over any of the laden camels. Half the spare am-
munition should be carried in this way, while the rest of all the sporting
battery should be packed in one box, weighing about 50 lbs. Several
leather or canvas haversacks should be made to carry food and small
articles.

For the Snider carbines I recommend that for a six weeks’ trip thirty
rounds per man be carried in the belts, with a few rounds of buckshot for
the use of sentries ; besides this belt-ammunition, about fifty rounds per
man should be in a box, and some blank ammunition for skirmishing
drill and complimentary displays. If it is proposed to give the men
much ball practice while in the interior, more ball ammunition should be
taken. I recommend an hour of target practice once a week, in some-
deep river-bed with precipitous banks, if the men are to be of any use as
an escort. A pair of compasses, a bundle of thin lathes, a dozen screws
and a screw-driver, half a quire of cartridge paper, packet of drawing
pins, and some ink pellets, are all that is required to be taken to make
good targets. When the men have been well grounded in ball practice
it will be interesting to pile up stones to the height of a man and bring
them down with a crashing volley at a hundred yards. The men take a
lively interest in the shooting and drill, and a list should be kept of good,
bad, or indifferent shots, so that the fact may be endorsed on their written
characters when they are dismissed at the coast.

Some form of hand camera is invaluable. I suggest that no large
camera be used, nor chemicals, but that small photographs be taken with
the hand camera and developed and enlarged on return to England.

AVhen ordering clothes it should be remembered that Somaliland can
be extremely hot and also very cold. I recommend that thin “khaki”
drill be the usual costume, and that a good thick ulster be taken for cold
night-marches or for sitting up over a “kill.” A few pairs of red rubber
or cotton-soled shoes are useful for stalking koodoo and other game in-
habiting stony ground. Above all, a really good sun-hat is a necessity.

Information regarding the cost of passages to and from Aden can be
obtained at any shipping offices, so I will merely remark that it takes
about three weeks to get to Aden from London by sea, or about thirteen
days if advantage be taken of the overland train to Brindisi. But in the
latter case only a small hand-bag could be taken, baggage having previ-

APPENDIX I

341

ously been sent round by sea. There is generally great trouble about the
shipping of loaded cartridges, and they should be sent on ahead.

When staying at a hotel in Aden I usually went to the Hotel de
l’Europe, in the Crescent, Steamer Point. The accommodation at all
the hotels in Aden is very primitive. So far as I can remember, board
and lodging in Aden would come to between 7 and 14 rupees per diem.

At Aden the following articles,1 if considered necessary, may be pur-
chased or made to order : —

Coats for the men, of “khaki” or drab-coloured drill (3 rupees),
cartridge-belts to contain thirty rounds (1 rupee), also pouches (J rupee),
brown blankets for followers (3 rupees). Six wooden boxes to contain
stores or liquors, as before described, can be made in the bazaar for
between 1 and 2 rupees each, or they may be obtained in London with a
fortnight’s supplies in each box. If a camel-pad is required it can be got
in Aden for 10 rupees.2

The two Parsi firms with which I have had most dealings are Messrs.
Pallonjee Dinshaw and Messrs. Cowasjee Dinshaw Bros., both of the
Crescent, Aden. The latter is probably the larger firm, and does a great
deal of business with the shipping passing through Aden. But when I
have not had time to get what I wanted from one I have tried the other.
Cowasjee is in correspondence with Mr. Mahomed Hindi, a Hindustani
merchant permanently living in Berbera ; and Pallonjee is also accustomed
to do business with the Somali coast.

All information concerning passages to and from the Somali coast can
be obtained by applying to either of the two Parsi firms named. Two
coasting steamers visit the coast ports of Berbera, Bulbar, and Zeila once
a week each. The usual charge was 20 rupees for one European and his
baggage, and 5 rupees for each native.

Under the heading of purchase and sale of necessaries at the coast will
come the following : —

base before Sale on
ving coast, return.
Rupees. Rupees.

40 12

13 3

6 2

2 1

2

10 2

6

200
120

40
24
55
12

Total 530 20

11 sets of herio , or camel-mats
11 leather loading ropes .

9 native axes ....

6 hangol , or wooden crooks
4 knives for cutting camel -rope .

Several bundles of common loading rope .

20 iron tent-pegs ....
Cloth for payment in interior
Cash for payment on journey (in small silver)
Rations for Somalis

Rice, 4 bags ....
Dates, 3 gosrcc
Ghee, 5 gumbo,

Extras ....

1 The prices given in this appendix have been corrected, as far as possible, up to
1899.

2 There are two kinds of pad-saddles used by Arab coolies in Aden, a large one for

342 THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

Tims we have 510 rupees expenditure after deducting the proceeds of
the selling-off auction, so that 550 rupees should well cover expenses
under this head ; the lierio are the sets of camel-mats which are the
Somali substitute for a pack-saddle. Three auss, or grass mats, and one
Mbit, or soft bark mat, make a complete set.

The axes are for cutting brushwood for the zeriba, and some of them
may be made specially heavy for cutting out ivory. Good axes from
England might be useful for this purpose. "

The hangol are crooked sticks used for pulling about thorny brush-
wood.

The cloth required might be made up of : —

Rupees.

3 Khaili, or coloured tobes, at 7 rupees . . 21

8 Bafta tobes, at 2J rupees . . . .17

56 MeriTcdrd tobes, at 2 rupees . . . . 112

150

The purchase of twelve camels will cost about 600 rupees, and their
sale at the end of the trip (allowing for one death) will produce about 400
rupees.

The petty expenses in the interior have been provided for by 200
rupees’ worth of cloth and 120 rupees in cash, already included under the
heading of expenses in Berbera. A common native engaged for a day’s
work will usually get 8 annas or the equivalent in cloth. Presents for
game bagged may be given according to taste, from 40 rupees for a good
bull elephant to 25 rupees for a lion, or 5 rupees for a bull oryx. The
present for one animal should be distributed among those who aided in
bringing it to bag, however slight their services ; in fact, for a good trophy
it has been my custom to reward slightly every member of my caravan.
A sheep costs from 4 to 5 rupees ; a heifer about 18 rupees ; a camel, 40
to 50 rupees (either for the butcher or transport) ; a pony, 90 rupees and
upwards ; a goat for the butcher, 2 to 3 rupees ; a milk goat, 8 to 10
rupees ; a donkey, 14 rupees. The latter animal is a long way the best
for tying up at night as a bait for lions, as the lion likes no flesh better,
and the loud bray attracts any that may be near. A white goat, which
is young enough to bleat, is the best bait for a leopard.

The pay for the men of the caravan for six weeks will be approximately
as follows : 1 —

Rate per
month.

Rupees. Rupees.

60 1 caravan leader or headman ... 90

30 1 butler ..... 45

30 1 cook ...... 45

30 1 hunter ..... 45

Carry forward 225

the baggage camel and a smaller and neater one for the fast camel. Neither has
stirrups, as an Arab coolie presses his feet into the groove of the camel’s neck, a very
comfortable way of riding.

1 These rates are what would be given to men highly skilled at their duties ; the
great thing to avoid is spoiling the market for other travellers.

APPENDIX I

343

Rate per
month.

Rupees.

Rupees.

Brought forward

225

25

1 assistant hunter ....

37i

20

1 groom, or personal cam elm an

80

15

4 baggage camelmen ....

90

18

1 mdkadam , or head camelman

2 guides (engaged temporarily)

27

15

45

12

1 sheep-boy (engaged temporarily)

Shooting presents may be paid for from the
cash and cloth taken to the interior.

At the close of the trip a parting present will

18

be expected by each man. Add 15 per cent .

Add pay of headman, butler, and cook, for a
week before and a week after the trip, to help

70

in organising and breaking up the expedition .

60

Total

6024

Thus, the money spent in Somaliland itself for a six weeks’ trip should
be in round numbers as follows : —

Rupees.

Purchase and sale of necessaries at coast, and ex-
penses on trip .... 550

Purchase and sale of camels . . . 200

Pay of men of the caravan . . . 602J

Total 1 352J- say 1400

Of this expenditure, part will occur when starting and part when
breaking up the caravan at the close of the trip. The whole of this
money should be placed in the charge of a native merchant or banker at
Berbera, and any Somali follower may then be paid off either at the coast
or in the interior by an order for the necessary sum, written on a scrap of
paper.

The above estimate gives over 900 Rs. a month without counting
European tinned stores, European outfit and passages.

Example II

We will assume that one European is going to travel for two months,
purely for sport, in the Haud and the most accessible parts of Ogaden.
The distance across the Haud by the usual road from Hargeisa to Milmil
is covered in five and a half days, going two marches a day, and for all
journeys going far into the Haud, or crossing to Ogaden, arrangements
should be made for carrying at least seven days’ water. To the east of
Milmil the Haud becomes much wider. From the experience of eight
journeys across the Haud, I have found that a gallon per man per diem
for all purposes is the proper allowance for a Somali who is on ordinary
rations a gallon and a half for a native of India, and two gallons for a

344

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

European. Half of the water is used by the Somali for boiling with his rice,
the other half for drinking ; and if his ration is of camel-meat instead
of rice, he will be perfectly satisfied with half a gallon per diem for all
purposes. For the purposes of our calculation, however, we will allow a
gallon per diem, because an eating camel is not always to be had, and
a day’s halt is necessary to enable the men to cut up and sun-dry
the meat. The Somali, although he bathes at every pool where water
is to be had, does not try to wash in the Hand. It is comforting,
however, for a European or native of India to keep up the appearance
of cleanliness so far as a damp sponge and a little water in a saucer will
permit.

Somali camels require no water for any march under ten days, and can
do longer at a pinch. If water is plentiful they would be watered every
five days or so. Donkeys, sheep, and goats should have a few pints every
second day, and Somali ponies should have about two gallons per diem,
or four gallons every second day, though at a pinch they can go, accord-
ing to the natives, from three to four days without water.

On one trip I took an Arab pony from India for three and a half
months. He did excellently, and was faster and up to more weight than
Somali ponies. But he required grain and a larger allowance of water
than a Somali pony. I think we carried for him five gallons per diem.
If an Arab riding camel be imported from Aden, it must be remembered
that it is accustomed to drink at least once a day, and in the Haud must
be given four gallons every second daju

As regards transport of water, a full load for a camel is two 12-gallon
casks ; a gallon of water weighs 10 lbs., and there is the weight of the
casks to take into account.

In order to calculate the number of baggage camels and camelmen
required, we shall have to add up the number of camel-loads coming
under the following headings (see Example I)

Camel-loads.

Rations for 9 natives for 56 days (with per-
centage added) . . . . 4J

Rations, 56 days, 1 European ... 2

Private baggage of European ... 3

Spare ammunition for European and for 9 of

the escort .... 1

Cloth and extras .... 1

Water for 1 European and 9 natives for 7 days
(assuming no animals but Somali camels
are taken across the Haud) . . 3J

Total 1 5

The rations for 56 days for one camelman (with percentage added) will
be 66 lbs. rice, 38 lbs. dates, 10 lbs. ghee ; add his spare ammunition
5 lbs., and water for 7 days 70 lbs., and we get a total of 189 lbs., or
about t8t of a camel-load.

By a calculation similar to that employed in Example I, we shall find
that the number of camels required will be 24, and the number of baggage
camelmen, 12.

The composition of our caravan will therefore be as follows : —

APPENDIX I

345

1 European. 1 headman. 5 personal servants.

(3 temporary jungle servants engaged from day to day will be
allowed for in the pay, ration, and W'ater estimate, though
they will not start with the caravan.)

12 camelmen.

24 baggage camels ; 1 Somali camel to ride ; 2 spare camels.
Total, 27 camels.

This is what the preliminary calculation has given us ; and when the
loads have all been accurately worked out in detail it will probably be
found that the 24 baggage camels can carry them.

In calculating the ammunition I am assuming that every permanent
member of the caravan can shoot and will be provided with a rifle. It is
a good rule to go by, although not always absolutely necessary, provided
suitable escorts for different districts are taken.

To those whom I know to be unused to fire-arms I issue no ball
ammunition till they have had several lessons in skirmishing drill with
blank ammunition, and a certain amount of target practice. The laws of
blood-feuds are too serious to be disregarded, and therefore a Somali has a
wholesome fear of letting off his rifle by accident. I have found that
when once they have been properly taught they can be trusted with ball
ammunition.

Example III

A trip of four months to distant parts of Ogaden, and to the Webbe
Shabeleh River. In this case we will add a pony or mule and two fast
Arab camels, which it may be worth while taking on a long trip.1
Unlike Somali animals, Arab camels each require about 7 lbs. jowdri
grain per diem. It can be bought in Aden or Berbera, and costs rather
less than rice. There will in this case be six personal servants instead of
five, as the two Arab camels will require one man, and the pony will
require a groom {sctis in Hindustani). I have also slightly increased the
European baggage on account of ammunition and trade goods.

As a basis for our rough calculation we shall have : —

Camel -loads.

Rations, 10 natives, 120 days . . .10

Rations, 1 European ... .4

Private European baggage .... 4

Spare ammunition for 10 natives and 1 European . 1J

Cloth and trade goods and extras .... 3

Water for 1 European and 10 natives ; and for 2 Arab
camels, 1 pony, 1 donkey, 2 milk goats (19 gallons,

7 days) ...... 5J

4 months’ grain for two Arab camels ... 4

Total 32

i A disadvantage of the Arab camel is that until it has been a few months in
Somaliland it may not settle down to its new climatic conditions and change of food.

346

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

A man’s rations for 120 clays (with percentage added) will he : —

add ammunition 10 ,,
water 7 days 70 ,,

140 lbs. rice
75 ,, dates
25 ,, ghee

320 lbs.

Say 1TV camel-loads.

By another calculation similar to those previously employed, we shall
find that we would want 70 camels and 35 baggage cam elm en.

Thus we have our caravan composed as follows *. —

1 European.

1 headman.

1 personal camelman.

1 saw.

2 Arab trotting camels.
1 pony for European.

70 baggage camels.

7 spare camels.

1 cook.

1 butler.

2 hunters.

35 baggage camelmen.

3 temporary jungle servants.

Total 45 Somalis, 1 European.

In my last trip to the Webbe, occupying three months, I had 55
camels and 30 men. The tri p cost me about £300 altogether.

The expenses can be calculated on the lines of Example I. There will,
however, be certain modifications.

Somalis have a prejudice against going to the Webbe. They have
fear of fever and mosquitoes, and a dread of Gallaland. They therefore
expect higher pay to go to these countries. On my last Webbe trip my
ordinary camelmen, who would take 15 rupees per month for trips in
Guban, Ogo, Haud, and Ogaden, asked 18 rupees throughout the journey
if we reached the Webbe, and 20 rupees if we reached the Galla tribes.
Circumstances have combined to place all Somali wages at a very high
figure. The pay of a body-servant in India is about 10 rupees per month,
but if taken to Aden, the same man requires double pay, or 20 rupees per
month. The Somali, who is trained to domestic service in Aden, naturally
says he will not take less than the Indian who does the same work. The
Somali at Berbera requires the same wages which he has been accustomed
to get at Aden, and similar causes, together with intense laziness, in-
dependence, and avarice combined, tend to raise the price of labour in
Somaliland.

