Purchase of some tobacco, with remarks on its use among the
Dankalli.—Make cover for hat.—Conversation with Ohmed Mahomed.—_May
3_, Journey from Hasanderah to Bundurah.—General direction, S.W. by
W.—Time marching seven hours.—Singular effect of refraction.—Joined by
party of Issah Soumaulee; description of their appearance and
arms.—Affectionate inquiries of Kafilah friends.—Description of
halting-place and country around Bundurah.
SEVERAL applications for tobacco to-day determined me to purchase from
Ohmed Medina three pounds, for which I gave only three dollars, the most
reasonable price that was ever asked me, for any commodity I required
during the journey. Over the presents intended for the road I had no
command whatever, they having been placed in the charge of Ohmed Mahomed
before we left Tajourah; and he took such especial care of them that the
three skin bags full of handkerchiefs, coloured cottons, and white
calico cloth, were untouched when we arrived in Shoa. All the presents
required, were supplied from a stock of blue cloth and tobes, he had
purchased at Berberah, and which he took care to charge to the Commander
in Shoa (the British Ambassador) at the price of three dollars each
tobe, and of ten dollars the piece of blue sood, much to his great gain
and emolument. At the same time, the cunning fellow expected at the end
of our journey, to have given to him all the original and much more
valuable presents, as a kind of perquisite belonging to his office as
Ras ul Kafilah.
Tobacco, in all its forms, is eagerly sought for by the Dankalli; their
constant asking for it is one of the principal annoyances a traveller
experiences in passing through Adal. A very little, however, sends the
sturdy beggars away quite satisfied, and if it were not for the numbers
of them, their moderate expectations would be a source of amusement, for
a thimbleful is received with a great deal more thankfulness than a
handful, which, if bestowed, they look at with a kind of feeling, that
if you can afford to give so much, there is no harm done in asking you
for a little more.
The sort of tobacco I saw most general among these people was the dried
leaf, unprepared in any other manner than by mere exposure to the sun
after being gathered. The Bedouins used it rudely crushed between the
fingers, and well mixed up with an equal quantity of fine wood ashes.
This rough powder is placed between the cheek and the lower jaw, where
it forms a large lump, which is allowed to remain until all the bitter
or active principle of the mass is extracted. It makes a most unsightly
protuberance, just above and on one side of the chin, and occasions a
continual ejection of saliva, which, as it is cast only upon the earth,
is less objectionable than a similar indulgence when committed in the
more civilized resorts of men, as, for example, in the drawing-rooms of
the less fastidious of our Transatlantic brethren.
The people of Tajourah manufacture this tobacco into snuff by first
scorching the leaf, and then triturating it between two stones,
something in the same manner as paint is ground in England. Some of the
Dankalli tribes, among which are the Assobah, and Omah Battah’s family
of the Sidee Ahbreu, are remarkable for their abstinence from the use of
this intoxicating herb, an indulgence in which, by any individual
belonging to either of these tribes would be followed by his
assassination. These people may have derived this prejudice from some
early connexion with the Christian Church of Abyssinia, one canon of
which interdicts the use of tobacco among its communicants. I suspected
also that it might have arisen from the exhortation of some of their
more respected Sheiks, who had learnt the existence of a similar
abstinence from tobacco, practised by the modern Islam sect termed
Whaahbee. On inquiry, however, I found that the Dankalli had rejected
its use long before the appearance of these Unitarians of South Arabia.
I may observe that the Whaahbee found their objection to the use of
tobacco, upon some commandment contained in the Koran, that says “no
property shall be consumed in fire,” which they contend is the case when
smoking is indulged in, and that consequently, it is a crime of scarcely
less atrocity than downright arson.
Tobacco in the form of snuff is used, however, by all the tribes, and I
have myself seen the Chief of the Sidee Ahbreu snuffing greedily a large
quantity up his nose whilst he was telling me, with a great deal of
self-satisfaction, that the use of tobacco was a capital crime among his
people. This luxury is kept in a little bag, or pouch, made of two
pieces of fine gut, stretched and dried in the sun, and then sewed
together. What little snuff they can get possession of is carefully
deposited in this; it is then folded up several times one way, and
placed between the scabbard of their knife and the thongs that secure it
to their girdle. “Surat,” the name of snuff in the Dankalli language,
indicates the place on the coast of India from whence was imported the
first that came into Adal.
