Staying at Dulhull.—March 31st, Journey to Segallo, distance one and
a-half miles, general direction S.S.W.—Halt for the night.—Journey to
Daddahue, distance ten miles, general direction W.S.W.—Attack of the
Bursane subdivision of the Ad’alee tribe.—Halt for the night.
_March 30th._—During the night, Ohmed Mahomed made his appearance, and
at day-break his loud voice, calling to load the camels, awakened me
with a start. Zaido, with a small kid-skin filled with very dirty water,
poured a little into my hands, which I then threw over my face, wiped it
dry with my silk handkerchief (my napkin having been stolen the night
before), and thus finished my hasty toilet. After having troubled myself
to saddle my own mule, I found that the camels were being unloaded
again, and on inquiry, learned that there was a division in the camp.
One party wishing to remain for some more camels to join us, and the
other desirous of starting without any delay. It was at length agreed
that the camels going to take up salt at Bahr Assal should go on to that
place one day in advance of the Kafilah I belonged to, so as to give
them time to load. We were to follow the next morning, to enable the
camels to come up, belonging to some parties who had sent a messenger
from Tajourah to say they would join us in the course of the day. To
this course no reasonable objection could be raised, as it was the
interest of the Ras, or head of the Kafilah, and of every camel-owner
that composed it, to get as great a number of people together as
possible to resist any extortion, or repel any attack that might be made
by the different tribes we should meet with on the road. Ohmed Mahomed,
therefore, consented to this arrangement, and we were detained at
Dulhull another day in consequence. I noticed after Ohmed Mahomed’s
arrival in camp, that great, and I thought very unnecessary, care was
taken to guard me from any attack at night. My place being more securely
shut in, and Ohmed Mahomed and his servants taking care to lie at the
entrance, and around it. Ohmed had his reason for this, and I should not
have slept very comfortably had I been then fully aware of the threats
held out by the Debenee against any unfortunate Engreez travelling
through their country, and of which I was only subsequently informed.
Our Kafilah during this day was increased by twenty-four camels, which
made the total number, with the few that had gone on to the Bahr Assal,
eighty-four, and we could muster altogether about forty fighting men; we
had besides a few women and boys in company. Five Bedouins from the Hy
Soumaulee tribe, who had been transacting some business in Tajourah,
also accompanied us, and offered for five dollars each to be my personal
guard on the road, and the rumours of intended attacks, and the evident
anticipation of such by Ohmed Mahomed, made me agree to the proposal.
Garahmee, Moosa Gra, Adam Burrah, Moomen, and Omah Suis were accordingly
enlisted into my service.
It must be observed, that in the first instance in Tajourah, these men
had been passed off to Mr. Cruttenden as being part of the escort of ten
men which had been agreed upon should be provided, and for which Mr.
Cruttenden had paid twenty-five dollars per man to Izaak and Cassim. I
now learnt that besides the owners of the camels themselves, none had
been so engaged to defend the property of the Mission, and that these
Bedouins belonged to us no farther than I chose to engage them, and
feeling the necessity of the case, I did not hesitate in coming to a
conclusion upon the subject, protesting at the same time against the
deception practised upon Mr. Cruttenden.
Subsequent events proved how greatly I was obliged to these men and
their tribe for the protection they afforded me, and without their
assistance I feel assured I could never have delivered the stores safe
in Shoa, or have brought also along with me a quantity of other property
belonging to the Mission that I found on the road, and which had been
abandoned by the officers of the preceding division. Their fidelity to
our engagement was also remarkable, considering the reported bad
character of this people, which I must say was confirmed by my own
observation; but as by the terms of our engagement they were to receive
no money until our arrival in Abyssinia, it was their interest, of
course, to be faithful to their charge, for in case of any accident
preventing me or the stores reaching our destination, it was understood
they were not to receive their pay.
