[1] The Habr Awal, Habr Gerhajis, and Habr Toljaala.

[2] When a man 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.

[3] The GerÁd (Arabic SultÁn) is the paramount chief of a tribe.

[4] Most SomÁlis who pray a great deal do it, I am convinced, for their reputation’s sake; and most of the religious observances are to “show off,”—a thing the SomÁli loves to do.

An instance of this is the horror of dogs. I have seen a SomÁli, when thinking himself unobserved, playing with a pariah dog; but if a SomÁli servant, in a house at Aden, when waiting at table, should be brushed against by a perfectly clean English fox-terrier, he will as likely as not drop the dish which he is carrying, and say that he has been bitten. All this horror is acted for the benefit of the other servants.

[5] My usual plan on losing a camel is to offer a reward to the finder, deducting the amount from the pay of the loser.

[6] When a SomÁli is speaking to a foreigner, he generally uses instead of rer, the Arabic karia (village) to designate his kraal. He also uses the Arabic ayyal instead of the tribal prefix rer. Thus he calls the Rer Yunis, who live at BulhÁr, the Ayyal Yunis.

[7] I have merely guessed at this origin for the SomÁlis. The traditions of the GÁllas themselves should, if obtainable, throw light on this subject. Captain Abud says, “The aboriginal inhabitants of SomÁliland cannot be clearly traced. The SomÁlis say they were GÁllas, but in the SomÁli language every one not a Mussulman is called GÁl, or infidel.”

[8] Quite recently (Christmas, 1894) another SomÁli raid against the GÁllas of the Tana has resulted in the total defeat of the SomÁlis at Kulessa by a handful of white men and natives.

[9] I noticed that though the GÁllas at Karanleh and on the Tana were a tolerably thin-featured race, those at Harar were quite different, being very much more coarse-featured than the SomÁli type. Mr. W. B. Harris, in a very interesting account in Blackwood’s Magazine (Sept. 1894) of his visit to Harar, has noticed this.

[10] The rhinoceros bird, called Shimbir Loh, or the “cow bird,” by SomÁlis.

[11] If camels have to make a start before dawn, it is a great mistake to arrive at the evening camp after dark, and to throw off the loads and let the camels rest at night on an empty stomach. A continued course of such treatment will kill the best camels. When camels “flop” down on arriving in camp, or “swear” very much on being loaded, it is a sure sign they are being overworked. With good pasturage and proper working hours, I have often seen fifty camels loaded up almost in silence.

[12] Biladiers, i.e. country police (derived from the Arabic).

[13] Sircal, i.e. Government or Government official—a corruption from HindustÁni or Arabic.

[14] This was a mistake, as I could have bought all the camels for £8 the lot and sold them for £6 at the end of the trip, and on all later trips I have bought instead of hiring.

[15] Guban and Gudan are names quite distinct from one another.

[16] 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.

[17] The first treaty between the British Government and the SomÁlis 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 Sir Richard 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 JibÚti and Zeila, and runs by Abbaswein, Biyo-KabÓba, 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 GÉri, 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 intersection of latitude 9° north, with longitude 49° east, along which it proceeds, terminating at the coast.

[18] These baggage camels from Aden were not a success, and I have never since tried to import into SomÁliland any Arab camels but the fast ones which are ridden.

[19] We afterwards heard, in Berbera, that while we were at Gosaweina two or three Mahamud GerÁd saw our camp from a distance, and rode away to warn the tribes, with the result that fifty horsemen came to reconnoitre, but found we had already marched back to Badwein.

[20] Sometimes we were several hours passing a cloud of millions upon millions of these insects, which were going the other way; at other times they were found settled upon the ground, covering great areas, or they were crawling and hopping over the grass and sand. The newly-born ones stream along the ground like a brown rivulet; then there are half-grown ones, which can only hop, and look from a distance like strips of green grass. The full-grown locusts are of three colours-yellow, green, and spotted red. The different generations do not appear to mix.

[21] Literally “Lion Hand Mountain.”

