Loheita ibn Ibrahim, Makobunto, Akil, or chief of the Debeni and a
section of the Eesah, asserting supremacy over Gobaad, as a portion of
his princely dominions, which extend from the Great Salt Lake to
Ramudele, a messenger had, immediately upon the arrival of the caravan,
been despatched to his encampment in the neighbourhood, to invite the
hero to the tent; and the peaceful night passed, having inspired the
leader of the alarmist party with new confidence, the non-arrival of the
expected visitor was made an excuse for halting the following day.
Attended by a numerous and disreputable retinue, dragging as a gift an
obstinate old he-goat, the potent savage, whose exploit of clearing the
high road of the restless marauders, who long obstructed the passage of
kafilahs, has already been noticed in terms of commendation, sauntered
carelessly in during the early hours of the forenoon. Not one whit
better clad than the ragged and greasy ruffians in his train, he was yet
distinguished by weapons of a superior order--the shaft of his spear,
which resembled a weaver's beam, being mounted below the broad
glittering blade with rings of brass and copper, whilst the hilt and
scabbard of a truly formidable creese were embellished in like
ostentatious fashion. The wearer's aristocratic air, and look of wild
determination, were well in unison with the reputation he had acquired
as a warrior chief. Long raven locks floated like eagle's feathers over
a bony and stalwart frame. A pair of large sinewy arms, terminated in
fingers tipped with nails akin to bird's claws, and the general form and
figure of the puissant Makobunto, brought forcibly to mind the Ogre in
the nursery tale, who breakfasted on nought save the flesh of tender
innocents, and was cut short in his career of cannibalism by Jack the
Giant-killer. A mighty man of valour, and presiding over a numerous
clan of fierce and savage warriors, he is feared and respected by all
the country round, and seemed to be right well aware of his consequence
upon the road.
For some reason of his own, which he did not think proper to divulge,
the audience was deferred until dusk, when the warrior stalked
consequentially into the tent, and deposited himself between the arms of
a chair placed for his reception, with as much dignity and
self-possession as if he had never in his life been seated upon the
ground. Although his covering was restricted to a very dirty cotton
cloth, he wrapped himself in the impenetrable mantle of silence, and,
comprehending no Arabic, gave ear to all the compliments that were
translated for his edification into the Dankali tongue, with the most
perfect indifference and mental abstraction; until, having swallowed a
sufficiency of hot coffee, and stuffed his nostrils with a becoming
modicum of Regent's mixture, he deigned to lay aside a portion of his
reserve, and in slow, measured language, vouchsafed a brief detail of
the energetic measures that had been adopted at his behest, towards the
recovery of certain horses sent by his ally, the King of Shoa, to Her
Britannic Majesty, and which had, by some unfortunate chance, been
stolen in their transit through Gobaad: adding, that he would impart to
the Embassy the boon of his protection, and in earnest thereof might
probably condescend the favour of his countenance a few stages in
advance.
Izhak with his compeers sate in gloomy silence during the entire
conference, evidently annoyed at the good understanding that subsisted
betwixt his rival Mohammad Ali, and the illustrious guest. The presents
designed for the propitiation of the Ogre having been duly transferred,
were eagerly clutched and hastily conveyed beneath his buckler, or below
the ample folds of his greasy garb, as being far too choice for the
prying eyes of attendants; and after sitting another half hour in
taciturn dignity, the prince of savages rose deliberately from his
chair, and, loaded with broad-cloth and trinkets, walked away as he had
come, without condescending to pay attention to, or say a parting
syllable to any one.
The extraordinary hour chosen for this curious audience, had obviously
been dictated by a desire to conceal from the covetous gaze of the wild
spirits around him, the tribute which he had reasonably calculated upon
receiving from the British pilgrims, on the occasion of their transit
through his territories; for, in truth, it must be confessed that the
social state of these savages does not by any means betray that
primitive simplicity so lauded and extolled by Rousseau. Rude
barbarians they are, saturated with Moslem intolerance as with mutton
fat; and although they tend their flocks in the parched valley after the
most approved Arcadian fashion, yet the persons of even the boldest
chiefs are not always secure: and however poets may have embroidered the
subject with the flowers of their fancy, there is not to be found one
individual of the whole community, who would hesitate to cut a throat
for the sake of the last remaining button on a waistcoat.
Betwixt savage and civilised existence there yawns a wide gulf. The
savage man and the civilised man, although descended from a common
parent, can scarcely be said to belong to the same stock of humanity,
and he who has been pronounced the only true man, the lordly lord of the
wilderness, might here more appropriately be designated a devil
incarnate. An interesting trait in the children of nature was witnessed
on the occasion of the slaughter of the rank buck goat presented to the
Embassy by Loheita ibn Ibrahim. No sooner had the razor-like creese
been drawn across the throat, with the concomitant ejaculation,
"_Bismillahi rahmani rahim_,"--"in the name of God, the compassionate,
the merciful,"--than a savage threw himself upon the expiring animal;
and having, vampire-like, quaffed as much of the hot flowing blood as he
could obtain, besmeared his greasy features with the residue, and wiped
them on the still quivering carcass. No tiger could have acted in more
ferocious guise, or displayed a greater relish for the tide of life.