I was a witness to-day of the barbarous manner in which the Dankalli
brand the camel. It seems two different marks are required, both of
which are made with a red-hot iron. One intimates the tribe of the
owner, the other his private mark. Two camels had been purchased by
another Ibrahim, a cousin of Ebin Izaak, a young quiet-looking fellow,
and less violent in his manner than is usual among his countrymen; he,
however, did not practise the less forbearance towards his new purchase,
but proceeded at once to stamp them as his property. The fore legs of
one of the camels being first secured by a strong leathern thong;
another was afterwards fastened around the hind ones in a similar
manner. A rope attached to the former was then made to run through the
loop of the latter, and this being pulled by three or four men the feet
were all drawn together, and the consequence was that the poor animal
fell with tremendous force to the ground, uttering the most horrible
cries. A piece of iron about half an inch thick, and some two feet long,
being heated red-hot was then applied to the shoulder, nearly the whole
length, and three successive marks were thus inflicted. The iron being
heated afresh each time, remained until it was quite cold upon the skin,
which curled up in a most sickening manner as the rude instrument was
taken off. Three similar marks were also made upon the rump, after which
the animal was liberated, and allowed to get up. I was glad there were
only these two to be operated upon, for I never heard such bellowing
shrieks that disturbed the camp during the operation, such only as
camels can produce when suffering bodily pain.
A goat being killed to-day for my use, and all the meat not being
required, it was cut into long strips, about an inch in thickness, and
hung up in the sun to dry, being festooned about the sides of my hut,
from the projecting ends of the saddle-staves, which assisted in forming
the roof. Zaido set me to watch, that no hungry kite out of the number
which were circling above us should pounce upon, and carry the meat
away. I, however, amused myself more with their impudent stoops, and
Zaido, on his return from watering his camels, found the goat’s flesh
rapidly disappearing, more to the satisfaction of the birds than his
own. What remained, however, being sufficiently dry, he hastily put into
a large skin bag, which he tied up ready for loading on the morrow, our
start being announced by public criers to take place next morning.
_March 31st._—Zaido and Allee being busy loading the camels, I started
with Ohmed Mahomed, and my body-guard on foot, leaving my mule to
follow. Our road lay still along the sea-shore, the sand having become
more shingly than before, and mixed with great quantities of broken
shells, and rolled pieces of red and madrapore coral. I took the
opportunity of bathing while the party I was with performed their
ablutions, and repeated the morning prayers.
This was a very short march, the halting-place, Segallo, not being more
than half an hour, or one and a-half miles from Dulhull. Ohmed Mahomed
endeavoured to allay my disappointment by saying we should start again
at night; but of course I did not believe him. I remained in my hut,
which was made as usual, all day, not feeling very well; in the evening,
however, I strolled from the low jungle that here skirts the sea, and in
which our camp was made, to the beach, where I amused myself observing
some sea-gulls that exhibited no little sagacity in the manner in which
they obtained their food. All along the Bay of Tajourah the small hermit
crab abounds, and formed, I should suppose, from what I saw, the
principal prey of these birds. It would be a difficult thing to get at
this kind of Crustacea, with all the means that seagulls can command;
but instinct has taught them to have recourse to a method of unshelling
the crabs that certainly I should not have thought of. Seizing the one
they intend to operate upon, they fly up to the height of ten or twelve
feet, and letting it drop it naturally falls on the heaviest, or topside
of the shell. Before the little animal can recover itself, the gull has
caught it again, and flying up with it the same height as before, he
lets it drop a second time, and so he continues till the repeated falls
have fractured the shell, and he gets at the animal without further
trouble. It takes ten or twelve of these short flights to accomplish the
object, but it never fails; and as the birds are certainly patterns of
perseverance in their pursuit, they get, no doubt, a good living in this
very singular manner. Besides this instance of their sagacity, I have
seen gulls over and over again defeat the attempts of the hawk to pounce
upon them, by making a very successful but very unusual flight for them,
which was to vie with the hawk himself in the elevation he was obliged
to take for the success of his swoop. In such cases they seek not to
shun the butcher of their kind, but following him in each gyration he
makes, afford him no opportunity of attack, and soon tire him out. I was
called away from my musing occupation by Moosa, who came with a great
deal of mystery to inform me of something that he was not quite able to
tell me, but on returning with him to the camp, I found two boxes had
been broken, during the short march from Dulhull, by falling from the
back of the camel. I was requested to put them to rights, as driving
nails was what the Dankalli did not understand. My carpentering amused
them very much; and the job being settled to their satisfaction, I
adjourned to my hut and turned in for the night.
