THE HABR GERHAJIS — VISIT FROM SULTAN OWD— ASCENT TO THE PLATEAU
— SHEIK — OUR FIRST SCARE — THE TUG DAYR— NATIVE SUPERSTITION —
ARRIVAL AT BURAO.
Christmas at Hammar was now delightful, for if there
was no turkey, neither were there Eesa Moussa. We sat
down to dinner surrounded by a select circle of the Habr
Gerhajis tribe (Abdul Ismail Mousa Abdullah branch),
who, instead of begging, had presented us with four sheep
and two cows as an offering of welcome. It is true our
return present took the form of a " chit " on Mr. Walsh,
so perhaps we practically bought the animals ; but there
was a gentlemanly and Christmas-box air about the whole
transaction, with a flavouring dash of Santa Claus. But
Santa Claus had really been amongst us ; for when we
opened a special Christmas parcel, the parting gift of
Mrs. and Miss Blair, out tumbled plum-pudding and
crackers, and Christmas cards and separate greetings
addressed to each of us and all our servants. ITiis was
as kind as it was thoughtful, and we drank in bumpers
to every absent relative and friend, coupling the toasts
with the names of General, Mrs., and Miss Blair.
From the tribe I have just mentioned many of our
camels had been hired, and our visitors now offered ten
more to help us up the weary mountain-pass we were
SULTAN own. 53 ( this could be the picture of the sultan , but couldn't find it on the online book version)
preparing to attack. All of us had prospected it up to
the most difficult point, and found it would be impossible
to effect an ascent without first clearing away boulders in
some places and levelling pathways in others. So for
this duty we detailed a daily fatigue-party, and during
two days anxiously and impatiently superintended their
operations.
On the 26th the sun set behind a cloud of dust, from
which three horsemen emerged, followed by a crowd on
foot. Who and what were they ? Nothing less than the
great Sultan Owd and retinue, who, hearing we were
about to pass through his country, had come to welcome
us on the border- land. Very nice and civil, we all agreed,
and served out blank-cartridge at once to the ** army,"
who fired a salute. Before long the Sultan entered our
zariba with two of his chiefs, and at once converted a
common canvas deck-chair into a prize with a historical
record and a distinct regal impression. The retinue,
meanwhile, surrounded the zariba, and a few who speci-
ally clamoured for admission on the ground of distinction
were allowed in, but without weapons. Dualla wisely
explained ** it was an English custom." Our Eesa Moussa
experience led us to think it high time to initiate one, even
at the risk of doing "what our fathers did not." The
Saltan salaamed, so did we ; then the chiefs salaamed to
us, and we salaamed to the chiefs. Lort-Phillips said,
" This is very decent, isn't it ? " My brother said, " Yes."
Aylmer muttered, *' More beggars ; " and the Doctor
hazarded, " Interesting cases." I alone retained my pre-
sence of mind, and drawing myself up, boldly asked the
Sultan in Arabic whether he spoke that language. He
looked at me steadily for a moment, then bowed, and the
chiefs followed suit. We all bowed back, and looked
at Dualla in despair, who, grasping the position, trans-
lated my question. The answer came back like a flash,
and from the Sultan himself. It was ** Ma feesh," the
Arabic for " No," and was the only Arabic word he
knew.
Having thus opened up the way to pleasant conversation,
I waited to give the others a chance of joining it, but
there was absolute silence. This was broken by the
Doctor telling Dualla to ask if our visitor was quite well.
The question was put and the reply was " Yes," which
settled the Doctor s chance of a live Sultan as a patient.
We were not getting along at all, and it really is no easy
matter to decide at a moment's notice the precise thing
one ought to say to a Sultan who " happens " upon you
as though he were an ordinary mortal : at least so it
seemed to us then, though later on we became quite
familiar with Sultans and other grandees as soon as we
saw them. Hiis particuhir one was a middle-aged man,
rather tall and slightly bent, with a heavy expression,
a dull eye, and apparently no facility for small talk.
Lort-Phillips told Dualla to say ** we all thought he
owned a tip-top country, where we should enjoy ourselves
amazingly," and Aylmer suggested he should let the
Doctor examine him at once, ** as though he said he
was quite well, he was probably very ill. Somalis never
meant what they said."