The Arab trotting camels I have recommended, could be bought in
Aden, including light coolie-saddles (without stirrups), for about 150 to
200 rupees each. Great care should be taken in choosing these animals,
an Arab expert who can be trusted being employed. The attendant for
these camels should be a Somali accustomed to them. There are many
Somalis who have served in the Berbera camel-police who have this
qualification, but an ordinary Somali knows nothing about them. Besides
jowdri and water at regular intervals, about a quart of sweet or other

APPENDIX 1

347

suitable oil per mouth should be carried for each trotting camel. It is a
peculiarity of these camels that a large maggot is often found filling up
the nostril, and when it becomes so large as to impede breathing the
nostril is drenched with oil, and the maggot, sometimes half an inch thick
and over an inch long, tumbles out.

In a long trip, such as is given in Example III, a rapid survey of
the route would probably be made. I recommend the following instru-
ments : —

Boiling-point thermometer and aneroid barometer.

Common thermometer.

Note-books.

6-inch transit theodolite.

Prismatic compass and stand.

First-class astronomical watch.

Two common watches.

I found the theodolite infinitely more handy than the sextant, and
think the traverse, often at the rate of twenty-five miles a day, too rapid
for comfortable plane-table work. The tribesmen, too, would probably
object to the imposing plane-table and strained square of paper. The
theodolite is also an imposing instrument, but it would be most used for
star observations at night, when natives would be away from camp. Of
the smaller instruments, duplicates should be taken. Instructions on
surveying are to be found in the Royal Geographical Society’s publication,
Hints to Travellers , and practical lessons in this and other special subjects
are given under the auspices of the same Society.

When arranging for an expedition in which water has to be carried,
12-gallon casks should be taken out to Aden, or bought beforehand in
Aden by letter. It will be advantageous to be able to padlock them,
and for the bun gh ole to be large enough for a man’s arm to be passed
in when cleaning the cask. I recommend common casks, for I have
taken different shapes of specially-designed water- vessels suited (in theory)
for camel transport ; but Somalis, who are good judges, say camels do
well with a pair of large common casks. It is worth remembering that
wooden or plaited bark water hdns, carrying on an average seven gallons,
are to be had at Berbera (costing about 4 rupees). They go four to six on
a camel, and being light, twenty-eight gallons can easily be carried in
one load. But owing to incessant leakage, and to breaking, through the
falling of camels and knocking against trees, there is a great loss of water.
On the other hand, if the casks are good, one is sure of the twenty-four
gallon load, and the supply can be accurately controlled. Casks should
be filled with water over-night and allowed to stand by the well-side
before a long waterless journey, so that the wood of the casks may have
time to swell. Casks which have lost no water by morning may be
trusted, and those which have leaked should be filled again and marked,
so that they may be the first to be drawn upon on the march.

In one of my long trips I took forty-four water hdns, but they caused
so much vexation through leakage and so much expense for repairs, that
I resolved never to use them again when I could get casks. In buying
hdns it should be noted that drinking-water for Europeans should be
carried in wooden hdns, as they taint the water much less than the bark
ones. I recommend, for water-bottles, common quart whisky-bottles,
which can be slipped into a leather case provided with a sling, so that

348 THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

it can be carried by one of the hunters. It is very convenient to have
in addition half a dozen flat water-bottles made to contain a gallon each,
of tin covered with thick leather ; one of these could be carried on the
camel which is ridden.

On the Webbe Shabeleh a little jowciri grain can generally be
purchased at the villages, though the natives, I believe, only grow it for
home consumption and not for export. I should never count on getting
either jowdri or ghee in the interior, as every purchase of this kind
means a delay, and exorbitant prices are demanded. Milk is obtainable
in abundance at every karia ; and, as a special favour, if it is asked for,
the natives will produce fresli butter as good as that sold in England
when not tainted by the wooden cup. It soon becomes sour, and should
not be counted on as a suppl}T. I always keep two goats to supply milk
for my own use. Somali cow’s milk is generally allowed to get sour and
much tainted by the bark vessels. Good milk may be got by having the
cow milked into a clean bucket.

Besides the tobes mentioned in the estimates for Example I, the
following are useful minor presents in Somaliland : —

Looking-glasses.

Beads. (These should be chosen by a Somali and bought in Aden or
Berbera. )

Clasp knives.

Red shawls. (These are very much in request, and are picked to
pieces and made into tassels for saddlery ornaments. They can be
bought in Aden for J rupee each.)

Korans or Mahomedan Bibles, which cost from 1 rupee to 3 rupees in
Aden, are good presents for mullahs.

Tusbas , or praying chaplets, of ebony or sandalwood, J rupee to 1 rupee,
procurable in Aden.

Files for sharpening spears.

Coloured handkerchiefs.

Red blankets or coloured plaids. (These and common brown blankets
make good presents for important natives, and are always useful to have
about the tent.)

In choosing presents it must be remembered that Somalis will not be
burdened iti their nomad life with unnecessary articles, and will not be
satisfied with glittering but useless things which might pass among
negroes. Each present must be good and useful. A Somali will examine
a gift blanket critically.

Presents and trade articles for Gallaland can be got in Aden, and
should be chosen by a Somali or Galla expert, who knows something of
the districts to be visited. Wildyati (European) cotton cloth, something
similar to Merikdni (American), but narrower and half the price, is the
most useful kind.

If it is intended to cross the Webbe, a rope (say 2 to 3 inches in cir-
cumference and 60 fathoms long) should be taken to be stretched across
the river. At Karanleh the river is some 90 yards wide, except in flood
time. When this rope has been stretched across the river, the native
rafts can be attached to it by running loops made of bruised creeper, and
the rafts pulled to and fro hand over hand. The rope enables a caravan
to cross in one day, whereas without it the passage might occupy seven
days. Such a rope is easily obtainable in Aden, and weighs 40 to 60 lbs.

APPENDIX I

349

On important and distant expeditions it may be worth while to take
a folding boat, in order to be independent of the avaricious river negroes,
who will strike for higher wages if they think you depend on their help.

When fitting out an expedition which may in the course of the journey
have to change to mule or human transport, as would occur at Harar or
in parts of Gallaland, it may be worth considering whether the loads
should not be capable of subdivision. Thus the boxes recommended for
holding European stores, if not very full and made a little lower, would
weigh about 55 lbs. Four of these would conveniently go on a camel,
two on a mule, one on a man.

“No work, no pay” should be the rule for jungle tribesmen, but in
the wilder parts of Somaliland it has hitherto been the custom for passing
caravans to make small presents to the heads of clans for the privilege
of going through the country. This payment is something similar to the
Masai Kongo. The etiquette is for a dozen horsemen or so to arrive from
a distance and perform equestrian games ( dibaltig ) ; afterwards the per-
formers and one or two elders are given presents, and then the caravan is
free to go on its way. In the territory of tribes I know I make the present
very small, say one red shawl and half a tobe to each horseman, and I
give a display with blank cartridge with the men formed up in skirmishing
order, as a return compliment, which is always appreciated.

In expeditions to Ogaden and Gallaland I recommend that Sheikh
Mattar of Hargeisa, if met with on the way, be asked to write Arabic
letters of introduction to Mahomedan sheikhs and mullahs. He is
widely known, and has often helped me in this way. He has also
assisted me by taking care of loads which I have had, on occasions, to
leave temporarily at Hargeisa.

Sometimes it may be worth while to hire extra camels (at 1 rupee
per diem for a camel and \ rupee for a man) for the first few days of
a journey. In my calculation I make no allowance for trophies, because
as a trip goes on the food-loads lighten.

As regards arrangements for the security of a caravan, I consider
that unless the escort is well in hand and thoroughly up to its duties it
will be worse than useless when an emergency arises. I do not believe
in engaging a certain proportion of the men for the special purpose of
forming the escort. If so engaged they will refuse to do all other
work, and will give themselves airs over the camelmen and servants. I

have tried the system, and found it lead to jealousy and the shirking

of duties. ^

In most of my expeditions I have engaged my men as headman,
camelmen, servants, and guides, having first explained that every
Somali of the caravan will take his share in the common defence.
When I have been making up my caravans I have first calculated the
number of servants I require, and engaged them myself, satisfying
myself on the spot that each either understands the use of a rifle or

is capable of soon learning it. The headman has been present, so

that if he has any personal objection to any of the men he may state it.
I have then told the headman to bring up for engagement the number
of camelmen I require, allowing him to choose his own friends ; and if
I find that any of these are unfit to be trusted with fire-arms I discard
them, and tell the headman to bring others in their place. To each
man I explain the special duties he is engaged for, and the duties which

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

he will share with all the members of the caravan, and ask if he is
satisfied. When the. men have all been engaged at the coast I appoint
a time of parade and a convenient spot on the shore, and each man
fires two or three rounds of ball ammunition at a mark, under my
superintendence. The ball ammunition should be brought to the spot
in a bag, not served out to the men. in fact I seldom serve out any7
ball ammunition till the caravan has made about two marches from the
coast. If it is a large amount it may be taken out for this distance on
a hired camel.

After these first few shots at a mark I hold two or three parades,
serving out ten rounds of blank ammunition per man at each, and
practise the men in skirmishing.

The rough drill which I have always used is as follows : —

The men form up in line about half a pace apart, with carbines
held perpendicularly in the right hand and close to the side (the
carbine “ shoulder ”).

On the word “ Advance” all run forward steadily, keeping a fairly
good line.

On the word “Halt” they drop to a sitting position (squatting
naturally, as natives do, on both heels).

“ Ready ” — the men load with blank cartridge.

“ Present” — the aim is taken.

“Fire” — the trigger is pressed.

“Advance” — the men run forward again, taking care to take out
any unexploded cartridge or to open the breech.

“Halt” — they sit as before, and wait for the word “Ready” or
Advance.” .

It might be advisable, if actually attacked when on the march, to
retire upon the camels the better to protect them ; so the men should
be practised in retiring steadily and sitting down facing the enemy to
fire, on the words ‘‘Retire” and “Halt.” The Somali should in all
these practices be told the supposed direction of the enemy, and also
that whenever he is given the word “Halt” he is to squat down facing
the enemy. I always carry a whistle ; and when the men are advancing,
retiring, or halted ready for firing volleys, I sound an alarm on the
whistle, and train them to run and form a rough double circle round
me, outer circle squatting on their heels, inner circle standing. We
then fire volleys, the idea being that the enemy is trying to ovenvhelm
the escort by a rush to close quarters.

On the word “Advance” the men run out in a rough line facing the
enemy. It is wonderful how quickly Somalis get to understand the
few English words of command necessary, and how well they grasp the
idea in each movement. This is because they are brought up from
childhood among raids and skirmishes.

The headman, if he is any good, will soon learn to command the
men at drill, and he should be often practised in this. The men take
the greatest delight in these drills, especially if plenty of blank cartridge
is given them, and when it is desirable to gain the firm friendship of a
tribe and at the same time to impress the tribesmen with the efficiency
of the escort, there is nothing like giving a display of this kind.

During the first few days’ march from the coast, when in unin-
habited country, I accustom the men to run out quickly to defend the

APPENDIX 1

351

line of camels. Moving out to the front, flank, or rear, I blow the
alarm whistle, and the men run out and sit down in line, facing the
supposed enemy. A few of the worst shots should be told off per-
manently, their duty being to stay among the camels and guard and
look after them, so that the bulk of the men will be free to attack the
enemy. This duty of holding camels in an emergency is not popular,
and this will be an incentive to the men to try and shine at the target
practices.

The natural habit of Somalis when marching with a caravan is for
the two or three camelmen who are required to lead the strings of
camels to be with them, while the bulk of the men either lead the way
or lag behind with the last camel. The camel makccdam should be
among these, and whenever a camel falls or shifts its load it is Somali
etiquette for every man near to run up to its assistance. It is not
generally necessary, therefore, except in very disturbed country, to tell
off a rearguard, and I do not believe in constantly worrying tired men
with theories when things are practically going on well.

In very disturbed country it is advisable to make only one long
march in the morning, and devote the afternoon to fortifying the camp
with a good zeriba. While it is still daylight every man should be
shown his place in case of a night alarm, and at dusk, having first
given notice to the men, the alarm whistle should be blown, and they
should jump to their places and then be dispersed. When night falls
it is the duty of the headman to see the watch-tires lit and to post the
sentry or sentries required. The fires should be outside the zeriba, and
screened by it, or by a bush, from the eyes of the sentry. If the glare
of the fire is in his face he will not be able to see out into the
darkness.

The relief of sentries, and all arrangements connected with them,
are best left to the headman. I found that Somalis, once posted, as a
rule make very faithful and reliable sentries. The usual challenge is,
“ War kuma'f” (Who’s there ?)

By day it is not usually necessary to keep a sentry, but there are
two occasions when Somalis are particularly off their guard. First, at
about 8 p.m., if they are grouped together eating camel-meat and
shouting to one another, so that nothing else can be heard ; secondly,
between 1 and 2 p.m., when they are generally all asleep, scattered
under the shade of different trees outside the camp. If I had the
conduct of an attack on Somalis, I should choose one of these occasions
for effecting a surprise.

The zeriba can be arranged in many ways, the principle being that
it should be low enough to fire over and wide enough to prevent a
rush. The zeriba of the Somali nomads, which is often twelve feet
high, shuts out all view of the outside ground, and is only a trap for
men armed with rifles. From four to five feet high and twelve feet
wide is a good zeriba. The great difficulty is where to place the camels,
and Somalis are prejudiced in favour of a circular zeriba with the camels
occupying the centre, which would not, I should say, be the European way.
When the camels are out grazing, or a few are sent with empty casks to
a distant well, enough men with fire-arms should be with them to defend
them, if necessary, and one man should be placed in command.

It often occurs in bush country that men lose themselves and

352

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

guiding shots are required, especially at night. The men should have
blank ammunition for this purpose, and should be fined for every ball
cartridge wasted in this way or fired indiscriminately at game. Firing
at game by men of the caravan, except under special circumstances,
should be strictly prohibited, as it causes danger to any natives or live
stock that may be about in the bush, and may land the traveller in a
troublesome blood-feud. Men who are paid off and sent to the coast
towards the end of a trip, or who are sent down in charge of camels,
should, if they are trustworthy, be allowed to take their rifles with them,
and they should be given cheques for their back pay, arrangements hav-
ing been made so that the cheques will not be honoured till the rifles
have been safely given up. It is not fair to expect a man to go through
the territory of strange tribes without his rifle, or, at any rate, a spear
and something to show that he is the servant of an Englishman.

If organising a Somali expedition I should begin by writing to the
authorities at Aden mentioning where I wished to go, and asking
whether political conditions were favourable, whether I should be
allowed to enter the country through British ports,1 and what escort I
should be required to provide myself with. I would, at the same time,
write to one of the Aden firms which I have named for information
regarding the times of sailing of coasting steamers. The securing of a
headman, on whom so much depends, may be seen to at the same
time ; the most reliable quarter to go to for information on this point
would probably be friends who have already been a trip and can
nominate a man. The name of a reliable headman, who is available,
having been obtained, he should be ordered to meet the traveller at
Aden on a named date.