I was much amused by a comparison memory suggested, between the Dankalli
of the present day, and the beggars for tobacco in the south of
Galloway, in Scotland, not one hundred years ago, where a traveller of
that day relates of the inhabitants, “that they are for the most part
great chewers of tobacco, and are so addicted to it that they will ask
for a piece thereof from a stranger as he is riding on his way, and
therefore let not a traveller want an ounce or two of roll tobacco in
his pocket, and for an inch or two thereof he need not fear the want of
a guide by day or night.” This relation so accords with the practices of
the Dankalli Bedouins, that supposing freedom from any attack is assured
by the protection of some powerful chief, all other services and
attention required during a sojourn amongst them, may be commanded by
following the recommendation of the worthy traveller in Galloway.
During the day I managed to make a new covering for my hat, for in
passing beneath and among the thorny mimosas, the old one had been torn
to rags. Having to get out a shirt to cut up for the necessary material,
such a collection of my escort and Kafilah men that gathered around my
hut, I never saw, and snatching for the buttons, or begging for the
remnants, they left me little more than barely sufficient for my
purposes, and, in fact, I was obliged to purchase back, for a couple of
needles, part of one of the sleeves, to finish my task in a creditable
manner. Everything I required to perform this, my needles, my thread,
the white tape binding, and the last shreds of the shirt, were
distributed fairly among the admiring mob, before I could get them away.
Ohmed Medina, whilst at prayers this evening, without moving from the
mat upon which he performed his prostrations, called me to bring my gun
to have a pot shot at some guinea-fowl, that were roosted for the night,
in the branches of an aditu tree very near to the camp. Having only one
barrel loaded with shot, the other containing a ball I sent the latter,
first among the crowd of birds, not above twenty yards from me, and
killed three, following it up by pouring in the shot, which brought down
four more of the scared fugitives.
All had their throats cut before they were quite dead, each bird having
three or four assistant executioners to settle its business, although
numbers rather delayed than accelerated the operation, which Ohmed
Medina consecrated, by bawling out from his prayer-mat the necessary
“Allah achbar!” “Allah achbar!”
Ohmed Mahomed, who had become very civil the last day or two, visited my
hut in the evening, and I had some conversation with him relative to our
starting the next day, and sounded his intentions by remarking, that
here was plenty of forage and excellent water. “Good, Good,” replied
Ohmed, pointing to the camels; and then, with hands spread some distance
from his stomach, intimated how well distended the animals seemed to be
with food. I shook my head, telling him I was very sorry to see it, for
where forage was abundant, there our stay was sure to be long. Ohmed
Mahomed, to close the dialogue, and get away, responded, “Ehwah, ehwah”
(yes, yes); “Jimel, big-belly,” making signs; “Jimel, carry big box.
Jimel, little-belly,” screwing himself up. “Jimel, carry marfish”
(nothing). The English of all this, it must be understood, was
pantomimic; and a pretty good idea may be drawn from this little scene,
of the manner in which conversations were carried on, between me and
some of my companions.
_May 3d._—Long before sunrise this morning, I was awoke by the hoarse
voice of Ohmed Mahomed, as he stood upon one of the boxes, giving the
usual loud cry, as a signal for starting. For some reason or other, it
had been arranged that the Hy Soumaulee and myself, instead of preceding
the Kafilah, as had been customary, should now remain until the very
last camel had moved off the ground. Ohmed Mahomed was, perhaps, not
quite sure, but that we might give him the slip, and push on for Shoa,
without waiting for him.
After I had booted and belted, I retired to a large stone with my
carbine in my hand, where I sat until the camels were all loaded, and,
one after the other, in detached strings of six or eight, led by a
slave, the long rope halter thrown over one shoulder, and his spear on
the other, were stalking solemnly along the winding path among the
clumps of trees, which now hid them for a moment or two from the view,
and between which they then again appeared, until lost altogether to
sight among the distant foliage.