After this libel we left the management of the con-
versation to Dualla, who extracted from the Sultan an
expression of pleasure at seeing us in his country, and
HABR GERHAJIS POLITICS. 55
a promise to give us camels, goats, sheep, men — every-
thing. Aylmer would have it he meant "sell," not
"give;" but Dualla stuck to the original translation,
though he hinted the Sultan might expect an equiva-
lent for the present, as it was "a custom of the countr)^"
We then plunged into politics. It appeared the great
Habr Gerhajis tribe was divided into two rival factions,
the one owning allegiance to Sultan Owd, the other
to his cousin, Sultan Noor. Between these two the
country was about evenly divided, and the border-line
was an everlasting scene of wars and rumours of wars,
cattle raids, and attempted murders. We therefore pro-
posed to make our visit historical by effecting peace,
if we could, between these people, and Dualla set our
desire before His Majesty Owd. "Now the English
were at Berbera, there would be greater safety and
facilities for trade, and if they would only stop fighting
among themselves, their country would become rich ;
should we act as negotiators between him and Sultan
Noor?" His reply was a gracious affirmative, and we
arranged to send messengers to Noor without delay ; but
I may here confess that our mission failed.
After pitching a small tent immediately outside the
zariba, we delighted the Sultan by escorting him to it,
and making him understand it was for his private use
while we remained at Hammar. I think there is no
doubt that Sultan Owd is a usurper and not a lawful
ruler. His adherents had killed Deria, who was Sultan
of the whole Habr Gerhajis tribe, and Noor was own
brother to Deria. At Sharmarkay's request (though
made with what object I know not), we had brought
Delia's son with us from Berbera, and he was now
wishing himself back where he came from, and with fair
reason. Only three months ago one of the men who was
now outside the zariba with Sultan Owd had speared
him without any provocation, and the wounds, which
he showed us, were not quite healed. This would-be
assassin was within a few yards of him, well backed up
by friends ; so he declared his life was not safe, and
during the night slipped away to what he felt would be
a healthier part of the country. He never returned to us,
and we managed to get along fairly well without him.
He was neither beautiful nor entertaining, and he never
did a stroke of work ; but his appetite was always worthy
of his undisputed royal descent.
We were anxious to get away, and had hoped to have
ascended the pass by the 27th at latest. The Sultan,
however, begged we would remain another day or two, as
he said he was not yet ready for our reception. He de-
clared he had waited a day for us, and now hoped we
would do the same for him. Unwillingly we gave in, as
it is very bad policy to let the people think one is in a
hurry. Time is of no object to them, and if travellers
show what they consider indecent haste, their motives
for travelling are invariably suspected. Of course I am
speaking of travelling in countries unknown or unfre-
quented by Europeans.
We thought it advisable to give up eating bacon at
breakfast, such disgust was shown to it by the Somali s,
who, of course, would not touch it, and seemed even
afraid of seeing it. We had not much, but what little
we had we buried, in the tins as it was. Our camp was
crowded; all day long people kept coming to pay their
respects to the Sultan, and to get him to settle their
disputes.
On the 29th we were up before daylight to get the
camels started. We had a very good day for the severe
pull uphill ; it was cloudy, and a few drops of rain
fell, but not enough to make the road slippery. Although
we had ourselves worked at the road to make it more
passable, and had enlisted over twenty men to help, it
was still very hard work for the camels ; in fact, I never
saw baggage animals attempt so bad an ascent. In three
and a half to four hours we got them all up, however,
camping at a place called Guldoo Hammed. This was the
farthest point in our direction that had been reached by
a European, although Haggenmacher, travelling by a dif-
ferent road, and more to the westward, had penetrated
farther south. The view was really very fine, with the
great plain stretching to the sea, and the vegetation varied
and interesting; giant cacti abounded, and there were
many beautiful wild-flowers.
Our camp was pitched near a group of the largest
cacti I ever saw, and about two miles from where we
first reached the plateau. There was a range of hills on
our right and left, and a vast plain before us, with two
or three insignificant hills in the distance. The ground
was still stony, but less so than in the plain below. It
was of a red colour, and covered with mimosa bushes
and short tufts of coarse grass. There was plenty of
evidence of white ants — that pest of the African traveller
— which we had found troublesome for the first time at
our last camp. We shot several birds of kinds new to
us, some partridges and guinea-fowl, and found porcupine
quills and some tortoise eggs.