Meanwhile all such articles as coats, cartridge-belts, store-boxes, or
Arab camel-saddle, which, if wanted at all, have to be made to order,
should be prepared by the Parsi firms. On arrival at Aden the traveller,
having already prepared a list of the number of men, camels, and caravan
kit he will require, can procure them with the help of the headman. It
may be advisable, if time is limited, for the headman to be sent to
Berbera (I am assuming Berbera as the starting-point) to buy camels,
camel-mats, axes, and other caravan kit, and have them ready by the
time his master comes out to Aden, the funds being provided for the
headman through the Aden firm acting as banker.

The simplest course, and one I have generally adopted, has been to go
over to Berbera, stay in camp there four or five days, and purchase camels
and necessaries myself, with the assistance of the headman. If, however,
more than forty camels are wanted, this may involve a delay of perhaps
ten days.

When returning from the interior I have found it saves a good deal of
worry to stay a few days in camp in the hills, and pay off the bulk of the
caravan with cheques on the Berbera agent. The men’s characters should
be at the same time given them, and they should be told firmly that they

i It must be remembered that there are generally more sporting parties than lions
near the coast, and the game is being driven farther and farther towards the distant
interior every year ; so it is necessary to go to unexplored tribes to get good sport.
It must be remembered also that a large coast belt has been reserved for shooting over
by officers of the Aden garrison ; and that the last Abyssinian treaty has further
curtailed the limits of the hunting-grounds.

APPENDIX 1

353

need expect to get nothing more by coming up in Berbera. The bulk of
the animals and kit should be sent down with the men, to be handed to
the agent for sale by auction. Only a few necessary camels and men
need be kept at the shooting camp, and during the two or three days’
halt the trophies can be prepared in bundles ready for transport by
steamer, small delicate specimens going in the empty store-boxes ; at the
same time search-parties might be out looking for koodoo. During the
Karif wind it is pleasant in the hills, while at Berbera there are constant
sand-storms, and so for half the day nothing can be done.

Both for a week before and after the expedition it is advisable to keep
the headman, body-servant, and cook to assist in the arrangements at
Aden and Berbera. Berbera has been named as the most convenient
port, but a start may also be made from Bulhar or Zeila ; and the camels,
if a large number be required, may be collected simultaneously from all
three places.

APPENDIX II

Physical Geography of Somaliland

With Notes on Pronunciation and Meaning of
Native Names

The Somali country occupies the triangle known as the “Horn of Africa,”
whose eastern angle is Cape Guardafui. The coast-line, beginning at
Gubbet Khrab, in the north-west, runs eastward for about six hundred
miles to Cape Guardafui, thence southward for eleven hundred miles to
Kismayu, near the mouth of the Juba River (Webbe Ganana).

Starting with the north Somali coast at our port of Berbera, the first
natural feature we come to is the sea-beach of sand and coralline limestone,
backed by the hot, semi-desert Maritime Plain, from two to twenty
miles broad, its breadth varying with the distance of the Maritime Ranges
from the coast. The plain, gradually sloping upwards from the sea, rises
to about three or four hundred feet at the base of the Maritime Mountains,
and these rise about a thousand feet higher. Beyond the Maritime
Mountains stony, jungle - covered interior plains rise to the high Golis
Range, the true plateau of the interior of Africa, which is in places nearly
6900 feet above sea-level. The country from the coast-line to the foot of
Golis, some thirty-five miles inland, is called Guban. Golis Range, with
its prolongations east and west, forms the seaward face of the high interior
country, which is called Ogo.

On the north Somali coast there are harbours at Berbera and Zeila, an
uninhabited creek at Khor Kulangarit, near Zeila, and the open roadstead
of Bulbar, partially protected by a surf-beaten spit of sand, which runs
for a few hundred yards parallel to the beach, over which at high tide
small dhows can pass, but steamers have to anchor outside.

Berbera is built in two parts, three-quarters of a mile distant from one
another. To the east is the native town, composed of a few Arab rubble
buildings, a fort, and a large number of permanent Somali huts of matting
and poles (called agal). These huts are divided by streets, the different
blocks of building space being allotted to the respective Somali tribes,
clans, and families. Three-quarters of a mile to the west is the new or
official town, originally built by the Egyptians, the houses being of rubble
masonry, in one story, with flat roofs. There is a good pier.

Berbera harbour, which is an excellent one, and the best to be found
either on the north or east Somali coast, is formed by a sand spit, similar

APPENDIX 11

355

to that at Bulhar, but rising above high-water mark. It starts from the
native town and runs west for two miles till well beyond the official town.
Inside this spit large steamers are well protected. On the shore, nearly
three miles west of the new town, is a lighthouse, built by the Egyptians
before the British Government took over the north Somali coast. Clearing
the point of the sand spit, it marks the entrance to the harbour. The
water-supply is obtained from a spring near the old Egyptian fort of
Dubar, eight miles inland under the Maritime Ranges, the water being
brought over the Maritime Plain in pipes.

The plain immediately round Berbera is covered wdth white pebbles
and devoid of bushes ; a mile or two inland, it becomes sandy and covered
with a flat-topped mimosa ( khansa ), growing to a height of about three
feet. There are also scattered thorn-bushes about twelve feet high. The
plain round Berbera has been greatly denuded of bush for firewood since
1885. I have watched this denudation gradually going on year after year,
and have attributed it to the increased traffic since the British have been
at Berbera, and to the fact that the town is now well populated all the
year round, giving the bush no chance of recovering after the trade season
is over. In the Maritime Ranges there are gaps, through which can be
seen the towering blue line of Golis. At a distance of about twenty miles
east and west of Berbera the Maritime Ranges come down to within a
mile or two of the sea, receding again at Bulbar to form a semicircle of
hills with a radius of fourteen miles ; then towards Zeila the Maritime
Plain widens to thirty or forty miles.

Zeila is one hundred and seventy miles north-west of Berbera by the
coast caravan-track, anti consists of one compact town of mat-huts, with
about fifty substantial Arab buildings. There is, strictly speaking, no
harbour, but vessels lying off the place are protected by small islands to
the north and west. The site of Zeila is low, and at high spring- tides
it is almost an island. Water for the use of the town is carried in goat-
skins from Tukusha, three miles to the west.

For a mile or two inland the Zeila Maritime Plain is a desert of smooth
sand, then there is a strip of low evergreen bush, and behind this a great
open grass plain or ban, intersected by many dry river-beds, fringed with
tamarisks and acacias. Travelling across this plain in 1890, my brother
described it in his Journal as follows: “ Except one or two low hills
there is nothing to break the broad sheet of dull yellow, merging into
blue haze on the horizon, here and there divided into light and dark
patches by the shadows of the drifting clouds.”

This prairie rises to Eilo and Bur-ad Ranges to the south, thirty -five
or forty miles inland, and stretches away to the north- west along the
foot of the Tajurra Mountains nearly to the French settlement of Obok.
Between Obok and Zeila is another settlement created by the French,
called Jibuti, which within the last three or four years has risen into
notice. The site is a promontory of coral-rock, and there is a good
harbour and a pier. The French are working hard to develop the place,
in order if possible to make it compete with Zeila as a trade-port.

At Bulhar, forty-two miles west of Berbera by the coast-track, the
Ayyal Yunis sub-tribe of the Habr Awal settle during the trading
season, from November to April. At this time both Berbera and
Bulhar are surrounded by the karias, or temporary kraals of the halted
trading caravans, and these karias stretch far out into the Maritime

356 THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

Plain ; but from May to October the town is nearly empty, a detachment
of police being kept there as a guard. The Bulhar Plain is a vast
expanse of bush, surrounded by blue mountains, and viewed from the
sea, with the loug line of white beach in the foreground, is very striking.
Two very notable landmarks well known to sailors are Elmas Mountain,
thirteen miles west of Bulhar, and Laba Gumbur Mado (the “ two
black hills ”), twenty-five miles east of Berbera. Elmas rises to about
1500 feet, and is a cluster of bold peaks.

The Maritime Mountains are composed principally of limestone,
and in parts are nearly as barren-looking as the volcano at Aden.
Here and there they are cut through by river-beds like the wadi of
Arabia, water percolating slowly, hidden at various depths below a
glaring expanse of dry powdery sand. Sometimes water is so near the
surface that the sand is moist, and it can be got by scraping out a hole
with the hands, though generally it is obtained by digging the Ids , or
shallow pit, through the surface sand.

However inviting these smooth stretches of sand may appear, a
camp should never be pitched in the main channel. On a dozen
different occasions, after heavy rain in the hills, I have seen a yellow
flood, two to four feet deep and fifty yards wide, rush foaming down
the dry channel of the Issutugan with great speed, rolling down in
front of it a mass of branches, debris, and large boulders, and under-
mining the high perpendicular banks, pieces of which would drop into
the river with a loud splash. At such a time the whole of the river-
bed in front of the freshet has been absolutely dry, untouched by water
perhaps for months. These freshets dwindle to a trickling stream in
about six hours, and may cease to flow in two days. The water does
not always reach the sea, as the dry loose sand of the Maritime Plain
drinks it up. After one of these floods has run itself away a thin layer
of mud remains deposited, which dries, cracks, and curls up into small
flakes, to be swept away in a few days by the wind, leaving the surface
of the sand again exposed.

At Bulhar, when there has been particularly heavy rain in the hills,
the Issutugan comes' sweeping down over twenty miles of river-bed and
plain, and reaching the coast makes a clear cut through the high bank
behind the sea -beach. When the river dries the sea -bank is again in
the course of time silted up by the surf to its original height. At
ordinary times the water of the Issutugan, which is a typical tug or
Somali sand-river, loses itself in the sand at So-Midgan, twenty-three
miles inland from Bulhar, and sinking deep down below the Maritime
Plain, collects behind the sea-bank, where it can be reached by digging.

Vast numbers of shallow pits, which render riding rather dangerous
at night, are seen at intervals along the coast between Bulhar and Zeila.
They contain water which is brackish, but drinkable. After being used
for some time the well deepens, striking through the layer of fresh water
into the underlying sea- water, and a new pit has to be dug. Where the
Issutugan cuts through the Maritime Hills, which it does for forty miles
of its course, there is generally a tiny rivulet of water running along the
centre of its bed, now and then sinking out of sight, to reappear again
a mile or two below, the sand saturated with water held in suspension,
forming awkward although not dangerous quicksands.

The aspect of the Maritime Mountains is very forbidding. Bare

APPENDIX II

357

precipices rise everywhere, or the hills form great rounded shoulders,
having a surface of gravel sprinkled over with a wretched scrub of
little brown bushes a foot high, which are generally dry as tinder.
Between Berbera and Bulhar the mountains come closer to the sea,
and take the form of low, table-topped plateaux of black trap-rock,
with fringing precipices about thirty feet deep, and a steep talus slope
of debris dropping three hundred feet to the level of the river-beds
which cut through these plateaux. Hegebo, near Berbera, is a typical
plateau of this kind, and on the Zeila side of the British Protectorate
this sort of ground covers an enormous area. On the top of the
plateaux the surface has the appearance of having been rained upon by
showers of black stones. Here and there tufts of feathery grass grow
in the crevices, and there is light, open jungle of flat -topped thorn
bushes. Everywhere there are boulders and jagged or rounded pieces
of rock, so that where there are no paths caravans cannot go. The sun
beating down on the polished black surfaces causes great heat, and dis-
tresses the baggage animals, and the stones are very trying to horses’
feet, even camels going better over them. The sand-rivers find their
wa}r through these plateaux from the high mountains to the sea, forming
deep gullies, the expanse of sand and green bush below contrasting
strangely with the black frowning heights on either side.

Between the Maritime Mountains and the great Golis Range are
elevated, undulating interior plains, intersected by river-beds and ravines
running generally from south to north. These slope up in continuation
of the Maritime Plain, but present greater variety of scenery : here a
strip of gravel and rocky ground scantily dotted with low mimosa bushes,
and cut up by torrent-beds choked with rough boulders and a tangle
of savage thorns, there a wide sand-river winding through a belt of thick
forest of the beautiful gudd , or larger tliorn-tree, with a dense under-
growth of pointed aloes,1 making it impossible to move about except in
the sheep and game paths. Narrow strips of thorn -bushes and dark
green poison-trees ( wab6 ) wind down from the mountains, marking the
tributary watercourses. The river-beds themselves consist of broad,
Hat, sandy reaches between alluvial banks, which have been scarped
perpendicularly, at alternate points on the right and left, where the
swirling water has undermined them with an inward sweep. Large
gudd trees grow closely together at the edge of the steep or overhanging
banks, their branches being covered with long drapery of arrno creepers,
which hang down, often as much as thirty feet, to the level of the river-
bed below. Behind the jungle which fringes the banks is high grass,
until the ground rises, when the red soil, exposed by the action of the
rains, is worked into miniature hills and valleys. Here and there at
the side or in the centre of the channel is a clump of thorn-trees, round
which the sand has been washed up into a bank, and masses of drift-
wood are heaped round the lower branches. Between the parallel sand-
rivers of the interior plains are watersheds of stony ground, very trying
to travel over, the sunbeams beating down on the stony path, glittering
on the points of the aloes, and being reflected like fire from the thousands
of chipped rocks, scattered pieces of quartz, feldspar, and mica which
everywhere crop above the surface.

Two days’ march due south of Berbera, having crossed the interior
1 Really not an aloe but Sanseveira .

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THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

plains, we arrive at the higher mountains, rising to nearly 6900 feet.
Golis is the collective name, though Somalis have a name for each flat-
topped bluff*, as Daar-ass (Red clay), Gan-Libah (Lion hand), Ban-yero
(Little plain), and Dig-wein (Big ears). In fact, in Somaliland every
watering-place, hill, or mound, and many a prominent tree, has some
descriptive name known to all the local tribes.

The Golis Range forms a gigantic step rising abruptly on the northern
or coast face, and presenting to the sea, thirty-five miles distant, great
scarped precipices and bold descents, long walls of perpendicular rock,
red, yellow, or gray in colour, fringing the summit for many miles.
The whole interior of Somaliland presents the appearance of having,
in some great movement of the earth’s crust, been elevated from the
level of Guban, an abrupt break or fault occurring at Golis Range, which
seems to have been upheaved for about six thousand feet ; while at
Hargeisa the country is crumpled up into a chaos of hills, Guban rising
gradually into Ogo in several successive steps instead of in one great
fault. On the Hargeisa side the country between the levels of Guban
and Ogo is called Ogo-Guban. At the base of the fringing precipices,
which are two or three hundred feet high, vast tumbled masses of rock
which have slipped from the crest lie heaped together half-buried among
the foliage of tall cedar-trees and a profusion of forest growth, forming
caves and moss - grown recesses with great variety of wildflowers, and
clumps of maiden- hair fern growing in the damp crevices of the rocks.
The soil is a rich black vegetable mould.

There can be no greater contrast than that between this fine mountain
country and the brown sterile shores of the Gulf of Aden. Often as one
looks down from the top of Golis the whole of Guban is hidden from
view by an immense expanse of white cloud lying below, resembling a
storm -tossed sea, the tops of Deimoleh- Wein and other detached hills
rising like islands above it. The air is so clear in the elevated Interior
that from a hill in the Eilo Range, above Zeila, I have recognised each
separate bluff of Golis at a distance of one hundred and twenty miles.
In these hills the roar of a lion or the alarm note of a koodoo can be
heard echoing up the gorges for great distances.