Whilst I was sitting, I had an opportunity of observing a singular
effect of mirage upon the summit of a long low ridge, that formed one of
the sides of the valley of Hasanderah. It evidently depended upon the
refraction of the rays of light passing through a stratum of air, in
which was suspended or contained a considerable quantity of the vapour
of water, and which, of less specific gravity than the air itself, was
rising from the damp earth in this neighbourhood. On the top of the
ridge, standing in high relief, from the grey sky behind him, was a
Bedouin, who, of gigantic proportions, seemed to be quite as tall as a
very high tree, which was growing near to where he stood. I looked at
him with astonishment; and thought of the enemy described by Ossian’s
frightened scout,—“I saw their chief, tall as a rock of ice; his shield
the rising moon, his spear a blasted pine;” of so enormous a size, was
the figure and arms of this supernatural-looking being. Feeling assured
that it must be some unusual phenomenon, rather than anything real, I
left my seat to examine more closely the unmoving bronze colossus upon
the height. A short walk soon proved to me that I was not wrong in my
idea of the real character of this appearance, for I found that the tall
tree, on my approach, sunk into a low mimosa bush, scarcely five feet
high, and the tall giant reduced himself, to the form of my Hy Soumaulee
friend, Carmel Ibrahim, who was waiting very leisurely a little apart,
like myself, the departure of the Kafilah.
When the word was given for us to start after the camels, I mounted my
mule, and travelled at a pace that suited her exactly, being about seven
hours marching fourteen miles. We soon ascended from the valley of
Hasanderah, and passing over the ridge, emerged into a very extensive
treeless plain, where were numerous denuded bases of small volcanic
cones, the remains of which consisted of stratified concentric circles
of black lava, just appearing above the surface of the ground. The
diameters of the numerous instances of this peculiar geological
structure, I passed during the day, varied from fifteen to thirty yards.
Grass was everywhere abundant. Numerous sand-pillars moved along before
and behind us; sometimes, as many as twenty, or even thirty, appearing
in sight at once. They varied considerably in form, from that of an
upright exact column to that of an inverted trumpet, sustained at an
angle of 50° from the horizon.
On our march we were overtaken by four men, whom, Ohmed Medina, on
seeing, instantly pointed out to me as being Issah Soumaulee. That they
differed in some respects from the Dankalli, was obvious, at first
sight; but this was most strikingly apparent in the character of their
arms. In the first place, they carried neither spears nor shields,
instead of these, having light bows and rather bulky quivers, which hung
under the left arm, from the shoulder of the same side, by broad
leathern bands. In the belt of untanned hide, which secured the fotah,
or cloth, around the waist, they had each an old rusty knife in a
worn-out scabbard, and scarcely eight inches long. The rude hilts of
these weapons were merely round bits of wood, hollowed between the ends
for the grasp of the hand.
In the long frizzly character of their hair, and in the colour of their
skin, they resembled the Dankalli, with whom their stature, and the
general character of their features, also accorded. At the present day,
the Dankalli and Soumaulee are distinct, as nations; but, the great
similarity of their language, of their customs, and their indistinct
separation, in the various tribes that border on this road to Abyssinia,
and which made it therefore a most interesting one, prove them to have
descended from one common origin, the Avalites of ancient geographers.
Some modification in the character of these ancient people, has been
occasioned by intermixture with other nations, which has produced a
difference in personal appearance. In the north, acted upon by the
Grecian and Egyptian colonists, who made that part of the country of the
Avalites, a rich and populous kingdom. Their representatives at the
present day, the Dankalli, have assumed, or retained, the Circassian
type; whilst in the south and west, their long intercourse with
Shankalli tribes, have given somewhat of the character of the Negro to
the more southern Soumaulee and the inland Galla.
The bows of the Soumaulee are of the most classical shape, having a
central depression, between two curved arms, at the extremities of
which, the strong catgut string is fastened. Instead, as in the bows
best known to us, the middle portion of the string being at the greatest
distance from the centre, in those used by the Soumaulee, this part of
the string actually rests upon the wood in that situation, and each time
the arrow is discharged, strikes the back of the left thumb of the
archer, with great force. Thinking I should not be aware of this, Ohmed
Medina, as a practical joke, put one of the bows into my hand, and
requested me to bend it; with a very great effort I effected this, but
took care to let the string down gently, with a knowing kind of wink,
which made them all laugh at seeing me up to the little trick intended.