_April 1st._—We were up very early this morning, at least one hour
before sunrise, and all started together for Daddahue, or Wadalissan,
two different names that were given me for the next halt. I was desired
to keep with the Kafilah, for fear of our being attacked, and also
informed that it would be near mid-day before we should arrive at the
encamping ground.
Our first hour’s march lay along the sea-shore, which was of the same
character as yesterday, but I observed great quantities of sponge washed
high upon the beach, and picked up some very good specimens. Pebbles of
a beautiful opaline chalcedony were very common, and with the coral and
rich pearly shells of some large bivalve, would have been sufficient
foundation for an imaginative fancy to have here described a very bright
pavement of fairy land.
Leaving the sea-coast, we entered a narrow gully, or dry bed of a
stream, overhung by a thick jungle of different kinds of shrubs and
bushes. The road thus naturally formed, was most wretched to travel
upon, being strewed with blocks of black lava, of all shapes and sizes.
We continued along its serpentine channel for nearly two hours; and it
would have been useless to have endeavoured to find another road, for
the surface of the adjoining country on either side was in a much worse
condition; besides, the thick thorny bushes presented insurmountable
obstacles in every direction save the watercourses we followed. We at
length arrived at a gorge, or narrow pass, where it appeared as if the
collected waters of some large reservoir had at a former period broken
through a wall of lava, and thus escaped to the neighbouring sea,
spreading over the intervening ground the debris of its forced passage.
This remarkable looking spot was called Galla Lafue, from a tree of a
very singular character, which abounds in this neighbourhood. It is
about six feet high, its leaves thick, smooth, and fleshy, covered with
a silvery down on the underside, and of a pale green above. It bore a
large purple and white flower, the bark was of a light grey colour, and
abounded with a white acid juice. That it was employed in any manner
amongst the Dankalli for medicine, I could not learn. It only grows in
the beds of temporary streams. I met with it first at Dulhull, on the
sea-shore, and have seen it also in more elevated situations in
Abyssinia.
The pass of Galla Lafue is not more than three hundred yards long, and
winds between high perpendicular and flat-topped rocks of black lava.
Its greatest width did not extend thirty yards. Gnawed bones were strewn
about, on several parts, and on looking up I saw the low cave of a wild
beast, whose traces were too recent to leave any doubt of it having only
retired upon our approach. We soon emerged from this narrow ravine, and
then passed along some broken ground of irregular heaps of boulders and
stones, that reminded me of the bottom of some former lake, situated in
a country where the fierce rush of water had only allowed the heavier
debris of the surrounding rocks to accumulate; and of this character, I
should imagine, was the bursting torrent that at last had made its
escape through the pass of Galla Lafue into the sea.
The Kafilah did not proceed in the direction of the dry stony bed, but
turning to the left hand, ascended the sloping banks, which at this
point assumed a less precipitous character than immediately in the pass.
Some of the camel-drivers and Bedouins went, however, to pools of water
in the neighbourhood, and filled their affaleetahs, small neatly-made
kid-skin bags, one of which it is necessary every traveller should be
provided with, and which, when not in use, is rolled closely up and
carried, hanging from the handle of the shield. Mine hung from my
saddle-bow, and I generally took care to have it filled before we
started in the morning. To-day, however, as I walked with a crowd of the
natives, I did not wait for my lagging mule, but refreshed myself, when
thirsty, at the little cup-like depressions in the cellular blocks of
lava that had been filled by a shower of rain the preceding night, but
which had not extended to our camp at Seggallo. We crossed an extensive
plain of loose volcanic stones, where we marched as if we were passing
upon stepping-stones over some brook in England, and as this uneasy kind
of walking was compulsory for some hours, it became very tiresome, and I
felt a great relief when we came to a district which did afford a little
more opportunity for some stunted and straggling mimosa-trees to bloom,
but with a very melancholy dirty green verdure. Our path was here
greatly improved, but just as I was congratulating myself upon the
change, and thinking I should be able to continue walking another hour
or two, we came upon the Kafilah, which had started the day before us
from Dulhull, and to whose farther advance some obstacle had arisen.