On the northern slope, at about a thousand feet below the level of the
crest of Golis, is a ledge of broken ground, a mile or two wide, running
parallel to the range for twenty or thirty miles. It is called Mirso, or
“The Haven,” and is a favourite pasture of the Habr Awal and Habr
Gerhajis tribes, and also good ground for koodoo. It is covered with
jungle, but the soil is shallow and stony. A gigantic blue-green cactus,
or euphorbia, called hassddan, grows here to a height of about forty
feet, and gives a very dense shade. The sap is a white milky liquid,
which pours from every cut in the tree, and if caught in cups and
dried, solidifies into a kind of rubber. The top of the range is covered
with dense jungle of mountain cedar. In the gorges some of these
trees, called dayeb, grow tall and straight, often four feet in diameter
at the foot, and over a hundred feet high ; but more frequently the
dayeb forest is of comparatively stunted growth, being about forty feet
high, with the trunks and branches much bent and twisted. The best
trees which I saw were under Daar-ass Bluff, near Kulmeye in Mirso,
and on Wagar Mountain, farther east.

From the crest of Golis the country slopes towards the south-east,

APPENDIX II

359

falling gently towards the interior, the cedar- forests ceasing at a distance
of about six miles inside the crest, and opening out into grassy downs
or thorn-covered wilderness. Soon, as we pass through Ogo, the Haud
waterless country, from one hundred to two hundred and fifty miles
across, is reached ; and on its farther edge the ground again drops
slightly, as at Milmil, into Ogaden, the broad broken surface of Ogaden
finally sloping into the valley of the Webbe Shabeleh or Leopard Liver,
beyond which is the Juba. Where the Haud Plateau drops at Milmil
the limestone surface, which is covered with red soil, breaks up into
flat-topped hills, which continue the level of the Haud, but cease a little
farther south. They are covered with high durr grass, and form some
of the most favourite retreats for lions. Thus the Golis Range and its
prolongations east and west are the most prominent natural feature in
Northern Somaliland, forming the watershed between Ogo, the high
cool country, and Guban, the arid coast belt. Guban is drained by
sand-rivers and ravines, which, starting at Golis, pass through the interior
plains and cut through the Maritime Ranges, the water being eventually
lost under the Maritime Plain, to reappear near the surface behind the
sea-shore. I consider the whole of the Guban country to be almost
valueless, except as a pasture for sheep and goats, as it is only upon
reaching the high country that the soil is found to be fertile.

The Haud is the great elevated wilderness which separates Ogaden and
Harar from Ogo, Guban, and the coast. The Somali word haud is used
to describe a peculiar kind of country, consisting of thick and sometimes
impenetrable tliorn-jungle, broken up by shallow watercourses, and
generally having an undergrowth of liig or ddr aloes. The great water-
less plateau generally called the Haud is really a district, and besides the
variety of ground properly called haud, includes large strips of open,
rolling grass plains called ban, or, to the south-east, semi-desert country
called aror. Ban is the Somali term for an open plain absolutely or
nearly devoid of bushes.

In the wooded parts of the Haud dense thorn-jungles alternate with
small glades of durr grass six feet high, luxuriating in beautiful feathery
clumps, with a level red soil ; ant-hills crop up at about every hundred
yards, their pinnacles often rising to twenty-five feet. Some of the dead
thorn -trees are lialf-eaten by white ants, and the debris of fallen ones
is scattered about half-buried in the soil, where it has been swept along
by sheets of water during the last rains. The remains of galdl bushes
attain an almost iron hardness, and many a wound have I and my
followers received at night by stumbling against a gori , or jagged stump,
half-hidden in the high grass. There is excellent pasture in the glades
and between the bushes, the Haud pastures being considered better than
those of Ogo or Guban. Extensive tracts of fertile soil, of good depth,
are to be found at about five thousand feet elevation ; and although,
except at one or two mullah villages, none of them are under cultivation,
owing to the nomadic life of the people, they may yet in the distant
future become very valuable. The rainfall in the higher parts of the
country is ample, and the water would only require to be stored in tanks
to ensure a supply all the year round. Of course for three months in
the dry season the whole of the soil is baked hard by the sun, but the
same thing occurs in India. In June, when there is a hot wind at the
coast, cool breezes blow over the elevated Haud, making it possible to

360 THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

march all day long ; and although in the sun it is hot, yet in a tent pitched
under the shade of a flat-topped gadd tree it is sometimes quite chilly,
even at mid-day, while it is disagreeably so in the early mornings.

The Haud was first crossed by Mr. F. L. James and his party in the
winter of 1884-85, and a description of the journey is given in his book,
The Horn of Africa. Their camels were carrying loads for thirteen days
without touching a drop of water. The description of the Haud in the
above-named work, although I believe it to be an accurate portrait of the
country passed over by that expedition, does not give any idea of the
pleasant coolness and apparent fertility of the more elevated north-
eastern Haud. Mr. James’s party crossed this district at almost its
widest part, and in the Jildl or driest season. The plateau is traversed
by several warda , or great trade routes, to the far interior from the coast,
generally running nearly north and south. In the strips of ban , or open
plain, often many miles wide, all caravan paths are lost, each caravan
crossing independently of landmarks, and no impression is left on the
growing grass. Once the ban is passed, however, all tracks will have
converged into one well-worn path, or group of parallel paths. One of
the most important of these is the Warda Gumared crossing the plateau
from Hargeisa to Milmil.

The drainage from the Haud and Ogaden finds its way into the Nogal
Valley, or into the Webbe Shabeleh, eventually falling into the Indian
Ocean on the east Somali coast, assigned to the Italian sphere of influence.
In reality, the Shabeleh, I believe, does not actually reach the ocean, but
falls into marshes near Mukdislia (Magadoxo). Farther south, beyond
the Webbe Shabeleh and the Webbe Ganana or Juba, is the Tana River,
rising near Mount Kenia in the Masai country and flowing east. The
Somalis make annual raids as far south as the Tana, to within a few
days’ march of Lamu on the east coast, but, so far as we know at present,
the permanent Somali country may be considered to lie well to the north
of the Juba. Most of this river lies in Gallaland, and its sources have
been scarcely touched by any European explorer, except, perhaps, by the
Italian explorer Captain Bottigo.

I have said that some of the highest ground in Somaliland is Golis,
continuations of which stretch far away to the eastward, parallel to the
sea-shore as far as Cape Guardafui, forming the bold, almost unexplored
coast-line visible from the decks of steamers passing along the southern
side of the Gulf of Aden. But there is a still higher mountain system,
that of the Harar Highlands, up to the foot of which the Haud Plateau
extends. The Haud gradually falls towards the south-east, and rises ever
higher the farther one goes westward, its north-west angle being occupied
by the high ban known as the Marar Prairie. This magnificent expanse
of open grass land is fifty-six miles long by thirty-five broad, having an
area of nearly one thousand square miles, and an elevation ranging from
4900 feet to 6300 feet. There are a few grassy knobs like the Subbul
Hills which rise singly out of the'plains to nearly 7000 feet above sea-level.

In the Jildl season the Marar Prairie is a sheet of yellow grass, quite
dried up, but still containing nourishment — the varieties being chiefly
daremo , dike , and durr, all three having valuable fattening qualities for
horses or camels. After the first rains the young grass begins to come
up in patches of vivid green, the old, longer grass falls, and soon the
plains are entirely covered with a carpet of rich green turf, short and

APPENDIX 11

361

crisp, inviting a gallop, and having almost the appearance of unlimited
English pasture. The soil is red and powdery. Some of our camps on
the plains were between 6000 and 7000 feet above sea-level. The country
is probably similar to the South African veldt, the great elevation in a
measure compensating for the nearness to the equator.

There is heavy rainfall, the Marar Prairie partaking of that of Harar
and Abyssinia, but the water sinks to a great depth, so that with the
exception of temporary rain-pools the surface is waterless. There are,
however, many permanent watering-places in the jungle-covered hills and
broken ground bordering the prairie to the north and west, and in the
Harar Highlands, whose lofty summits can be seen overlooking the
western edge of the plain, some of them rising to over 10,000 feet. The
Somalis say there is sometimes ice on these mountains, and that people
die of cold.

The Marar Prairie supports enormous masses of game, and upon it I
have had many a good day’s sport. Although this is the largest ban we
have actually circumscribed and measured, it may not be larger than
many others in unexplored parts of Somaliland, but is probably the best
in quality. Some of the low-lying ban — as, for instance, that of the
Zeila Maritime Plain — is of very poor quality, and this is partly why the
Esa is not a mounted tribe. I am told by Dolbahanta tribesmen whom 1
took to Marar, that there are similar elevated plains at the back of the
unexplored Warsingali country. There are many other fine patches of
ban in the Hand which have been explored by us, as at Aror and Toyo.

My brother, while passing through the Esa country, wrote] in his
Journal: “After leaving Doleimalleh we came across a strip of plain
which seemed to afford an example of the manner in which the ban is
formed. There were miles upon miles of dead and bleached thorn- trees,
about twenty feet high, evidently vigorous some ten years ago. These
had either been killed by very heavy floods, as the ground is flat and
water does not drain off easily, or had been destroyed by extensive fires.
Among these trees were scores of red ant-hills, eight or ten feet high, and
many of the dead trees were overwhelmed by them, just a branch or the
part of a trunk projecting here and there. When the trees have all been
eaten the termites no doubt leave, and their mounds are washed away by
rain and wind, leaving behind only a vast grassy plain.”

The extreme north-western angle of the Marar Prairie is marked by
a hill called Sarir Gerad, and from its base the ground falls abruptly to
the north into the Harrawa Valley in the Gadabursi country, and to the
west into deep gorges which lead towards Gildessa. The bushes cling in
a sharply-defined line to the rugged hills of denudation into which the
high prairie breaks up. The main rock of these hills is limestone, much
eroded in the ravines by water, and weathered into holes and caves, lined
with deposits of stalactite. Some of the torrents which descend to the
east of Sarir cut through deep alluvial deposits, leaving overhanging earth
banks eighty to one hundred feet deep. The whole of this wild and
mountainous region is very picturesque, and the more interesting to a
sportsman because, together with the Harrawa Yalley, it is still visited
at the right season by two or three herds of elephants. The average
elevation of this valley is about 5000 feet above sea-level. The vegetation
is very luxuriant, the predominating kind being the hassadan or euphorbia,
which here grows to a height of from thirty to sixty feet. There is a

362

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

great variety of flowers, and the grass is excellent in this valley, which
stretches away several days’ journey into the Esa country.

It can be well understood in a country of such an extended area, and
varying so much in elevation, that a large variety of plants and trees
exists ; and in addition to the vegetation already noticed there are many
bushes and trees which one learns to recognise. in- the course of a journey.
It is of course impossible to mention all, but the following are a few of
the most conspicuous : —

The most thorny of all the bushes I consider to be the billeil. This
horrible bush grows to a height of about ten feet, and is covered with
small curved hooks of great strength which cannot be disregarded. The
soclcso, adad , galol, khansa are other more or less thorny bushes which are
met with everywhere. The adad produces the best gum-arabic ( hdbag ),
large transparent knobs the size of a pigeon’s egg being visible in the
joints of the branches. The galol is a twisted, straggling, and untidy-
looking thorn-tree, growing to a height of fifteen to twenty-five feet, the
root being used for hardening and making watertight the bark hdns or
water-vessels used by Somali caravans. The branches have very little
strength, and are useless for building platforms in when watching for
game. There are thorns over an inch long, each springing from a white
bulb.

The jungles in Ogaden chiefly consist of the galol and the khansa.
The giant euphorbia called hassadan grows in the hills and in the Haud,
seldom, much above or below five thousand feet. The derkein is a tree
allied to the hassadan , but is found at a lower elevation, and is very
common in the Dolbahanta country, growing in thick compact groves,
and within these groves it is the custom of the natives to bury their dead.
Two large thorn-trees of great beauty are the gudd and the wadi. The
gudd has a dark stem and grows to a height of from thirty to fifty feet,
spreading out to an umbrella-top and giving excellent shade. The wadi
has a whitish stem and spreads out like the gudd , but more symmetrically,
and is ornamented with white thorns about five inches long. The kedi
and the megag are conspicuous trees. The kedi grows without a branch
for about eight feet, and then breaks out into a compact rounded mass of
long, green, soft thorns, growing one out of the other, in the same way
as a prickly pear. The megag is much the same in shape, but there are
no thorns, and it breaks out into small twisted branches, matted together,
with tiny blue-gray leaves. Another tree is the garas, having leaves like
a laurel, while the roots and bifurcations of the stems contain deep recesses
which often hold drinking-water after rain. The wabe, or dark green
poison-tree, is very common in the mountains, a concoction of arrow-
poison being made from the roots. The athei is a small bush with gray
leaves, the twigs of which form the native substitute for a toothbrush in
Somaliland. Ergin is a slender, green, grass-like bush of the cactus kind,
with a milky sap, which forms dense cover and is often the resort of
leopards. Ddr and hig , the latter of which produces excellent rope-fibre,
are apparently varieties of the aloe, and cover enormous areas. There is
no ground more favoured by the lesser koodoo.

Of the larger trees the most conspicuous are the Jim, a fig-tree, and
the gob , a very large thorny tree growing on the banks of river-beds,
with edible berries of an orange colour, the size of a cherry, and containing
a large stone. In taste they resemble apples, and are delicious eating.

APPENDIX II

363

The tomctiyo is a root like a knotted swede, growing three inches below
the surface in the soft red soil of the Haud and Ogaden. It is green and
purple outside, and inside consists of a white watery pulp which will
allay thirst. This plant is difficult to find, and has to be burrowed for.
Armo, a vividly green creeper with large, fleshy, heart-shaped leaves,
covers all the trees by the river-beds, hanging festooned like a curtain,
and turning the gudd thorn-trees into natural shady bowers. Of the
three best grasses already mentioned as growing in the Haud, the durr
grows to about six feet, the daremo to about fifteen inches, and dilie to
about four inches. All these grasses curl and twist about very much, the
durr spreading out into branches like a bush. The favourite cover chosen
by a lion is in nine cases out of ten either durr grass, khansa forest, or
the reeds ( aldlo ) growing at the margin of a river-bed.

The Somali climate is on the whole very dry and bracing, and there is
no malarial fever to speak of except on the Webbe Shabeleli River.

In the Maritime Hills the highest shade temperature I have registered
is 118° Fahr. at mid-day, and on the cool elevated Haud country the tem-
perature just before sunrise has often been as low as 56° in June. The
lowest temperature I ever registered was 49°.

During the months of July, August, and September 1892, my brother
took daily five or six observations with barometer and thermometer.
The following shade temperatures, taken at random from his tables, may
be of interest : —

Date.

Place.

Elevation
in feet
above
sea-level.

Time.

Thermo-

meter.

0 Fahr.

July 4-8

Berbera

35

8 A.M.

94i

12.15 p.m.

99

6 P.M.

99i

9.30 p.m.

95

„ 17-20 .

Hargeisa Wells .

3938

6.30 a.m.

67

8 A.M.

67

Noon.