On our right we passed a small village near some stone
mounds, said to be Galla ruins ; and I believe the Gallas
lived in the country a long time ago. Through the glasses
we could see several stone walls, which we were anxious to
visit. We sent to ask if we might do so, but were told
no one could go near them except Moslems, and only
Moslems who were known to be very regular in their de-
votions. A number of priests dwell in this village, who
have charge of a large mosque-like tomb we had passed,
situated on an eminence on our left. It was the only
specimen of solid masonry we came across in the countrj^
and we photographed it. It is built of stone with a rude
attempt at ornamentation, but there is nothing remark-
able about it externally. We were not allowed to go
inside.
This place has been called Sheik from time immemorial,
and here we found the ordinary gazelle and Walleri, guinea-
fowl and partridges, and heard rumours of elephants, but
came upon no spoor. We now regret not having made
further search, as we know they existed there in sub-
stance, and not merely in shadow ; but we had been
promised such endless variety of big game on the route
to Ogadayn, that the idea of delaying our progress at this
point did not occur to us. We never had another fair
chance. Thrupp received a letter from Lort-Phillips
dated from this spot February 1888, stating that he had
again heard rumours of elephants, and verified their
warranty by falling in with the actual creatures, bag-
ging two fine bulls, and losing a third through mere
accident. I am never in favour of useless slaughter, nor
do I think that charge could be brought against any of
us, though a doctor was among our party ; but one ought
not to miss the possibility of finding a new variety
of elephant when one has entered a new hunting
ground.
The evening was deliciously cool and the dew heavy ;
we were high above the burning plain, on a virgin soil,
and at peace with all men. My brother and Aylmer
began to work the mountain range into their map, I
continued my diary, Thrupp pressed out the botanical
specimens, and Lort-Phillips thrummed the banjo. It
seemed we had reached Arcadia, until Dualla approached
in a state of wild excitement and informed us we must
serve out extra cartridges to all the men, as we were
going to be attacked at once ; and as Dualla spoke he
pointed towards the horizon, where we clearly recognised
the flames from a large conflagration, the result of a
village which had just been fired.
There was a half-smothered groan from Lort-Phillips
as snap went two strings of the banjo, and a cry of
horror rose from my brother and Aylmer, who had been
surprised into running the maritime range of mountains
half way across the Ked Sea. We lost no time, how-
ever, in getting prepared for the last thing in the world
we had been led to expect here, and sent out a recon-
noitring party.
They soon returned with the news the enemy were
not coming on to us, but had attacked some of the
Habr Yunis and driven oS men and cattle. Now we
had several Habr Yunis among our camel -drivers —
bed is ever called " Wady " in this country, but always
" Tug."
We had passed through broken, wavy land, intersected
by numerous channels containing pools of stagnant
water, the soil throughout being barren, and alternating
between dry red earth and sand mixed with stone.
Gazelles were the only game we saw, though we came
upon the track of a very large antelope, and noticed
marks of ostriches. Before leaving Guldoo Hammed we
sent messengers to see if any of Sultan Noor's people
were on ahead, hoping to pass through their country
after leaving Sultan Owd, as it was a shorter route
to Ogadayn by at least two days. Our messenger re-
turned to us at Goolooly, saying he had fallen in with
some of Noor's people ; but the only result from our
overtures was that they first quarrelled among them-
selves, and then went off, saying if they met any of
Sultan Owd's people they would probably fight. Of
course they would, for it was clearly a national pastime.
Even while the man was telling us this, a battle royal
was going on between one of our camel-drivers and a
native of the district who came to draw water from the
well, but they were separated by a rush of friends before
their spears had reached anything softer than the oryx-
hide shields. Before leaving Goolooly we killed a large
poisonous snake about four feet long, the first we had seen,
though they were reported common and destructive.
Three short daily marches across the Hand, which
extends due south for 250 miles, brought us to Burao,
Sultan Owd's headquarters, and we made a strong zariba
on the left bank of the Tug Dayr. Here we proposed to
wait several days and enjoy the hospitality of the Sultan,
while extra camels and cattle were collected to enable us
to attempt the great waterless stretch which lay between
us and the first Ogadayn wells. Just before reaching
Burao we had an example of Somali superstition. A
hare was started from its form, and ran ahead of us ;
being on the march, we were implored not to shoot it
while it ran in the direction in which we were bound ;
it would bring bad luck to the whole expedition. If it
doubled and headed towards us, then we might shoot
without danger.