This induced Ohmed Mahomed, our Ras, to halt here also, and in the
course of the day I was enabled to learn the cause of our detention,
which had surprised me; for, but a short time before we halted, Ohmed
had told me, with evident sincerity, that he intended us to proceed for
two more hours.
The camels being unloaded, my hut was built as usual, into which I
retired with some pleasure, the day having been exceedingly hot, and the
long fatiguing march of at least five hours, had completely wearied me.
I slept for two or three hours, when Ohmed Mahomed came and awakened me,
to ask me to load my guns and pistols, as the Bedouins were collecting
on the opposite height to oppose our farther progress. I always kept my
carbine, and three waist-pistols in readiness for such anticipated
occasions, but on this intimation I soon charged, in addition, a
fowling-piece I had with me, and also produced two other holster pistols
from my saddle-bags.
It was now nearly three o’clock, and a slight sea-breeze blowing over
the land, cooled the air, whilst groups of our merchants and
camel-drivers were performing their afternoon prayers. A valley at least
three miles broad stretched from north to south as far as the eye could
reach. From our low position, we could not see anything above the level
line of the flat top parallel banks which, not sixty feet high, sloped
gently into the plain below. The banks were of rough loose stones of a
very large size, but the plain consisted of rich alluvial soil, which
supported by its produce the flocks of one of the largest tribes in the
neighbourhood of Tajourah, the Bursane Bedouins, and the fighting men of
whom had now gathered for the purpose, as they avowed, of plundering the
Kafilah, and destroying the white man who accompanied it.
As the prayers went on amongst our people, the loud whooping of the
collecting tribe was answered by my Hy Soumaulee escort, who stood upon
the slope on our right, and facing that upon which were our opponents.
Garahmee, Moosa Gra, and Adam Burrah, spear and shield in hand, leaped
round and round, yelling with every bound, and then with lesser jumps,
seemed to trample upon the body of some fallen foe. Whilst jumping in
this manner, Adam Burrah fell down, and rolling over and over, was very
much bruised.
Ohmed Mahomed took measures in the first place to conciliate, if
possible, the opposite party, and some half-bloods of the tribe among
our Kafilah went for the purpose of effecting a treaty, but were
unsuccessful, and on their return, they were followed by a cloud of the
enemy, who now seemed to cover the whole further side of the valley. All
this time I had kept out of sight at the express desire of Ohmed
Mahomed; Zaido, Allee, and myself being left with the stores, every
other member of the Kafilah, after the prayers had ended, having joined
the Hy Soumaulee, were now sitting together in a large semicircle on a
level spot that occurred upon the slope of the hill. I was anxiously
watching the progress of events; for being some hundreds of yards from
the men of the Kafilah I expected for a certainty being cut off by some
rush of the whooping Bedouins, who, fast advancing, I could now see with
my glass, from the inglorious position assigned to me; their bright
spear-heads glistening in the sun, over the tops of the low jungle
through which they were passing. At length they approached far too near
to be pleasant to the feelings of Ohmed Mahomed, who had depended upon
the mere rumour of my firearms deterring them from making an attack upon
the Kafilah. At first it was not his policy for me to be seen, for fear
the parade might be deemed by the suspicious and jealous natives as a
kind of threat, and thus interfere with the pacific arrangements he
contemplated, and was most willing to see effected, but finding that
they had advanced within three or four hundred yards without any symptom
of the usual halt, preliminary to overtures of peace, Ohmed Mahomed
sprang to his feet, and brandished his spear in defiance, leaping and
yelling to deter their nearer approach. His efforts were answered only
by similar cries, and seeing this, he turned suddenly round, and called
out for me, Zaido, and Allee to come immediately, and join them. I
understood him and his position in a moment, so pointing to my pistols,
I bade Allee bring them along with him, and taking a gun in each hand,
with head uncovered, ran quickly up, and, as if inoculated with the same
savage ferocity as my companions, yelled in a manner that delighted, and
astonished even them. Adam Burrah, with a loud shout of welcome, came
running to meet me, and seizing hold of my wrist, dragged me into the
front rank with him, where, squatting down on his heels like the rest,