82

5.25 p.m.

80

9.5 p.m.

74i

„ 23 .

Kheidub-Ayeyu

3841

1.30 A.M.

56

(Haud)

5 A.M.

61

Noon.

83

9 P.M.

75

„ 25-28 .

Gagab (Milrnil)

3429

5 A.M.

63

Noon.

85

2.30 p.m.

82

9 P.M.

68

August 8-10 .

Waror (Jerer Valley)

4161

4 A.M.

59

6.30 a.m.

63

9.30 a.m.

69i

1 P.M.

84

3 P.M.

85

364 THROUGH SOMALILAND AND. ABYSSINIA

Date.

Place.

Elevation
in feet
above
sea-level.

Time.

Thermo-

meter.

°Fahx.

August 31

Harrhe

5761

1 P.M.

80

2 P.M.

75

Sept. 3-5

Makanis (Marar

6209

6 A.M.

56

Prairie)

7 P.M.

65

„ 9 .

Kalerug .

6310

3.30 p.m.

72J

„ io .

Sarir Gerad

6330

6 A.M.

56

„ 24 .

Biyo Kaboba .

3353

Noon.

1034

„ 25-26 .

Hassein Gedfchi

2252

5 A.M.

67

„ 30 . .

Lehellu

10

2 P.M.

93

October 4

Zeila

45

3 A.M.

84

10 P.M.

85

Glossary of Geographical Names

Tlie names have been spelt in accordance with the Royal Geographical
Society’s system, vowels having an Italian pronunciation, ei being pro-
nounced as in the English word “weight,” and so forth.

The following will occur often in geographical names, some being
modern terms, others having fallen into disuse in ordinary conversation : —

Ad, Ado, white.

Ass, red.

Ban, an open plain ; as Ban-yero,
little plain.

Biyo, Biya, water ; as Biyo-foga, dis-
tant water ; Biya-ha-godleh, water
of the place of caves.

Bur, a mountain or hill ; as Bur-
mddo, the black hill.

Daba, foothills ; as Daba-ddo, the
white hills.

Dag ah, a rock ; as Dagaha-ddyer,
the monkey-rock.

Dih, a valley ; as Dih-wiyileh, the
valley of rhinoceroses.

Dur-dur, a perennial spring.

j Eil, a deep well ; as Eil Sheikh, the
Sheikh’s well.

Gad, a headland or bluff ; as Gadki-
gobleh, the bluff of the place of
the gob tree.

Ged, a tree ; as Ged-wein , big tree.

Gola, Gol, a peak ; as Gola-dagah ,
the rocky peak ; Gol-aderyu , the
peak of koodoos.

Gumbur, a hillock ; as Gumbur-ta-
jifto, the sloping hillock.

Habr, Rer, and the Arabic Ayyal,
are tribal prefixes.

Hassddan, a euphorbia tree ; Has-
sadinleh, the place of the eu-
phorbia.

lledd , or Dud, a forest ; as Dud-
libah, the lion forest.

Kabr, graves ; as Kabr Ogdden, the
Ogaden graves.

Karin or Duss, a pass ; as Karin-
dagali, the rocky pass.

Las, a shallow well or sand-pit ; as
Las Anod, milk well.

Mdido, Mddu , or Madoba, black.

Magala, a town ; thus Berbera is
called Magala-sahil, the “ coast
town.”

Nds, a pointed breast or hillock ;
as Nds-g6dki , the hillock of the
cave ; Ndso hablod, the maiden’s
breasts.

Sara,r, a plateau ; as Sarar-ki- addda,
the white plateau.

APPENDIX II

365

Tug , a sand-river ; as Tug-d6r , the
long river.

Webbe , a large running river ; as
Webbe ShabUeh, the leopard river.
Wein, great ; yer, small.

The plural is often formed by
doubling the last consonant and add-
ing o ; as Dubbur, plural Duburro.
Leli is a termination constantly

occurring in geographical names, and
meaning locality ; thus : —

Armdleli , the place of armo
creepers.

Libah, a lion ; Libahleh, the place
of lions.

Shabel, a leopard ; Shabeleh , place
of leopards.

War aba, a hyaena ; Wardbileh , the
place of hyaenas.

Besides those given above, the following meanings of names which are
to be found in the map will be interesting : —

Adadleh , the place of adad trees.
Alola-Jifen , sloping plateau.
Badwein, large tank.

Biyo-ado , white water.

Biyo Frinji , the Franks’ watering-
place.

Bur Ad, white hill.

Bur Anod, hill of milk.

Bur Dab, rocky hill.

Burka , ;the hill.

Daar-Ass , red clay.

Dabada Jidleli , hill of the jia tree.
Dag aha Madoba , the black rock.
Dagahbur , rocky hill.

Deimoleh, place of deima trees.
Dere-godleh, the ravine of the cave
place.

Derin-galolo, the ravine of gal 61
trees.

Digirin-leh, place of guinea-fowl.
Dig-wein, big ears.

Dih-bauna , valley of rock rabbits.

Eil Anod, milky well.

Eil Armo, well of the armo creeper.
Eil Birddleh, well of the birda tree.
Eil Midgdn, bush man’s well.

Eil Sheikh, the Sheikh’s well.

Gal Hedigdleh, gully of the stars.
Gdn-Libah, lion’s paw.

Garasleh, the place of garas trees.

Gol Ader-yu, the peak of koodoo.
Goridleh, place of tree-stumps.
Guddweina, the large gudd tree.
Gumbur Dug, the hillock of gad-flies.
Hedd-Godir, koodoo forest.

Hegebo , many hills.

Issutugan, straight river.
Laba-Gumbur-mddo, the two black
hillocks.

Magala-yer, little town.

Marodileh , the place of elephants.
Nasiya, resting-place.

Sarar-awr, the camel plateau.
Shimbirdleh, the place of birds.

APPENDIX III

Fitting out an Expedition for Abyssinia

It will give some insight into the requirements of travel in Abyssinia if
we assume that it is intended to go by Zeila to Harar and perhaps on to
visit Addis- Abbaba, the capital of the Negus, and then by permission to
start for the almost unknown shooting-grounds in the interior and on the
inland south-west borders of the country.

Under the new order of things, now that there is a British Resident
who goes to Addis- Abbaba periodically, the preliminaries for the journey
of a British subject would naturally require his concurrence ; and no
attempt to carry out such a journey would be successful without the
permission of the Negus.

Different travellers suit their taste in the composition of their caravans,
and whether they took Abyssinians, Soudanese blacks, Arabs, or Somalis
for their personal servants would depend on the point at which it was
proposed to enter the country, and on the races the traveller’s own local
experience has made him most familiar with.

If I were going in from Zeila I should take a small self-contained
caravan of Somali servants, rationed for the trip, who would understand
me and who could be depended upon to obey orders whatever the emer-
gency. Whether they would be armed or not would depend on the Abys-
sinian authorities ; but if the necessary permission could be obtained they
would be trusted with rifles ; and in any case spare sporting rifles would
always be present in the baggage or in their hands to meet extraordinary
emergencies. Even if the servants were allowed to be armed, the am-
munition should be locked up at ordinary times when marching through
friendly country. Travelling in an organised country like Abyssinia is
totally different from going among nomad tribes under a merely patriarchal
system ; yet it must be remembered the people themselves are armed, and
local insurrections and civil wars are always possible.

I am strongly in favour of taking a few of these dependable coast-men,
for otherwise the traveller, once in Abyssinia, is absolutely in the hands
of the headman told off to assist him by the authorities of the Negus, or
by one of the Rases. Not one of the Abyssinians will obey a single order
given by any but his feudal superior, and even that functionary’s orders
are seldom paid careful attention to ; generally, before the humblest
muleteer will notice an order given by a white man, even, for example,
if it is only to pick up a bucket or to disentangle a mule’s foot from a coil
of rope, it may be necessary to hunt up the headman ; and the headman,

APPENDIX 111

367

as is often the case, may be lying in his tent drunk, thus involving con-
siderable delay. This is scarcely exaggeration.

As I am still in favour of each white man having his own small caravan
complete, and the two or more white men amalgamating when together.
I shall consider only one traveller, and the arrangements can easily be
multiplied.

We will suppose he is to be absent from the coast for six months. Of
the faithful coast-men, he will require a cook, a tent-boy, two shikaris
(one of whom may be the head coast-man or confidential headman and
interpreter), and two saises ; that is, six Somalis in all.

Thus if two white men were clubbing together, there would be twelve
reliable Somalis — a very useful number.

They should be rationed for the whole trip ; this would not be difficult,
as six Somalis for six months require 1080 lbs. rice, 540 lbs. dates, and
180 lbs. ghee, which would be carried by seven camels, twelve mules, or
nineteen donkeys. As the rations were consumed, the transport animals
would be available for skin and horn trophies, and all kinds of collections.

The ordinary traveller who has made no such arrangement for a small
permanent following, rationed for the trip, will have to live from hand to
mouth ; the “breads” and beer sent by the King’s orders, or other arrange-
ment, will often not be ready for him at the right point ; and one cannot
blame the Abyssinian muleteers and followers if, failing food, they walk
away in a body and leave the European sitting at the roadside unattended,
surrounded by a pile of baggage. Here the few well-rationed, obedient
coast-men would come in useful. If utterly left in the lurch by the
Abyssinian s, the baggage could at least be got back to the coast or to
more hospitable country, instead of the traveller being detained practically
a prisoner till such time as he would be allowed to proceed. While out-
wardly polite, the Abyssinian high official can, without employing force,
easily stop any traveller who lives from hand to mouth, by merely sending
the “breads” to the wrong place ; he will be profuse in his apologies, but he
will withhold the “breads” at his good-will and pleasure ; moreover some
of these officials are quite capable of giving a double set of instructions.

I am allowing for two shikaris and two saises, because one of each
should always be with his master, and doubling them allows for sickness.
The riding mule and sporting rifle would then be in reliable hands, though
an Abyssinian shikari who knew the country and language would also be
necessary to secure sport. The sais also should be assisted by an Abys-
sinian muleteer who can interpret. In this way the traveller will always
have two coast-men with him whenever he is out on his mule.

In case of desertion by the Abyssinians, the extra sais and shikari, cook
and tent-servant, four men in all, could, with the aid of a few small boys,
collect donkey transport and manage to get the baggage along somehow.

It will here be useful to calculate the total transport required by the
traveller and his six coast followers. I am assuming that no special
scientific work is to be undertaken, requiring extra transport. Mules are
the usual transport in Abyssinia, so they will be calculated for ; but
donkeys are much used in small transport work by the Abyssinians them-
selves, and personally I would go anywhere in that country with donkeys.
They are cheap, require less supervision, and give less trouble, in health
or sickness, than mules. It is easier to replace casualties in donkeys,
they are hardy feeders, picking up food at the roadside and carrying no

368

THROUGH SOMA LILA HU AND ABYSSINIA

forage, and they stay in good condition on next to nothing, and do not
get sore backs. Their only disadvantage is, that they travel about half a
mile an hour slower than mules. One driver will manage three donkeys,
and that driver can be a small beggar boy, whom you can pick up any-
where, and who, while of less account and importance than a grown man,
will obey orders with greater intelligence. Further, donkeys are obtain-
able on the Somali coast, and as they can cross the Zeila plains, could be
used throughout a trip.

The loads would be as follows : —

Mule-loads.

Rations for six coast-men, six months
Rations for one European, six months
European baggage, tent, etc.

One day’s water for use of men on the march
Belongings of Abyssinian muleteers

12

9

6

4

2

33

We shall be allowing a good margin for casualties with five spare mules,
or thirty-eight in all, of \thich only thirty-three need saddles.

The European will require two good riding mules.

Abyssinian muleteers will not look after more than one laden baggage-
mule to each man.

The composition of the whole caravan, while mules are used, will
therefore be as follows : —

Men —

1 European (rationed six months).

6 coast men (rationed six months).

34 Abyssinian muleteers (of whom one looks after five spare mules).

2 Abyssinian followers (to help shikari and sais).

1 Abyssinian boy to look after milk goats and sheep, and help the
cook.

2 Abyssinian headmen of muleteers.

1 Abyssinian interpreter (generally an official).

Animals —

2 riding mules.

33 laden baggage mules.

5 spare baggage mules,
half a dozen milk goats,
half a dozen sheep.

One of the headmen and half of the Abyssinians (or they may be
Hararis or Gallas) should be engaged and paid by the traveller ; the
Abyssinian authorities may provide the others, or they may not.

Expenses —

The expenses of such a trip would come under the following heads : —

(1) Purchase of tent, rifles, and kit, at the centres of civilisation.

(2) Passages to and from Aden.

(3) Hotel expenses in Aden.

(4) Purchase of necessaries at Aden.

(5) Passages from Aden to Zeila and back.

(6) Purchase of necessaries at Zeila.

APPENDIX III

369

(7) Hire of camels from Zeila to Gildessa and for the return

journey oyer the same ground.

(8) Purchase of 38 baggage mules at Harar, 2 riding mules, 33 pack-

saddles, and 12 water-tins ; bringing them down to Gildessa
and detaining them there.

(9) Pay of coast-men while in the interior and presents at the end.

(10) Expenses in the interior.

For items 1 to 5 the reader is referred to the notes given for fitting
out for Somaliland. The six coast-men should be given each a warm jersey,
two “ khaki5’ coats, two waist-cloths, and two blankets, as they will
be in colder country than they are used to, and this outfit provides a clean
change for attendance at ceremonial visits, etc. ; they should have a pouch
and belt each, and a sailor’s knife. If more warm clothing is wanted it
may easily be got in Abyssinia. The two shikaris should carry sporting
rifles, and four Lee-Metford or Martini-Henry carbines would be a useful
addition to the sporting battery, for arming the coast-men in case of need,
that is, assuming they would be let past the frontier. A little coffee and
tobacco should be bought at Zeila for the coast-men.

In making preparations for carrying water I should, throughout the
journey, allow for one day’s water for all the men, and for crossing the
waterless part of the Zeila-Gildessa road I should double this. Eight
twelve-gallon casks, going on four camels, will do for the Zeila plains, and
the casks can be got in Aden, or, less often, in Zeila. During the Abys-
sinian journeys a day’s supply would be given by twelve water-tins filled
to contain from four to five gallons each, and they would go on two
camels, four mules, or six donkeys. At Harar are made convenient five-
gallon water-tins called tanika , six dollars per pair.

It must be remembered that all the other kit might conveniently be in
loads of about 50 lbs., so that one will go on a man, two on a donkey,
three on a mule, and five on a camel ; thus there will be no difficulties
when a change in the kind of transport is necessary. The mule-packages
should be 22 inches by 20 inches by 18 inches, two per mule, and there
should be no sharp corners.

Item 6 will be limited to the rations for six Somalis for six months,
purchasable at Zeila, and possibly the camel-casks ; and previous notes
on Somali equipment will be a guide.

For item 7 we have : —

Rupees.

Hire of 22 camels (to carry 33 mule-loads and 12 hired camel-
men’s kit and rations, and two extra loads of water besides
the water provided in 33 mule-loads ) ; hire at 2J rupees per

day, say for 8 days , for every two camels and one driver. 220
Hire of two riding ponies for 8 days at 2 rupees per day each,

with driver ....... 32

Presents to camel drivers . 15

267

2

Double for return journey . . 534

That is, about £36.