Another incident during this march revealed a custom
of the country bordering on the superstitious. While the
Sultan was with us, thirty of his people came up from a
caravan and demanded to be fed. We were not disposed
to accede ; but five of our Aden men, who had been grum-
bling about their own food and seemed to be losing heart,
openly declared we would never get through the country
if we turned a deaf ear to this demand for food. The
matter was settled by the Sultan begging Dualla to ** lend
him" two sheep, so that his people might not return
empty. This we permitted, and it appeared the Sultan's
authority was dependent to a great extent upon the liber-
ality he displayed in feeding the hungiy.
So much black-mail is levied on caravans, that any
trade between the coast and inland tribes is almost para-
lysed. A caravan from Ogadayn to Berbera will often
have to pay out two-thirds of its stock-in-trade on the
road, before the final plundering is effected by the Ayal
Achmet, who live in Berbera and act as brokers. Any
effort to strike a bargain without the Ayal Achmet as
64 THE UNKNOWN HORN OF AFRICA.
middle-men would endanger the rest of the stock, and
even the life of the trader who was bold enough to
attempt it. These things ought not to be during our
administration of the coast. The trader knows perfectly
well he is being robbed by the Ayal Achmet, who are
within the control of British government, and he is quite
lawyer enough to understand that our non-interference
proves us to be accessories after the fact.
RECEPTION AT BURAO — PATIENTS — MILITARY PARADE — MIDGANS, TOMAL,
£BIR CASTES — CURIOUS CASES — PRIESTS — A TOURNAMENT — ARRIVAL
OF THE POST AND ITS CONTENTS.
January 3rd, and we had only reached Burao. How
long would it be before we found ourselves in Ogadayn ?
No one could guess until the day of start for the desert
was fixed, and that could not be until we had collected
more camels, oxen, and sheep, and the necessary number
of water-vessels, known in the language of the land as
*' huntahs." Of these we had brought all we could pur-
chase in Berbera, and hoped to be able to buy more from
the natives we met during our early marches, but had
failed to obtain one. We told the Sultan our needs, and
he agreed to provide us with everything we required, but
it would of course take "a little time," which meant
anything between a day and a year. Well, however long
it took, we should have to wait, and certainly our quar-
ters were by no means bad.
The Tug Dayr in front of us was about fifty yards
wide, and either bank well wooded with the larger
mimosa, which always fringe a river-course of some
magnitude. Water was to be obtained in any quantity
from some twenty wells dug in the Tug to a depth of
sixty feet. Pasturage was good and abundant, and alto-
66 THE UNKNOWN HORN OF AFRICA.
gether it was the pleasantest of all the pleasant camps we
had yet made. During the day our zariba was surrounded
by chattering crowds, who came to wonder at a first ap-
pearance of the " white man ; " and through the night a
weird chaunt was kept up by the natives hauling in their
skin buckets at the wells, a process which was always
accompanied by a grotesque mixture of dance and gesture.
No one begged from us, and we made friends with all
about us. The Doctor opened his ** shop," and was kept
going most of the day. Indeed, so numerous were the
applicants for "advice gratis" that we were obliged lo
limit the attendance to ** special hours." Kheumatism
and itch were endemic diseases, and the run on sulphur
temfic. Wounds of all sorts and sizes, old and recent,
were brought for daily inspection and treatment, and it
soon became an acknowledged fact that the white men
were " good people."
Two patients were interesting but incurable cases.
Both had been picked up while asleep by lions, the
part grasped being the shoulder-joint. In each case
the beasts had let go their hold directly the victims
shrieked, but before doing so had given* a scrunch
which had so smashed the bones and injured the soft
tissues, that the limbs became permanently stifiened and
wasted. Thrupp said it would be quite useless and
possibly dangerous to attempt any extension with the
view to breaking down adhesions. He was not even
tempted to interfere with '* Nature's utmost " after being
shown a man whose rib had been destroyed, but said
to have been replaced by a native rival introducing the
bone of a young goat! We urged the necessity, for
A ''SPECIALIST IN RIBSr 67
the sake of his reputation and ours, of capping this
triumph of native surgery, but he only shook his head,
as though the possibility were beyond him. We offered
to get plenty of young goats, and he could try all
their ribs in turn — a failure was preferable to an admis-
sion of incompetency; but our arguments were useless.