The quivers were made of a long cucumber-kind of gourd-shell, but quite
straight, with a parchment cover, which fitted like the top of a large
pill-box. Inside were contained ten or twelve arrows, about a foot long,
made of a thin hollow reed. These were each armed with a broad head of
blue steel, the shape and size of the ace of spades, attached to a
nail-like spike, one inch and a-half long, which, when the arrow was to
be used, was thrust into a deep hole, down one extremity. The lower end
of the shaft was feathered, as usual, for the purpose of steadying it in
its flight. When such a weapon is discharged, and strikes the game, the
endeavours which are made, by the animal to escape, occasion the head to
become detached from the reed, which falls to the ground, whilst the
former remains in the wound; and as it is loaded with a black mass of
vegetable poison, the absorption of this into the system, soon
terminates the life of the animal. I had no opportunity, nor has any
other traveller, I believe, of identifying the plant, which supplies
this poison, with the “Euphorbia Antiquorum,” of botanists. I do not
think it inhabits the low country of the basin of the Hawash; for the
Soumaulee told me, they obtained it from the South of Hurrah; and as
this city stands upon the highland, where commences the water-shed of
the river Whabbee, to the south, I should suppose, that the poison
plants of the Soumaulee will not be determined, until some traveller has
visited that locality.
The party who joined us on the road, had just before succeeded in
killing an ostrich, and each possessed a small parcel of the feathers.
These were preserved in portions of the gut of the bird, cleaned and
dried in the sun, through which, the feathers were carefully drawn, in
the direction of the plumage, so as not to disarrange it. Besides these,
contained in the parcels, they had others tied in a bunch, which they
freely distributed among my escort, all of whom in a very short time
were decorated, with one stuck at the back of their coarse, black,
frizzly hair, over which curled the light, white, dancing feather, with
very good effect, and in excellent keeping with the rest of the picture
of savage life, our road presented.
One was given to me, but as I could not conveniently carry it in my hat,
I secured it for the present, in the head-stall of my mule’s bridle; and
the toilet of the whole party being finished, and our introduction to
the Soumaulee concluded, we parted, and proceeded on our different ways;
we, in the direction that the Kafilah had taken, whilst the strangers
continued on their way in the direction of Owssa.
We were moving on, Ohmed Medina, by the side of my mule, talking all the
way about the wars of the several tribes of the Dankalli, between
themselves, and the Galla living on the banks of the Hawash. The Hy
Soumaulee, in lines of six or seven, kept pacing away after us; each
extended party listening to one of their number who was giving a very
energetic relation of some late personal rencontres, in which he had
been engaged. So occupied, were all, with the conversations of each
other, that none but myself heard a distant shout from the rear, and
turning, on my mule, I made out the running figure of a man, whose
spear-head, even at the distance he was, glanced brightly in the sun’s
light, and enabled me to decide that the approaching object was really a
native, and on my directing attention, we all stopt for him to come up.
He turned out to be an old acquaintance, Garahmee, whom I had begun to
think had deserted us altogether. He had been two days on the journey,
to overtake the Kafilah, travelling principally in the night; and had
intended to have halted this day at Hasanderah. Finding, on his arrival
there, traces of our departure very recent, he determined to push on at
once, and our staying to converse with the Issah Soumaulee, had enabled
him to come up with us, before half the day’s march had been performed.
Although I had no great love for the cunning old rascal, I thought it
would be prudent to be polite to him, so I dismounted, and proposed,
that as he must be very tired, he should ride; at the same time pointing
to the head of the mule, directed his attention to the feather placed
there, as if it had been saved only for him.
After a little delay, we were again on our march, and soon overtook the
rearmost camels, but as we walked much faster, gradually left them all
behind. As I came up, the conductor of every fresh string, or the owner,
walking by the side of his own beast, vociferated, “Ahkeem,” “Ahkeem,”
as if our long separation, two hours before, must have obliterated all
remembrance of them out of my memory, and they wished to receive some
comfort and an assurance to the contrary, by my bawling out, in reply,
their respective names, with an affectionate inquiry after their health.
One good thing was, that among them Mahomed seemed to be a part of every
master’s name, for if it were not Ohmed Mahomed it was almost sure to be
Mahomed Ohmed, whilst the slaves all answered either to Allee or Zaido,
so there was not much chance of being wrong. They were also a
good-humoured set, for they were sure to laugh if I hit upon the right
name, and a great deal more so, if I were wrong; but as remembering a
man is as little attention as we possibly can pay to any one who acts
courteously to us, I took care to flatter them when I could, by saluting
my companions by their proper names.