2 B

370 THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

For item 8 we have : —

Purchase of 38 baggage mules at Harar

Dollars.

. 1500

Ho. 2 riding mules

120

Do. 33 pack-saddles .

75

Do. 12 water-tins

36

Conveyance from Harar to Gildessa, and

care while waiting

at Gildessa, say

40

That is, about £255.

$1771

Ail alternative wliicli might be easier would be to keep the mules wait-
ing at Harar, and bring the caravan loads up to Harar from Gildessa by
hired donkeys, arranged for to be waiting at Gildessa beforehand. Of these
donkeys fifty-three would be required, and the hire would be three dollars
for four donkeys for the two days’ trip from Gildessa to Harar ; drivers, I
think, included.

Item 9. — Yery high prices would have to be paid to get the best Somalis
to go for long into Abyssinia — practically double pay ; for it is a cold
country, has an uncongenial people, and the Somali learns to think in
dollars instead of rupees.

Thus we have : —

Dollars.

Somali head shikari and interpreter per month . . 40

Second shikari . . . . . .17

2 saises (17 each) . . . . . .34

Cook . ..... 20

Presents at end of trip . . . . .40

151

6

Total for six months. . . $906

or about £130.

If any of these men know Amharic or Galla, so much the better ; they
will probably have a smattering knowledge of Arabic, Hindustani, or
English.

Item 10. — Expenses in the interior, hunting presents, hire and presents
to headmen and muleteers, purchase of mules to replenish stock, purchase
of food at points on the road for the muleteers.

For all these expenses for six months I should allow $3500 or about
£500. It is nearly impossible to make an accurate estimate ; the money
would have, I think, to be taken up in dollars, unless agencies can be
established at Harar and Addis- Abbaba. The country is rather more
than twice as expensive as Somaliland.

Purchasing, Hire, and Prices in Abyssinia

Currency. — There are no coins current in Abyssinia except the 1780
Maria Theresa dollars, which are used all over the Red Sea coasts ; they

APPENDIX III

371

are worth about two shillings and tenpence, or two rupees two annas, and
they run about seven to the sovereign. Rupees, useful on the Somali
coast, run about fifteen to the sovereign.

In Abyssinia “salts” or amole are the small change ; a square bar of hard
crystallised salt 10 inches long by 2J inches square, tapered at both ends.
Five go to the dollar at Addis-Abbaba, but the value varies with the
distance from Lake Asal, near the Red Sea, whence the salt comes.

Three cartridges go to a salt, obtainable at any market in Abyssinia.
The new dollars struck in Europe, with Menelik’s head on the face,
and the lion of Judah on the reverse, do not usually pass in the
markets.

Mules and Ponies. — A pack mule costs from thirty to thirty-five dollars,
and goes from 2J to 2f miles an hour in the hills, 3 miles on the flat ;
the usual load is 160 lbs., though at a pinch, for a short distance on the
flat, 200 lbs. can be carried.

The Ras of Harar keeps the selling of mules under his own supervision,
as he gets two dollars on every mule bought or sold by his subjects.

As regards the comparative merits of buying or hiring mules at Harar,
it pays to buy, as twenty-two to twenty-five dollars’ hire are asked for each
mule for the single journey from Harar to Addis-Abbaba, including the
ten dollars for the man ; moreover, by hiring, one would be in the hands
of the owners as to hours of marching.

For carrying loads, the mules with old firing marks on the back and
withers are the best, the absence of these marks denoting a young soft-
skinned mule which has never borne a load, or a riding mule ; both being
undesirable.

It may be noted that here and there at villages on the routes in Abys-
sinia, the unserviceable mules of a marching caravan can be sold by
auction — a novel form of sale much appreciated — and a few new mules may
be picked up at the same points.

A good riding mule costs forty dollars and upwards. A riding horse
costs from sixteen to twenty dollars, the price being kept down by special
legislation. A pack-horse costs ten to fifteen dollars, but for this purpose
horses are not so good as mules, having tender feet. Neither horses nor
mules are shod.

When buying riding mules it is well to remember that the Abyssinian,
wearing his sword on the right, mounts on the off side of the animal.
The European will do well, therefore, at first to do likewise, otherwise
there may be trouble.

Donkeys. — A donkey costs five dollars, and goes 2J miles an hour in
the hills, 2J miles on the plains ; the load is from 80 to 100 lbs., and the
latter weight may be allowed for in ordinary marching. For the trip of
two days from Gildessa to Harar the hire is three dollars for four donkeys.
Donkeys are obtainable at Zeyla and ply to Gildessa along the desert road,
though of course they are inferior to camels for this purpose.

Camels. — Somali camels are most useful for this desert journey from
Zeila to Gildessa, and Dankali camels may be advantageously used as
extra transport when crossing the Hawasli depression between the Harar
Highlands and Shoa. From Zeila to Gildessa is about 160 miles ; from
Laga Hardim across the Hawash depression some 60 miles. The agent
who is sent to Harar to buy mules can arrange for a few hired Dankali
camels with their pack-mats to be ready waiting at Laga Hardim to assist

372 THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

tlie mule caravan over the Hawash desert journey by taking a proportion
of the loads and carrying extra water.

Pack-Saddles. — The mule pack-saddles to be got in Abyssinia are made
of sheep-skins on a wooden fork like an inverted Y, very trashy affairs,
costing from 2 to 2\ dollars each. Ras Makutian has military saddles
for his baggage mules, made of sacking stuffed with straw, a better pattern.
Machanyas or leather ropes for fastening over the mule pack run two to
three per dollar.

Donkey pack-saddles are mere bits of cam el -mat or two or three sheep-
skins lashed with rope.

Miscellaneous. — A sheep costs from two to three dollars ; the “breads,”
a foot in diameter, supplied daily at the halting places (by arrangement
beforehand) for the Abyssinian followers, run fifty to the dollar ; barley,
useful as extra food for mules, three to four bushels per dollar.

Procedure. — It would presumably be necessary first to write from
England to arrange for the King’s permission to enter the country, by
communicating with the Aden authorities ; then an agent would have to
be sent up from Zeila to purchase the necessary mules at Harar, and
arrange for drivers, and either bring mules and drivers down to Gildessa,
or leave them at Harar and arrange for hired donkey transport from
Gildessa to Harar. The camels for the Hawash can be arranged for at
Harar, and at Zeila a hired camel caravan must be waiting to take the
expedition to Gildessa.

We will suppose the Abyssinian official, one headman, and half the
muleteers are arranged for by the Abyssinian authorities, the other head-
man and the other half of the muleteers being hired direct by the agent
sent up. The latter would be engaged for the whole trip ; but the men
given by Ras Makunan would be stopped at the frontier post of Laga
Hardim, and Menelik’s people would there meet the caravan. So that
for the hired men and coast-servants permission to cross the frontier
would probably have to be obtained beforehand. It must be remembered
the muleteers hang together under their feudal headman and will not be
separated.

At Addis- Abbaba there would be one or more Europeans in the King’s
service who would put the traveller up to the ways of the place and
arrange about his going farther. It must be remembered, however, that
travelling in Abyssinia is rougher and more difficult and vexatious than
in Somaliland ; of sport, at least up to Addis- Abbaba, there is practically
none near the road itself. There are, however, untouched hunting-grounds
on the inland borders of Abyssinia, and in the Jimma country ; and now
that peace is returning to the Eastern Soudan, the glorious hunting-
grounds of the Nile tributaries, which have for seventeen years been, so
to speak, lying fallow, will soon be again open for the big-game hunter.

APPENDIX IV

Notes on Somali Trade

The manufactured goods which the African wants, and the raw material
he can export, are much the same all over the countries of tropical Africa.
But Somaliland has one great advantage as a trading country over many
other African regions. Trade caravans depend for their transport upon
camels, not upon human beings ; and these camels, although compara-
tively weak, are vastly superior to those of many other camel countries,
in that they cost only about £2 each1 and pick up all their food by the
wayside. A comparison of the cost of camel transport in Somaliland with
the human transport on the Zanzibar coast will show the former to great
advantage.

The calculation which follows is based on my own experience of both
countries. It is some years since I was at Mombasa, so I am open to cor-
rection if the prices there have been recently reduced, which is unlikely.

The Zanzibar coast porter carries a 60 lb. load of merchandise and a
few days’ rations, and costs about £1 per month in pay and food. Thus
six porters would carry 360 lbs. of merchandise for a three months’
journey at a cost of £18.

Two camels could be bought at Berbera for £4, 2 and after a long
journey, and allowing for a percentage of loss by death, they would fetch,
if sold by the Somali owners, about £3. With the two camels would be
one attendant, and his pay and rations for three months would involve
an outlay of about £3 : 15s. The camels, if lightly laden, would carry
275 lbs. each ; and the merchandise they would carry, if the liberal allow-
ance of 63 lbs. be deducted for the weight per month of the attendant’s
rations, would be 360 lbs., or the same as that carried by the six porters.

The cost of the two camels and their attendant for the three months
would, however, amount to only £4 : 15s. as against the £18 for the
porters.

During one of my last journeys we carried rations of rice, dates, and
ghee at If lb. per man for a period of four and a half months. This could
never be done by a caravan of Swahili porters, who can only carry a few
days’ rations in addition to the load. Serious hardships from want of

1 We are here considering prices as they are to the native trader, removed from the
competition obtaining among sporting caravans. These prices have probably not
altered much in recent years.

2 Camels have since risen to nearly £3 each.

374 THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

food. are practically impossible when travelling with camels. In compar-
ing porters and camels it must be borne in mind that the Somali caravans
go from Berbera to Ime, four hundred miles, in sixteen days, which is
faster travelling than could be accomplished by Swahili porters for the
same length of road.

Of all the Somali coast-ports by far the most promising is Berbera.
Without counting the great capacity of Somaliland itself as a consumer
of our fabrics, which I shall touch upon later, Berbera has many advan-
tages which will, I feel sure, cause it to become very valuable as entrepot
and distributer to countries and tribes outside the existing sphere of
British influence. If the resources of Central Africa are destined ever to
be fully developed, I believe Berbera will be one of the chief outlets for
Central African exports.

The position of Berbera is unique. The meat supplies for Aden come
almost entirely from there, and freight is always obtainable. Already
two, and sometimes three, coasting steamers call weekly at Berbera, to
say nothing of the freights carried by dhows. Berbera is close to one of
the greatest lines of shipping in the world, and when trade develops into
direct communication, the proximity of Europe and India cannot fail to
attract capital. Another advantage which Berbera has over the ports of
the East African coast is that the long sea-voyage, with its dangerous
Cape Guardafui and its uncertain currents, is avoided ; and although the
land distance to Uganda and the Equatorial Province is greater than from
Mombasa, Somaliland has, in Aden, a base secure from all attack, and is
a week closer than Mombasa to both England and India. I have already
shown the advantage of camel transport in the Hinterland of the Somali
coast. The route to Central Africa, at any rate as far as Ime, four hundred
miles inland, is excellent, presenting no difficulties to caravans, either
owing to physical causes or the temper of the natives ; and the whole of
the country through wdiich it passes is exceptionally healthy.

The Gallas beyond Ime are camel-owners like the Somalis, and live
much in the same way. The route is so good, for the first four hundred
miles at least from the coast, that, should the trade of Central Africa ever
in the far distant future be sufficient to justify it, the construction of a
railway following it would be perfectly easy.

The following statistics I find published in a Calcutta paper, having
been taken from Lieutenant-Colonel Stace’s Official Report on Somali
Coast Commerce, 1891-92: “The total value of the trade of Zeila last
year was over a quarter of a million sterling, exports figuring for £151,721
of this sum. The exports consist almost exclusively of coffee from Harar
(valued last year at over £100,000), skins, and hides ; while their imports
are piece goods (£12,508), rice (£31,827), American shirtings (£17,941),
Indian shirtings (£10,057), and jowdri (£10,000). The total value of the
trade of Berbera and Bulbar last year was £280,664, of which imports are
responsible for £161,112. Berbera is supposed to contain about 30,000
people during the principal trading season, Bulhar perhaps 5000, and
Zeila 6000.”

There are many minor imports which do not compare in importance
with those named. Among the possible imports in the distant future
may figure common brown blankets. They are most popular as presents,
and might eventually, I should think, develop into an article of trade.

Other chief exports at present, besides those already named, are —

APPENDIX IV

375

Gum.

Ostrich feathers.

Cattle and sheep (for the Aden market).

The hides, the trade in which seems capable of great development, go
to America, whence most of the cotton-goods are imported.

Considering the capacity of Somaliland as a consumer of our fabrics,
our countrymen’s lack of enterprise in having allowed American goods to
gain the ascendancy in this market seems astonishing. Among the future
possible exports of value are the fibre of the Mg or pointed aloe, certain
barks for tanning leather, and other natural products. Ivory at present
mostly goes to ports west of Zeila, and does not figure largely in the
exports from the British Protectorate.

There are many kinds of resin and of gum, the best gum being that of
the adad, a low-spreading thorn-tree, exuding from the branches of which
can be seen transparent knobs of the gum of a golden hue, the size of a
lemon, and pleasant to taste. It is much eaten by the natives and by
gazelles. Gum -pickers take it to their squalid-looking encampments,
and loading camels with the sacks, carry them to the coast for sale.