[22] Nala, i.e. the dry river-bed of India, called in Arabia wÁdi, in SomÁliland, tug.

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

[24] Euphorbia.

[25] The Esa sub-tribes are grouped into two great divisions—the Esa Ad or White Esa, and the Esa MadÓba or Black Esa.

[26] The Jibril Abokr were deeply grateful, and on our second visit to them they took the trouble to come from all sides to express their gratitude to us for having forwarded their complaints.

[27] We saw also several graves of women. In this country they do not give women the heaps of stones surrounded by enclosures which mark the graves of men. They merely bury the women in the earth, heaping thorns on top to prevent prowling hyÆnas from rooting up the grave; and in the middle of the thorns they set up an upright stake with the top of a broken hÁn hung over it; this serves as a scarecrow to keep off wild animals.

Our men, whenever we passed a grave, piously said a prayer and plucked a tuft of grass to throw over it.

[28] 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.

[29] Also called Gol Wiyileh.

[30] Some skill of hand and eye is required in this work. The man above with the empty bucket throws it down to the man below at the same moment that the latter tosses up the full one. On reaching the surface each full bucket is emptied out into the rough cattle trough at which the cattle are drinking, improvised out of a hide propped up with sticks and stones, or in a hollow shaped with clay. Half the water is lost on the way up, so it usually takes many hours to water the enormous herds.

[31] “Wise man” or chief.

[32] We afterwards ascertained that at this time BanagÚsÉ, the Abyssinian chief, was shooting elephants in Harrawa under the guidance of a son of Nur, the deposed Ugaz of the Gadabursi tribe. When we passed through the Harrawa Valley a few days later we were taken no notice of by BanagÚsÉ or the Ugaz, who was living quite near our route. The latter had professed himself an enemy to the British, and had been intriguing with the Abyssinians, encouraging them to advance their influence into the Gadabursi country, in the hope that by their help he would be reinstated at the head of the tribe, ousting his brother Elmy, the present Ugaz.

[33] Undertaken after the Esa raid on BulhÁr.

[34] The SomÁlis themselves denied that the sickness was caused by bad water, declaring that the real cause was the bites of mosquitoes. These pests (called Kan-ad) are not generally present in Eastern SomÁliland, but are common at certain spots on the coast between Berbera and Zeila, and on the Zeila-Harar routes, and in the Gadabursi country. They are also found near the Webbe, and when there the tribes from Berbera, who are not accustomed to mosquitoes, have a great dread of their bites, believing malarial fever to be caused by them.

[35] Adapted by SomÁlis from the HindustÁni.

[36] The following titles were explained to me by an Abyssinian, and, though I cannot vouch for their accuracy of spelling, I jot them down:—

• NegÚsa negest, the Emperor; literally the “king of kings.”
• NegÚs, King.
• RÁs-BitÓdet and RÁs, high titles ranking next to NegÚs.
• Dejasmatch, General of Division.
• Kanyasmatch, General of the Right.
• Gerasmatch, General of the Left.
• Fi Taurari, General of the Advance.
• Balanbaras, Commandant of a fortress.
• Turk Basha, 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 RÁs, Dejasmatch, and Taurari; to the right several RÁs, Dejasmatch, and Kanyasmatch; to the left several RÁs, Dejasmatch, and Gerasmatch.

Some idea of RÁs 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.

[37] The Gu or spring rains; due about the middle of April.

[38] Also called Dih Wiyileh.

[39] AmhÁra, i.e. Abyssinians.

[40] It now transpires that the Italian traveller Sacconi had visited this neighbourhood, and that it was here he was killed in 1883.

[41] The Rer AmÁden have inflicted loss on the Abyssinians from time to time. I saw the remains of the bivouac of an Abyssinian army which was said to have been defeated by them two or three years before my visit. The MalingÚr, living in the FÁfan Valley, which is the Abyssinian eastward path of invasion, have had to give in, but not so the AmÁden.

[42] By the Protocol of ’94 the AmÁden tribe falls within the Italian sphere of influence.