The Doctor said he had the nucleus of a good general
practice, and would not compete with his brother " spe-
cialist in ribs."
During our stay at Burao, the Sultan collected a great
many of his people together, and twice entertained us
with some well-executed and characteristic evolutions on
horseback. On the first occasion some forty mounted
men were collected in the Tug before our zariba ; but this
did not satisfy the Sultan, and he arranged a second " fan-
tasia," in which fully two hundred warriors were engaged.
It was the best and most characteristic thing of the kind
I had ever seen. A procession was first formed in the
river s bed, and on a given signal all dashed off, brandishing
their spears and shields. Dressed in tobes of many colours,
and sitting loosely on their gaily caparisoned ponies, they
engaged in mimic contest with spear and shield, reining
their horses upon their haunches when at full gallop,
and with wild shouts flinging their spears into the air.
Each warrior carried a short-handled whip with a broad
raw hide thong, and with it lashed his steed unmercifully.
Some of the riders went through regular circus feats,
leaping from their horses when at full gallop, picking
up objects thrown on the ground, and then remount-
ing. After this had continued for some time they would
gallop close to our zariba, and reining up, shout **Mort,
68 THE UNKNOWN HORN OF AFRICA.
mort" ("Welcome, welcome"), to which we replied,
"Kulliban" ("Thanks"). One man then delivered an
oration, chanted in dull monotone. Of this I could
never obtain a satisfactory translation ; but Dualla said
it was " poetry," and the gist of it was to the ejffect that
they had never seen white men in their country before ;
that we were their friends, and they were glad to see us ;
that we had come from a distant land, and that they
too had journeyed a long way to greet the white man,
and to do him honour.
It finished at last, and now was the moment to make
a solemn investiture of the Sultan, when he was sur-
rounded by so many of his people, for, in addition to
the two hundred horsemen, a very lai'ge crowd had
collected on foot. As he sat on a chair placed on the
edge of the river-bank, in full view of all his sub-
jects, we girt a gaudily hilted sword about his waist,
placed a fine camel's-hair burnoos on his shoulders, and
twined a scarlet silk hujiyyah round his head. Then,
while a gracious smile overspread his features, I slowly
transferred to his forefinger a large gold signet-ring I had
worn for about three minutes. He bowed gracefully, the
onlookers gave a Somali cheer, the " army " fired a salute,
and the whole thing was over.
The following day the Tug became the scene of another
exhibition, interesting as illustrative of native custom.
It began with a parade of some thirty or forty ostriches,
followed by women and children armed with long sticks.
These ostrich drivers were the wives and families of the
low-caste Midgans, who act as vassals to all the higher
tribes, and are employed to hunt game and assist in raids.
Next came the Midgan hirelings, forty in number, and
each armed with a heavy bow tipped with a white ostrich
feather, and further equipped with a hide quiver full of
poisoned arrows slung over the back. The first manoeuvre
of these bowmen consisted in a mimic combined attack
upon an imaginary enemy, in which they made short rapid
advances, and during each, let off a flight of arrows.
After this they spread out in skirmishing order, every
man kneeling or creeping, as if anxious to take advantage
of any available bit of covert, and shooting towards the
foe or head of game he was supposed to be stalking
whenever he thought fit. The advances were always
made by creeps or short hops, and never by that extended
shufiling movement so universally adopted by the Ameri-
can Indians* When this representation was over we were
treated to the Midgan war-dance, which consisted of
the usual amount of gesticulation and contortion, accom-
panied by shouting, stamping, and hand-clapping, com-
mon to so many African races.
We were told the best ostriches were worth fifty dollars.
They are regularly plucked and their feathers sent to the
coast, but European dealers do not consider them as valu-
able as those from Darfur and Kordofan. Bows, quivers,
and arrows were then handed round for our inspection.
The bows were short and clumsy, with strings of twisted
gut, the quivers neatly fashioned out of raw hide, with
straps of the same material, and the arrows, which aver-
aged about fifteen inches in length, were roughly trimmed
mimosa branches plumed with guinea-fowl feathers.