WOTCTHIEMN

HUNTING MAP

0 F

SOMAM MOTD 0

Redvuoe-d. by permission/ of the* Government of India, from
the original/ routes of Major H G. G. Swayne- R.E. and Copt'

y *: ■ ,

■

INDEX

Abadigal, Banagiise’s headman, 157
Abbarso camp, 96

Abbasgul, 116, 129, 185; raided by
Habr Awal, 185
Abdul Ishak, 85

Abdul Kader, 125, 202, 205, 206, 213
Abonsa in the Harar Highlands, 131
Abosa, 136

Abud, Major, 15, 18 ; at Hargeisa, 240
Abyssinia compared with Afghanistan,
288

Abyssinians, 214, 246, 255 ; threaten
to attack Hargeisa, 96 ; leader,
Banaguse, 105 ; scouting for, 121 :
soldiers seize our men and camels,
139 ; and the Esa tribe, 141 ;
threaten to attack author’s party,
157 ; general, 157 ; raids, 160 ;
dealings with foreigners, 172 ; ambi-
tion, power, influence, 173 ; mili-
tary display and power, 270, 282,
290 ; great importation of rifles and
ammunition, 288 ; compared with
Somalis, 289 ; purchasing, hire,
and prices, 370
Adad thorn bushes, 195, 362
Adadleh, 267

Adan Yusuf, caravan leader, 148,
156, 189, 285
Addis- Abbaba, 275
Aden, 238, 267 ; garrison, 75
Adone, 22, 207, 208, 211, 254
Adua, Italian disaster at, 288
Ahmed Abdalla, Sultan, 132
Ain Valley, 90

Aits Merzha, Governor of Gildessa, 269
Alaka Gobau Desta, 168
Alakud or klipspringer, 317
Aleyadera nala, 116

Ali Hirsi, author’s hunter, 76, 300
Ali Maan, 109, 150
Allegiri tribe, 90
Aloe plants, 12

Aloes and thorn jungle, ruins rise
from, 91
Amaden, 212

Amhara or Abyssinians, 189, 192, 211
Amharic letter from Ras Makunan, 144
Ammodorcas clarkei , 310
Antelopes, 299
Ant-hills, 97, 305
Aoid gazelle, description of, 314
Arab salutation “ Salaam aleikum ,” 9 ;
immigrations, 20 ; pony taken from
Bombay as experiment by author,
125

Arabian trotting camel, author’s, 157
Arasama, sub-tribe of Dolbahanta, 89,
92

Armadader aloe undergrowth, 105
Armo creeper, 46, 229, 363 ; food of
elephants, 70
Aror, 120

Arreged, a deep ravine in Bur Dab
Range, 92

Arroweilo legend, 24, 25
Arrto ; loss of Count Porro’s expedi-
tion, 144

Arussi Gallas, 207, 214, 243
Assa Range, 40

Astronomical observations, 283
Au Ismail, 127
Aukdl, or elders, 78
Aulihan Somalis, 197, 246, 251, 307 ;
country, 325

Au Mahomed Sufi, the Somali Sheikh,
123

Awale Yasin injured, 150

2 b 2

378

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

Aware, 259

Ayyal Yunis traders, 155

Ba (tribal collective prefix), 19 ; Awal,
19 ; Habr, 19 ; Gailoh, 19 ; Ambaro
(or sons of Ambaro), 20 ; Gadabursi
elders, 76, 81

Baboons, 136, 231, 251, 325
Badgers, 327

Badwein (Big Tank) in the Dolbahanta
country, 25 ; march to, 91
Bahgoba camels stolen, 107
Baira antelope described, 320
Bakawa, ascent of, 94
Baker, Sir Samuel, 110
Banagiise, Abyssinian general, 115,
156 ; threatens to arrest author,
156 ; is beaten in the game, 158; his
history, 160
Ban-ki-Aror Plain, 117
Banyero Mountain, 231, 233
Barkad Gerad, 91

Basha-Basha, Abyssinian general, 124,
167 ; reported killed, 255
Baudi, Captain, 197, 208
Beads, 258, 348
Beisa, see Oryx
Ber, 88 ; return to, 95
Berbera, 2, 208, 238, 354 ; start from,
43, 240 ; Maritime Plain, 51 ; taken
over by British Government, 74
Bergeli, 94

Bertiri tribe, 19, 115, 130, 135, 160
BiUeil , 184, 195, 267, 298, 362
Birds on the Wagar Mountains, 94 ;
varieties of, 327

Biyo-Kaboba, Abyssinian fort, 108,
144

Blood-feud, 14
Blood-money, 13
Boh, our Esa guide, 143
Boho, 79

Bohol-Kawulu, 108
Bombay Infantry sepoys, 82
Bombos, 117

Bone-setting by the Somalis, 150
Botanical collection lost, 255
Bottiga, Captain, 207
Bottor Valley, 105
Bracco, Captain, 269
British influence, effect of, 113 ;
mission to Menelik, 268

Bubalis swaynei, first shot, 95
Buffalo, 212, 251, 252, 325 ; tracks
of, 250

Buk Gego, 110

Bulhar, 10, 75, 113, 300, 355 ; under
Mr. Morrison’s charge, 76 ; burnt
to the ground, 116 ; march to, 148
Bur Dab Range, 87, 88, 295
Burka, 250, 307
Bur’o, 88

Burton, Sir Richard, his first expedi-
tion to Somaliland, 75
Burton’s book, First Footsteps in East
Africa , 97, 172

Bushbuck, 242, 247, 255 ; description
of, 308
Bustards, 327

Cabul tents, 175, 337
Cahaigne, Monseigneur Taurin, 22,
171

Camelman scared, 89
Camels, 8, 13, 27-33 ; varieties of,
33 ; buying and selling, 50, 208,
346, 369 ; meat, 107 ; killed by
hyaena, 193 ; load for, 333
Camera and outfit, 338, 340
Candeo, Signor, 197, 208
Caravans, 1, 37 ; our caravan im-
prisoned, 139

Carrington’s, Colonel, expedition, 149
Caves at Jebel Hakim, 174
Cecchi, Signor, Italian Consul-General,
148, 171

Cedar forests explored, 93
Centipedes, 327
Clarke’s gazelle, 223, 310
Clarke, T. W. H., 87
Climate of Somaliland, 363
Clothes suitable for Somaliland, 340
Cobus ellipsipry minus , 307
Cowasjee Dinshaw Brothers, 341
Crocodiles, 243, 255, 324
Curteis, Colonel R., 132
Czetwertynski, Prince Boris, 5, 29

Daar-Ass Mountain, 235, 236
Daba-Jerissa, 259

Dagaha, Todoballa, or “the Rock of
the Seven Robbers,” 226
Dagahbur in Ogaden, 25, 131, 198
Daghatto Valley, 193, 196, 214

INDEX

379

Dago stops our caravan, 139
Dair (October, November, December),
36, 254

Dambaswerer in the Per Amaden
country, 202, 206, 213
Daniel Plain, 52 ; sight elephants, 60
Danakil tribe, 255
Dctremo , 119
Darud, 19
Daud Gerhajis, 19

Daura reports death of Awale Yasin,
150 ; and the rhinoceros, 188 ; his
tragic death, 221
Delamere, Lord, 240
Denleh, 196

Deria Hassan, my gunbearer, 70, 188
Deria Shire, son of important elder of
Shire Shirmaki, 83
Dhows, 36

Dibdltig, open recognition of the
authority of a sultan, etc., 14, 99 ;
in our honour, 123, 205, 223
Dibatag , or Clarke’s' gazelle, de-
scription of, 310
Dibiri-Wein country, 150
Digan, 149
Digwein, 296

Dik-dik antelopes described, 318
Dirnis, 86

Division of classes in Somaliland, 1

Doboya, 117

Dofare, march to, 132

Dol, or bushbuck, 242, 308

Dolababa, 219

Dolbahanta tribe, 19 ; country — re-
connoitre trade routes, 86
Donkeys, 3, 34 ; killed by lion, 261
Dorcotragus megalotis , 320
Dubar, 86

Dubbi Harre, Arussi Galla chief, 244,
254

Dubbur, 87, 1*31
Dubburo, 133
Ducks, 179

Dud Libah, or the “Lion’s Forest,” 219
Durhi, 190, 192, 193, 197, 219
Durr , 119, 189, 200 ; grass, 260

E (Captain E. J. E. S wayne), 86

Eagles, 327

Egyptians evacuate Somali coast, 75
Eidegalla tribe, 15, 20, 40, 223

Eil Anod, 82

Eil Bhai, 135

Eil Dab (rocky well), 90

Eil-ki-Gabro, 190

Eilo, a mountain in the Gadabursi
country near Zeila, 10
Eil Sheikh, 79, 81, 82, 86, 149
Elephant, looking for tracks, 46 ;
feeding, 49 ; method of hunting by
natives, 110

Elephants ( Mctrodi ), 44, 52, 57, 106,
109, 193 ; at Jalelo, 54 ; shooting,
Hembeweina river, 57 ; height of
one at shoulder shot at, 56, 72 ;
sight herd of sixty, 58 ; death of the
big cow, 62 ; a wounded bull, 64 :
feeding on armo creeper, 70 ; in
the Dagliatto Valley, 193; descrip-
tion of, 195, 295
Elinta Kaddo, 133
Elrnas Mountain, 76, 149
Emir Abdillahi, 114
Enleh, 197, 199

Entotto, former capital of Shoa, 275
Eguus grevyi , 192 ; description of,
321 ; somalicus, description of, 321
Esa insist they are British subjects,
141

Esa tribe, 10, 19, 22, 40, 109, 145 ;

country entered by author, 109
Esman Abdi seized by leopard, 153
Ethnology, 1

Expeditions, fitting out, 329, 366 ;

expenses, 341, 369
Exports of Somaliland, 374

Faf in Ogaden, 37

Fafan river, 240

Farur Gerad Hirsi, 163

Felter, Signor, 168, 171, 174

Feyambiro, 167 ; on the road to, 174

Fitting out expeditions, 329

Flowers at Tawawur, 94

Fodwein Bluff, 87

Foxes, 216, 327

French sphere of influence, 74, 146
Frogs, 187

Gabba Obolio, the Adone chief, 208,
210, 240

Gabratagli, an Abyssinian agent of
Menelik, 159, 160, 167

380

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

Gabriel Guigniony, 171
Gadabursi tribe, 19, 22, 34, 110 ;
country, 23, 296 ; start for, 106 ;
author leaves the country, 109
Gadfly, 327

Gadid, a man born at noon, 20
Gagab wells, 259
Gaha Pass, 40

Galla graves, 24 ; cairns, 90 ; history,
171 ; country, 197

Gallaland, project to explore, 147,
240, 254

G alias, 8, 21, 22, 207, 212, 214, 240,
251, 254

Gan Libah, 94, 224, 226
Garabad, 193, 196
Garasleh stream, 144
Garba-aleh pool, 190
Garbadir, 234
Garodki Mayagod, 120
Garsa, 273

Gdshdn, or shield, 10
“Gashanbiir,” or “brothers of the
shield,” 20
Gawa Pass, 23

Gctzella soemmerringi , 314 ; spekei ,
315 ; pelzelni , 315
Gebili, pass through, 105
Gedi or march, 20

Geli, author’s gimbearer, 126, 148,
179, 226

Geographical names, 364
Gerasmatch, or General of the Left,
170

Gerenuk, see Waller’s Gazelle
Geri tribe, 20, 109, 130
Genre Gallas, 148, 243
Gerlogubi, in distant Ogaden, 75, 131
German mission station, 21 ; mission-
aries, 21

Gildessa, 75, 140 ; exciting time at,
139

Gilimiss, 242
Giraffe, 212, 325
Gleichen, Count, 268, 283
Goats, 35

Gob trees eighty feet high, 122
Gobau Desta sent to Gildessa to meet
author, 144 ; reads Sir R. Burton’s
book to Ras, 172

Gojar under Gureis Mountain, 160,
161

Golbanti on the Tana river, 21
Golis Range, 3, 44, 52, 86, 224, 226,
358

Gol Wiyileh, or the “Valley of Rhino-
ceroses,” 188
Goose shot, 135
Gosaweina, 92

Government explorations, 75
Grasses, 119
Grave of a chief, 120
Graves, 20, 23 ; description of, 90
Greater koodoo shooting at Mandeira,
225 ; description of, 302
Grevy’s zebra, 192, 321
Gu (May and June), 36, 214
Guban, 52, 224, 295, 307, 315 ; or
Lowland gazelle, 316
Guda timber, 52, 109, 226, 227, 236
Gudaweina, 120

Guigniony, M., a French merchant,
171

Guinea-fowl, 226, 259, 327
Gulanleh, 52, 53, 57, 68
Guldu Hamed, mullah village at
Upper Sheikh, 23, 87
Gumbur Dug Hill, 133, 155
Gumbur Wedel Hill, 127
Gum-pickers, 202
Gurgi, 2

Gypsum rock, 89

Habr (tribal collective prefix), 19
Habr Awal, 19, 22, 74, 85, 121 ;
Gerhajis, 19, 20, 40, 52, 76, 83,
85, 121 ; Toljaala, 19, 75, 88 ;
march through the country, 93,
197

Haddama, 128

Hadji Adan, our Esa guide, 143
Hado, a visit to, by author, 164, 176
Hciga (July, August, September), 36,
116 ; wind, 116
Haines or Shabeleh river, 207
Halal, 203

Haljid, 198 ; march to, 187
Haraf, four miles from Hargeisa, 116,
132

Harar, 2, 20, 208, 270, 296; captured
by Abyssinians, 114, 286 ; visited
by author, 168 ; scenery, 272 ;
rapid march from, 284
Haras a wa Valley, description of, 108

INDEX

381

Hares, 327

Hargeisa in the Iiabr Awal country,
7, 16, 52, 116, 132, 198 ; descrip-
tion of town, 96
Harka-weina, 229
Harrawa Valley, 23
Harrison, Captain, 132
Hartebeest, new variety first shot, 95 ;
vast herds of, 97, 118, 135, 155,
163 ; description of, 305
Hassddan trees, seventy feet high, 93,
361

Hassan, my gunbearer, 126, 148
Haud, 38, 360, 299, 359 ; Plateau
crossed, 122, 166, 267
Hegebo, near Berbera, 357
Helmok Valley, 166
Hemal, under the Bur Ad Range, 109 ;

journey from, to Ali Maan, 110
Hembeweina river at Jalelo, 54, 56, 65
Henweina Valley, 229, 233, 234
Herios, or camel -mats, 341
Hippopotami, 212, 247, 324
Hug, in the mountainous Jibril Abokr
country, 24
Huguf Pass, 93
Hulkaboba, shooting camp, 43
Hussein-bin-Khalaf of Karanleh, 241
Hussein Debeli, my head tracker, sees
elephant, 54

Hyaenas, 184, 191, 222, 253, 258,
262 ; stabbed by author, 184 ;
description of, 324

Ibrahim, author’s servant, speared
through his hand, 171
Ibrahim Giiri has camels, sheep, etc.,
stolen by Abyssinians. 163
“ Ideal ” camera, 157
Ilg, Mons.. 277

Ime on the Webbe, 130, 197, 206,
207, 240 ; author’s visit to, 206,
209

Imports of Somaliland, 374
Ingres (or English), 192
Insects, 94, 327
Ishak tribes, 19, 24
Ismail, 19

Issutugan river-bed, 52 ; river, 54,
75, 295

Italian sphere of influence, 75, 287 ;
disaster at Adua, 288

Instruments (scientific), 347

Jackals, 327
Jalelo, 54

Jama, my hunter, sitting on the dead
lioness, 103 ; Deria, the minstrel of
the Rer Amaden, 202, 242
James, F. L., his exploring party, 75,
206, 212, 295, 360
Jarso, 160, 174

Jebel Hakim visited, 172 ; wonderful
caves, 174

Jerato Pass, 85, 223, 225
Jibril Abokr, sub-tribe of Habr Awal,
22, 40, 86, 94, 115, 226
Jibuti, French port, 141, 172
Jig-Jiga, 105, 115, 156, 161, 176,
177, 198

Jildl (January to April), 35, 154
Jilib, or family, 20

Jopp, General, Resident at Aden, 171
Jowctri, 96, 210, 211, 241
Juba river, 212; sources, 147, 212,
240

Jiik, 154

Kabri Bahr, waterless march to, 149
Kalil season, 36, 155
K any as match Basha-Basha, 166
Karam, 93

Karanleh on the Webbe, 21, 212,
240, 247

Karia , or temporary village, 2
Karin Marda, 164
Kasin Ishak clan, 85
Khansa bushes, or umbrella mimosa,
6, 119, 150, 195, 216, 264, 362
Kheidub-Ayeyu, 120
Khoda Bux, 76
Kirrit, 24 ; well reached, 89
Kites, 327

Klipspringer, 52, 317
Kondura, 165

Koodoo shooting, 45, 110, 191, 224,
228 ; description of, 302
Koran, 16 ; given to natives, 190 ;
price of, 348