[43] The mullahs get on with Europeans because, being the only people in SomÁliland who can read and write, they have great respect for people who show nimbleness with a pencil and note-book, and who can write even on horseback; they admire pictures and photographs.

I was amused by their insisting that nearly every book I had was a “Frinji Bible”; and not till I had shown them the illustrations in one of the supposed Bibles, which was Gordon-Cumming’s Five Years’ Adventures in South Africa, did they realise that there are books on every subject. They all beg for hashi (paper), Korans, and tusbas, and I gave a score of mullahs two or three quires of white foolscap to divide between them.

[44] I.e. “the black rock,” called after a feature in the river-bed near the wells.

[45] She had actually come back half a mile on her tracks to follow us, with what motive I know not, unless it was to see us safe off the ground. A lion will often, on seeing men in the jungle, follow them in order to mark them down and find out the site of their karia, with a view to future seizures of cattle or human beings.

[46] Between the Tug FÁfan and Milmil we were very much annoyed by two kinds of gadfly, the camels, whenever they were halted, throwing themselves down and rolling, with the result that a great deal of kit was broken. There are two kinds—the balaad, a small, grayish black fly the size of a common house-fly, with triangular wings, very dangerous to camels, often causing eventual death; and the dÚg, as large as a bumblebee, which stings both men and animals, and is present in great numbers, only ceasing its persecutions by night. It is not so dangerous to camels as balaad. I learned, on sending specimens to be examined at the British Museum, that neither of these flies have anything whatever to do with the “Tsetse” of South Africa, which belongs to an entirely different family.

[47] These people are a great encumbrance in the movable karias of the nomads, and if they stay there, unless they have relations who will befriend them, they soon die, or are eaten up by the packs of hyÆnas which haunt the outskirts of the encampments at night. In the hope of gaining a permanent sanctuary they travel painfully great distances to the nearest mullah villages; hence the large number of cripples and sick that are to be found in these settlements.

[48] I call this tree the casuarina, because of its resemblance to a tree so called which is common in India. Having lost my botanical collection in the Webbe I cannot accurately identify it.

[49] 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 clay troughs after flocks have been watered.

[50] The people here played a characteristic pleasantry upon me. I found it difficult to buy a sheep, and had quite given up all hope of getting mutton for my men, when one was at last driven up to my tent; the owner of the sheep said he had heard I wanted one, and that having been some distance off he could not come till now. I bought the sheep for two pieces of cloth. Half an hour later its throat began to swell up, and my men showed the marks where it had been bitten by an abÉso, a very poisonous snake, whilst grazing. Half an hour later it was dead, its neck having swollen to a tremendous size. By this time, of course, the owner of the sheep had vanished!

[51] The bush being chiefly of low, flat-topped mimÓsas, spreading into foliage about four feet from the ground, a man walking erect has little chance of seeing the game first, unless he stops and bends down to look along the ground at every few paces.

[52] Many Arabic words are incorporated into the SomÁli language, and many more are used by SomÁlis only when talking to strangers.

[53] Of these SomÁli antelopes, no less than five have been described as new species since 1891, namely, hartebeest, Clarke’s antelope, the red hill antelope called Baira, and three dwarf antelopes of the genus Madoqua.

[54] Rusa aristotelis.

[55] Not long after my second visit to the Webbe, Major Wood pushed into the country across the river, and was successful in bringing to England the trophies of these giraffes.

[56] I.e. a “wise man,” elder, or petty chief.

[57] These stores should be sewn up in small bags, each to contain a fortnight’s supply.

[58] The stony nature of much of the country renders these necessary.

[59] There are two kinds of pad saddles used by Arab coolies in Aden, a large one for the baggage camel and a smaller and neater one for the fast camel. Neither have stirrups, as an Arab coolie presses his feet into the groove of the camel’s neck, a very comfortable way of riding.

[60] 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.

[61] A disadvantage of the Arab camel is that until it has been a few months in SomÁliland it may not settle down to its new climatic conditions and change of food.

[62] 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.