All were either tipped with a removable iron barb, or
sharpened to a natural point, which had been dipped
70 THE UNKNOWN HORN OF AFRICA.
in some viscid vegetable poison, much resembling tar ;
but in the specimens we handled this was so hardened
and sun-dried, that it would require considerable moist-
ening in a living tissue before it could be dissolved.
The owners of the weapons declared the poison to be
sure, though not quick in its action, and said that any part
of the human body into which it was inserted always de-
cayed, and death ensued, preceded by the hair from the
head and body falling oflf in large quantities. Animals
transfixed by these arrows would rapidly lose strength,
and could be easily tracked and dispatched, while guinea-
fowl would succumb after flying or running a few yards.*
These Midgans are one of the three pariah tribes existent
throughout Somali-land. The others are the Tomal, who
work in iron, and turn out bridle-bits, swords, and spear-
heads, and the Ebir, who are tanners, and manufacture
saddles, prayer-carpets, and small leathern cases for the
receipt of verses from the Koran. These cases are from
one to three inches square, and neatly stitched at the
sides : they are prized by all who profess to be devoted Mos-
lems, and may be seen suspended from a narrow strap tied
round the neck or arm. The low-caste tribes are only
distinguishable from other Somalis by their smaller
stature and their weaker physical development. They
own no fatherland, but are divided up between the chief
Somali tribes.
We were always most particular to make friends with
the priests whenever we could, and gave Dualla instruc-
tions to always look out for them. They are the most
dangerous people in the country, as they are apt to stir
their flocks up against travellers, and it is hardly neces-
sary to add they are ignorant and fanatical to a degree.
There was one at Burao who was said to have great
influence. We made his acquaintance at once, and pre-
sented him with a burnoos and silk kufiyyah, but we gave
him besides what he valued more than anything else —
a Koran. I am afraid that missionaries would hardly
approve of this proceeding; but as I do not believe
in interfering with a man's religion, and knowing
that he would read his Bible when he would not
look at ours, I gave him the Koran. It was a present
he would value more than anything else, and showed
both him and the people we had no wish to interfere
with their ** beliefs." We took a small supply of Korans,
and found them invaluable ; and I would strongly ad-
vise future travellers in fanatical Mahommedan countries
to do the same. They must, however, be only given on
rare occasions, and a suitable speech should accompany
the gift. This man was so pleased, that he gave us a
letter, a sort of pastoral ** round robin," to his brother
priests in Ogadayn, which was exactly what we wanted.
Our interview wuth this priest, terrible through
his influence, was followed by another with a man ter-
rible through his deeds. He was reported to be a hun-
dred years old, and he really looked his age ; but he
was also said to have killed two hundred men, and on this
account he dared not show himself in Berbera. Two men
a year is not a bad average fall from the sword of a Somali
warrior, but it was of course a mere bagatelle to the fall
from the lancet of any fashionable English doctor in olden
days. I did venture to say this to our visitor, but my
brother told him the white doctor belonged to a tribe
whose killing history was great and fearful, even as his.
Before long Thrupp had a chance of proving himself
worthy of the tribe he represented, for a tournament was
organised among the natives, and he entered the lists.
Being skilled in single-stick, he easily defeated every one
he engaged, including our head-man, Dualla. His anta-
gonists knew nothing about the outside wri^t cut and
guard ; so every time a sword or spear was raised for cut
or thrust, the Doctor s weapon came sharply down on the
exposed forearm, with a blow which they readily under-
stood must mean immediate disablement if received in
real combat. During the contest with Dualla the excite-
ment was so intense among the spectators, that several
rushed in to prevent what they believed was developing
into a veritable battle.
So far we had got on without serious delay, and the
people at Burao seemed so friendly and v^illing to help,
that we were quite hopeful about the possibility of the
Sultan providing us with the necessary extra men and
beasts within a few days, and thus enabling us to com-
mence our journey across the desert which leads to
Ogadayn. We sat down to roasted sheep and guinea-
fowl on the evening of the 4th, and cheerily discussed the
interests and excitements of the last two days, and the
chance of receiving a mail that night, forwarded by
special runner from Berbera, The map was now accurately completed up to Burao.