We halted at a place called Bundurah, the elevated apex of a large
triangular plain, the base of which to the south was formed by the
Oburah range of hills, inhabited by the Alla Galla. Bundurah appeared to
have been the central point of some extensive elevatory movement of the
surface of the earth in this situation, as several long low ridges of
lava radiated from it, especially to the north. To the west were also a
great number of small volcanic cones, some of which looked like craters,
but too distant for me to examine them. The plain was bare of trees, but
abounded in grass and a plant of the mint species, like bergamot, which
diffused a very fragrant odour.
We found here several Bedouins of the Wahama tribe, and the object of
keeping me in the rear with the Hy Soumaulee escort was now obvious, for
we entered, it seemed, to-day, the territories of these people whom we
had every reason to expect would receive us in an hostile manner. It
was, therefore, to protect the weak and straggling camels, who would be
most likely to be attacked, if they were left behind without guard, that
we had remained at Hasanderah so long after the Kafilah had started this
morning.
Bundurah was not, strictly speaking, Wahama territory, but a kind of
debateable land, which extended to our next halting-place, Kuditee. The
Hy Soumaulee contend that this district belongs to them, and on this
plea the people of Tajourah raised their objection to the Wahama
Kafilahs coming to their port, for, possessing no country upon the line
of road to Shoa, it was argued the proper point for the Wahama to
communicate with foreign markets ought to be Zeilah. The Wahama,
however, being the largest of all the Dankalli tribes, and the Hy
Soumaulee the least, the latter are not able to contend the matter with
them, and are obliged to submit to the usurpation they have no means of
preventing; whilst the Tajourah people dare not refuse to the Wahama the
convenience of their town for mercantile purposes, or most assuredly
their road to Shoa would be closed by this powerful tribe.
Those whom we met at Bundurah had only arrived the day before, having
been to the south of Errur with an expedition against the Alla Galla,
who occupy the country between the Wahama and Hurrah. They had heard
nothing about the quarrel at Herhowlee, and were very well disposed to
be on good terms with us. One of our new friends displayed above his
hair a white ostrich feather, and around his neck, wrist, and ankles,
were small twisted strips of goat-skin, he having killed a Galla during
the expedition. The boss of his shield, the handle of his knife, and the
head of his spear, were also bound round with knots of the same twisted
skin.
Ohmed Mahomed, anxious to secure friends among the Wahama, paid every
attention to those we met in this place, and on one of the two women who
accompanied them bestowed a piece of blue sood, or half a dollar, whilst
I was called upon to make some present to the Galla slayer, which I did
by giving him a handful of tobacco and some paper. The woman, by the
bye, was an old lady-love of Ohmed Mahomed, and the sister of Lohitu.
She had now become the helpmate of an influential man among the Wahama.
Altogether our meeting with this party was most fortunate, as they
proved grateful for the little presents they all received from us, and
advocated our cause with good effect in the subsequent calahms of their
tribe. This was the object which made Ohmed Mahomed so assiduously to
cultivate their friendship; and to induce them to accompany us for the
next two or three days, until we were out of that part of the country
through which the Wahama people commanded the road, he promised each of
the four men half a dollar. The youngest of the women it was proposed
should live with me, but I was ungallant enough to object to this, for,
although I did not mind her sitting in the hut during the day, I would
insist on her not remaining there for the night. She did not seem to
understand this at all, and I could not explain to her a morality of
which she had no idea, so I gave Zaido a piece of sood to free me from
the lady’s presence. He, however, mistook my meaning altogether, and,
being a stingy kind of a character, intimated with some dumby kind of
antics, that it was all right without such a sacrifice as that. I could
not stand this, so hurried off to Ohmed Medina, and explained to him
that as I was a Christian it was not exactly right for me to take a
Mahomedan wife, especially as I was not going to become a settler in
these parts. He very good-naturedly came and relieved me from my
dilemma, by saying I was an invalid, and the woman taking the hint,
instead of sleeping in my hut, laid down her mat, like Ruth at the feet
of Boaz, and slept across the entrance.
------------------------------------------------------------------------