he pulled me down by his side. Ohmed Mahomed now came and placed himself
on my other side, told me that I must only fire when he placed his hand
on my arm, and adding the word “kill” in Arabic, pointed with his spear
to a tall young man who, with unparalleled boldness, had advanced to
less than one hundred yards of us, and stood making some inquiries from
one of the women of our Kafilah, unheeding the loud cries of “cutta,
cutta” (go away, go away,) that my friends were shouting with all their
might to drive him off. Excited by his insolent bearing, Adam Burrah at
last started up from my side, and having called “cutta” several times
without the young man deigning to take the least notice, he rushed
towards him. On perceiving this, the man instantly dropped on to his
heels, so that only his head and his poised spear could be seen above
his shield, and coolly awaited the attack, but Adam, seeing his foe thus
prepared, dropt to the ground himself in the same manner behind his
shield, at the distance of about twenty yards, and both began sparring
with their spears. Garahmee, Moosa, and others, called to Adam Burrah to
come back, and Ohmed Mahomed, willing to avoid bloodshed, sprang after
him, suddenly snatched away his spear, and thus disarmed, he was
obliged, but very reluctantly, to return to my side.
Considering that this was to be the commencement of the fray, I had
taken up my gun, and the man observing this, and the determined front
our little band sustained, thought it best to imitate Adam Burrah, and
slowly walked back to his now retiring countrymen, who had immediately,
on seeing me and the bright glaring barrel of my long fowling-piece,
with one consent turned, and began a slow retreat, in a long straggling
line to their original position on the opposite height, where, squatting
down, they assumed, like ourselves, an attitude of defence, as if
influenced by a desire to oppose our passage through their country
rather than to make a gratuitous attack, which was certainly their first
intention, before being acted upon by the wholesome fear of “the
villanous saltpetre.” Garahmee now appeared to have assumed the
character of commander-in-chief of our forces, walking backwards and
forwards between the two extremities of the little semicircle we formed.
In one hand, he held a small twig, which he waved about most
energetically, as he recited some long speech of a very
fiercely-sounding character. Occasionally, he tapped upon the head any
of the party who, tired of the sitting position, attempted to rest
himself by standing up. This part of their tactics, I observed, was
particularly insisted upon, and was done, I was told, with a view of
preventing the enemy from obtaining a correct knowledge of the numbers
of their opponents. Garahmee was a recognised authority, for in his
directions a marshal with his baton would not have been more implicitly
obeyed by his army, than was this half-naked savage with his little
stick by his wild companions.
We did not stir from our position whilst the sun was up, but kept
sitting in a very uncomfortable posture for me, some time even after it
had set, when Ohmed Mahomed, touching my elbow, intimated I could go to
my hut, for pointing to the men opposed to us, with a significant laugh,
he said, “they are very good friends.” Zaido and Allee accompanied me to
my hut, but the rest of the Kafilah remained in the same squatting
position until after nine o’clock, by which time a peace had been made,
and sworn to upon the Koran, between us and the Bedouins, a safe conduct
being given to the Kafilah through their country, which extended to the
Bahr assal, by a regular official-like document, drawn up in Arabic.
The present required by the chief was exceedingly moderate; three pieces
of blue Surat cotton cloth to distribute among the tribe, being all that
was asked for. At my request, one bag of rice was subsequently divided
among some of the principal people, as an extraordinary present on the
occasion of an Engreez coming into their country. All being settled most
satisfactorily to myself, and to every one else, I got my rice supper,
and slept the remainder of the night as soundly on the hard irregular
surface of the rocky ground as if reposing on the softest couch. It is
the excitement occasioned by scenes similar to the one I have
endeavoured to describe, which gives a zest to desert life, besides the
consciousness of having escaped a great peril attaches a value to
existence itself of which we have had no previous idea, for, like
health, it is sometimes held of little moment until we are on the eve of
losing it for ever.
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