Kuredelli in the Jerer Valley, 178,
185

Lamu, 22
Las Daniel, 193

382

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

Lee-Metforcl rifle, 200, 259
Leopards, 94, 151, 196 ; first one
shot, 95 ; stalking a goat in onr
camp, 96 ; sport with, 152, 258 ;
one seizes Esrnan Abdi, 153 ; sitting
np for one, 155 ; seizes gazelle and
is shot, 186 ; jumps into camp, 190 ;
killed at Garba-aleh pool, 191;
description of, 322

Lesser koodoo, 52, 116, 192, 255 ; in
the Jerer Valley, 187 ; description
of, 303

Lions, 119, 192, 204, 256, 260 ;
killed by the Midgans, 6 ; tracks
of, 52 ; roaring of, awakes us, 65 ;
stalking herds of antelope, 98 ;
wounds author, 100 ; fine one killed

by e , 104 ; haunts of, 118 ;

sleeping ten yards from author,
124 ; seizes sleeping woman, 192 ;
tracking and shooting of one by
author, 216 ; exciting hunt, 217 ;
attack on a man, 256 ; finest one
shot, 265 ; length of skin, 219,
265 ; description of, 293
Lioness doing sentry, 260
Lithocranius walleri described, 312
Lizards, 327
Locusts, 94
Lower Nogal, 307

Loyi-Ada, between Jibuti and Zeila,
boundary of English and French
influence, 145

Maaruf, opposite Karanleh, 243
Mader Adan, 190

Madoqua swaynei , 318 ; phillipsi ,
318 ; guentlieri , 318
Mahamhd Gerad, sub -tribe of the
Dolbahanta, 40, 88
Mahomed Liba, a chief of Rer Ali
tribe, 122

Malcolm Jones, Mr., 149
Malingur, 148, 192, 193, 197, 240
Mandalay, 86

Mandeira, 51, 86, 225, 226, 296
Map for Government completed, 86
Marar Prairie, 23, 135, 154, 198, 247,
360 ; commencement of, 97
Marda Pass, 164
Marehan tribe, 19
Maritime Plain, 51

Maritime Range, 51, 87, 295, 357
Marriage laws, 11
Masai raids, 21
Massleh Wein, 234

Menelik, Emperor, 160 ; mission to,

268 ; Italian prisoners released by,

269 ; palace of, 274 ; kind recep-
tion by, 276, 282 ; presents to, 281 ;
treaty with, 286 ; government of, 289

Methodist mission at Golbanti, 21
Midgans, 4, 69, 134, 323 ; method of
hunting lion, 294 ; method of hunt-
ing beisa oryx, 300
Midjerten tribe, 19
Milmil, 116, 122, 259 ; caravans, 40
Mirso, 43, 87, 234

“ Moga Medir ” rock, mentioned by
Burton, 97

Monkeys, 243, 251, 326
Monsoon, or Gu> 38, 208
Morrison, D., 76, 78, 80
Mosquitoes, 191

Mules on the Zeila-Harar road, 34
Mullahs, 4
Musa Abokr, 88

Mussulmans, 9, 203, 322 ; teaching,
15

Nano, 191, 198
Native councils, 14
Ngai (German mission station), 21
Nogal country, 90
Nomadic tribes, 3, 38
Niir Osman, my camelman, 45, 46,
50, 54

Nur Robleh of Karanleh, 241, 243,
244

Obok, 255

Ogaden, 2, 7, 19, 172, 190, 254, 295,
298, 307, 315 ; graves, 90
Ogo country, 3, 40, 52, 307, 315
Ogo-Guban, 52
Oreotragus saltator, 317
Oryx or Beisa, 97, 117, 129, 154, 193,
201, 223 ; hunting on foot, 4, 154 ;
hide shield, 4 ; shoot two fine bulls
and two cows, 53 ; tracks, 66 ;
herds of, in the Jerer Valley, 187 ;
at Nano, 192 ; description of, 299
Ostrich feather worn by Esa who has
killed a man, 11

INDEX

383

Ostriches, 54, 126, 127, 149, 187 ; see
seventeen, 105 ; description of, 323
Outfit, 341

Paget, Col. Arthur, 87, 88, 241, 307 ;

threatened attack on, 161
Panjabis enlisted at Aden, 80
Panther, see Leopard
“ Paradox ” gun, 265
Partridges, 327
Photographic outfit, 338, 340
Physical geography of Somaliland,
354

Plants and trees, 361
Plateau gazelles, 53, 315
Ponies, description of, 33
Porro, Count, expedition of, 144
Purchase of tent, rifles, etc., 237

Rabbits, 327
Raiding tribes, 40
Raids, Somalis and Gallas, 20, 40
Rain, deluge of, 132, 203
Rainy season, 36

Ras Makunan, governor of Harar, 140,
215, 223, 270 ; his orders to treat
British travellers with courtesy,
159 ; visit to Shoa, 159 ; visit to
Rome, 170 ; expresses great friend-
ship for the British, 171 ; author’s
farewell visit to, 173
Rations for natives, 344, 368
Ravens, 327

Records of big game, 293
Remington rifles, 139
Rer (tribal collective prefix), 19
Rer Ali tribe, 12, 19, 178, 198 ;
wealth of, 260

Rer Amaden, 130, 148, 198, 202
Rer Dahir Farah, sub-tribe, 19
Rer Dollol and their camels, 97
Rer Gedi, 128
Rer Guled (family), 20
Rer Hared spies, 106 ; robbers, 107
Rer Harun, 122, 130, 197
Rer Mattan (clan), 20
Rer Samanter karias, 132
Rer Shirmaki Adah, 20
Rer Yunis Jibril, 97
Rhinoceros, first one shot, 126 ; shoot
fine bull, 128 ; horns as sword-
handles, drinking -cups, etc., 141 ;

horns given as present to Ras
Makunan, 140 ; author’s adventure
with, 180, 188; drinking, 181;
plentiful in Jerer Valley, 187 ; at
Nano, 192 ; description of, 297
Rhinoceros bird, 31
Rhinoceros Valley, or Dili Wiyileh,
188

Rifle kicks and injures author, 61 ;
*577, used to shoot lion, 103 ;
Winchester “express,” 200 ; Lee-
Metford, success of, 201
Rifles, the battery to take, 338
Robleh, 20
Rock rabbits, 327
Rodd, Mr. Rennell, 268
Ruins, 20 ; at Badwein, 90
Ruspoli, Prince, 161, 207, 242, 245,
259

Saad Yunis, 88
Said Harti, 19
St. Raguel, Feast of, 278
Sakdro antelopes, 60, 84, 226 ; descrip-
tion of, 318
Sala Asseleh, 135

Sala, Mr., an Italian traveller, 108
Salimbeni, Count, 170
Samani, 204

Samanter, 19, 120 ; my interpreter,
84

Samawe ruins, 23 ; tomb, 23
Sarar-awr (camel-back plateau), 83
Sattawa, halt at, to form camp, 108
Scenery, variety of, 273
Sclater, Dr., 95, 305
Scorpions, 327
Segag, 196

Sen Morettu, 242, 255
Seton Karr, Mr., 149
Seyyid Mahomed, 240
Seyyid Mahomed’s town, 4, 240
Shabeleh, 130, 239
Sliafai Mussulman, 19
Sheep, 3, 35 ; export of, 3
Sheikh, 44, 86

Sheikh Mattar, the chief of Hargeisa,
7, 16, 96, 116, 148, 240
Shendil, 253
Shield, 10, 298
Shfrdone Yunis, 76
Shire Shirmaki, 66, 68

384

THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA

Shirmaki Adan and his fifty-two
children, 20
Shoa, 159, 274

Shii?n, or petty officer, visits author,
155

Sisai, at the back of Wagar, 93
Snakes, 327

Sobat, twelve miles from Jalelo, 57
Soemmerring’s gazelle, vast herds of, 97,
117, 127, 135, 149, 155 ; shoot two
right and left, 155 ; at Nano, 192 ;
shot with Lee-Metford, 200 ; descrip-
tion, 314

So Madu, arrival of mail bag, 145
So Midgan, 82

Somali tribes, 1, 19, 21 ; the, his
character, 7, 16, 285 ; salutation,
“ Nabad” 9 ; religion, costume,
weapons, superstitions, and nomen-
clature, 9, 10 ; women, wonderful
powers of endurance, 12 ; language,
16 ; origin, 18 ; nicknames, 19 ;
seasons, 35 ; trade, 373
Spears, 10
Spear-throwing, 203
Speedy, Captain, 272
Spiders, 327
Sporting battery, 339
Squirrels, 243, 327
Stace, Lieut. -Colonel, 374
Storks, 327

Strepsiceros imberbis, 226, 303
Subbul hills, 105, 154
Sultan Deria, 20
Swahili race, 22

Swayne, Captain E. J. E., assists in
survey, 86

S wayne’s hartebeest first shot, 95 ; de-
scription of, 305
Sword hunters, 110
Syk, in the high Ogo country, 85,
223

Taala Galla, or Galla cairns, 24, 88
Taitu, Queen, 281,

Tana river, 21

Taurin Cahaigne, Monseigneur, of
I-Iarar, 22, 171
Tawawur, 93

Temperature, 36, 37, 363 ; at Sisai,
94

Temple, supposed work of Gallas, 91

Tents, 337 ; Cabul, 175, 337 ; descrip-
tion of Basha-Basha’s, 166
Theodolite station, 87
Thirst, effect on domestic animals, 118
Ticks, 33
Tobe, 9, 262
Tomal, 4

Toyo Plain, 40, 297
Trade of Somali, 373
Traders, 2
Trading caravans, 2
Tragelaphus decula , 308
Treaty between British Government
and Somalis, 74
Trees, 273, 362
Trophies, preparation of, 353
Tug Der, wells, 88
Tiili, 126 ; march to, 189
Tusbas, scented prayer-chaplets, 205
Tusks of Somali elephant, 72

Ugaz Nur, 108
Ujawaji, 97, 98, 154
Umr Ugaz, 193, 242
Upper Sheikh, 87

Vultures, 97, 201, 254, 327
Vulturine guinea-fowls, 90

Wa-berri (from berri , morning), 19
Wadi thorn- trees, 155
Wagar Mountain, 44, 93, 303
Waller’s gazelle, 53, 127, 189, 192,
220 ; seized by panther, 186 ; shot
with Lee-Metford, 200 ; killed by
leopard, 258 ; description of, 312
Walsh, L. P., assistant Resident at
Aden, 75, 142

Wandi, chief of police at Harar, 174
Wapokomo negroes of the Tana, 22
Warda-Gumared, one of the great
trade arteries, 119
Waredad Plain, 92, 295
Waror, 126 ; description of wells, 129
Warsama Dugal, a chief of the Ba-
Gadabursi, 82
Warsingali tribe, 19
Wart-hog, 120, 226, 235, 256 ; kill
near camp, 61, 256 ; description of,
322

Water, method of getting, 89, 129 ;
supply statistics, 116 ; wells, 223

INDEX

385

Water-bottles made by natives, 10
Waterbuck, 212, 242, 247, 253, 254 ;
swims across stream, 248 ; descrip-
tion of, 307

Webbe Shabeleh river, 22, 36, 197,
307 ; first journey to, 176, 199,
207, 210, 212 ; second journey to,
239 ; crossing tbe river, 244
Wild asses, 54 ; description of, 321
Wild dog, 324
Wolverton, Lord, 241
Women appeal for help against the
Abyssinian s. 121
Wood, Major W., 325

Yaliia, a Somali, 245, 254

Yebir, 4

Yemen, 172

Yirrowa, 87

Yoaleh, 122

Yoglrol hill, 23

Yunis, author’s guide, 202

Zebra, trying to catch young one, 207
Zebras, 192, 200, 220 ; description
of, 321

Zeila, 22, 143, 145, 268, 284, 355 ;
under British Consul, 75 ; explora-
tion into the hills, 86 ; march to,
109

Zeriba, 2, 19, 120, 188, 219 ; arrange-
ment of, 351

THE END

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POULETT-WEATHERLEY

General Editor— H. A. BRYDEN

London : ROWLAND WARD, Limited
THE JUNGLE,” 166 PICCADILLY

IO

MR. ROWLAND WARD'S LIST

Royal 8 vo, 340 pp. Price 8s. 6d. net

SPORT IN EAST CENTRAL AFRICA

BEING AN ACCOUNT OF

HUNTING TRIPS IN PORTUGUESE AND OTHER
DISTRICTS OF EAST CENTRAL AFRICA

By F. VAUGHAN KIRBY

(maqaqamba)

AUTHOR OF ‘ IN HAUNTS OF WILD GAME

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

London: ROWLAND WARD, Limited
“THE JUNGLE,” 166 PICCADILLY

Royal 8 vo, 524 pages. Price 30s. net
THIRD EDITION

RECORDS OF BIG GAAIE

WITH THEIR DISTRIBUTION, CHARACTERISTICS, DIMENSIONS
WEIGHTS, AND

MEASUREMENTS OF HORNS, ANTLERS, TUSKS, & SKINS
By ROWLAND WARD, F.Z.S.

AUTHOR OF ‘THE SPORTSMAN’S HANDBOOK,’ ETC.

With about 217 Illustrations and full Index to the Owners of the
Recorded Specimens

London : ROWLAND WARD, Limited
“ THE JUNGLE,” 166 PICCADILLY

MR. ROWLAND WARD’S LIST

ii

Imperial 4 to, 140 pages. Price £3 : 10s. net

SPORT IN SOMALILAND

BEING AN ACCOUNT OF A HUNTING TRIP
TO THAT REGION

By COUNT JOSEPH POTOCKI

Translated from the Polish

With a Coloured Frontispiece of the Author , 58 Coloured Illustrations
18 Page Photogravures , 7 Text Figures, and Map

ROWLAND WARD, Limited
THE JUNGLE,” 166 PICCADILLY, LONDON, W.

Medium 8 vo, 330 pages. Price 21 s. net

AFTER WILD SHEEP IN THE ALTAI
AND MONGOLIA

By E. DEMIDOFF

PRINCE SAN DONATO
AUTHOR OF ‘HUNTING TRIPS IN THE CAUCASUS’

With 82 Illustrations, Map, and Coloured Frontispiece '

London : ROWLAND WARD, Limited
“ THE JUNGLE,” 166 PICCADILLY

12

MR. ROWLAND WARD’S LIST

Subscription Price <£4 : 4s. net. Uniform with ‘ Deer of all Lands,’ etc.

THE

GREAT & SMALL GAME OF INDIA,
BURMA, AND TIBET

BEING A FULL ACCOUNT OF THEIR DISTRIBUTION,
HABITS, AND NATURAL HISTORY

Illustrated by Nine Hand-Coloured Plates and numerous other Illustrations

By R. LYDEKKER
WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY SPORTSMEN

London : ROWLAND WARD, Limited
“THE JUNGLE,” 166 PICCADILLY

GREAT & SMALL GAME SHOOTING

A SELECTED LIST

OF

BOOKS ON TRAVEL AND SPORT IN DIFFERENT PARTS
OF THE WORLD CAN BE CONSULTED AT

“ THE JUNGLE ”

166 PICCADILLY, LONDON, W.

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