This had been a day of feasting and carousal; for both Izhak and the son
of the Rookhba chief had likewise received sheep, and the slaughter of
each had been followed by a general tussle for the possession of the
caul. For the purpose of larding the head this is a prize infinitely
preferred even to the tail, which appendage in the Adel sheep is so
copiously furnished, that the animal is said to be capable of subsisting
an entire year upon the absorption of its own fat, without tasting
water. It was truly delightful to witness the process of greasing the
poll at the hands of the Danakil barber. The fat having been melted
down in a wooden bowl, the operator, removing his quid, and placing it
in a secure position behind the left ear, proceeded to suck up copious
mouthfuls of the liquid, which were then sputtered over the frizzled wig
of a comrade, who, with mantle drawn before his eyes to exclude stray
portions of tallow, remained squatted on his haunches, the very picture
of patience. The bowl exhausted, the operator carefully collects the
suet that has so creamed around his chaps as to render him inarticulate;
and having duly smeared the same over the filthy garment of him to whom
it in equity belongs, proceeds, with a skewer, to put the last finishing
touch to his work, which, as the lard congealed, has gradually assumed
the desired aspect of a fine full-blown cauliflower.
The Dankali who has prevailed over his foe, adorns his cranium with a
perfect frost of tallow, dons a leopard-skin decorated with monkey tails
three times in excess of the highest bashaw in the Ottoman empire, and
tricks himself out with feathers in all the variety of savage fancy, the
lobe of his ear being pierced for the reception of pewter rings, which
denote the number of his victories achieved. Many warriors thus
distinguished had strolled in during the day; for there had been an
onslaught upon the Eesah, who, among other recent atrocities, had only
the preceding week ripped up six pregnant Debeni females. The same
wearisome string of enquiries on the part of each member of the kafilah,
were responded to in the same cold monotonous drawl, and then bandied
back by the new arrival--apathy and indifference pervading the features
of both parties throughout the endless mechanical repetitions of
"_Wogerri_?" and "_Wogerri maani_?"
To Gobaad, from the shores of Lake Abhibbab, which is formed by the
waters drained from Abyssinia, it is said to be one easy day's journey
for the pedestrian. Amongst other Mudaito visitors from its borders,
there came one of the Galeyla, an outcast from his clan, who bore
amongst his fellows the reputation of being a _veritable_ cannibal.
This villain became at once the cynosure of every eye, and stood
confessed the vilest of the vile. A coil of putrid entrails which
encircled his neck had been distended with mutton fat into the figure of
monstrous sausages; and the shaggy mane of a filthy hyena, that he had
destroyed and devoured the preceding day, being twined in a becoming
wreath around his dark brow, mingled wildly with his dishevelled locks.
Under the gaze of so great a crowd, his calm repose was calculated to
elicit the highest admiration; and fully sensible of his own merit, the
man-eater endured the scrutiny of the curious populace with an air of
conscious dignity, which was scarcely disturbed when the temerity of the
more juvenile spectators called imperatively for the interference of his
heavy mace.
It is difficult to comprehend the motives which may have induced this
worthy to venture thus rashly among his bitterest foes; but the nature
of the terms occasionally subsisting between the Mudaito and the Danakil
are not more singularly anomalous than those that bind the Danakil and
the Eesah, over a portion of which latter Loheita ibn Ibrahim exercises
nominal supremacy. Making common cause, and assisting each other
against the Mudaito, international hostilities are nevertheless almost
unceasing; and mutual interest, added to the aversion entertained to the
perpetuation of blood feuds, affords perhaps the only substantial
argument for their temporary cessation.
Of three chieftains who take the title of Ougass, and whose authority is
in some sort acknowledged by the Eesah, the principal is Ougass Robiley,
who resides with the Gidderboosi, south of Zeyla. Hoossain ibn Fara,
the next in order, is related by marriage to the Makobunto of the
Debeni, and asserts influence from the Reahmoosa tribe of Somauli,
bordering on Goobut el Kharab, to Kore Koragureet, within thirty miles
of Zeyla, where commences the country of the Hebrowal--thence south to
the limits of the Galla territory, and north-west to Killulloo. Here it
is bounded by Errur, the residence of the old sheikh of the Woema, and
by the independent Mohammadan principality of Hurrur, whose Ameer
annually confers upon each Eesah chief a conical skull cap and turban,
in recognition of his alliance.
Not a cloud blotted the sparkling vault overhead, which now blazed out
in a perfect galaxy of light, engirdled by the luminous zone of the
milky way. Attention was early directed to its beauties by the shower
of meteors that in rapid succession shot through the innumerable host of
heaven, and temporarily eclipsed their brilliancy. The night was
already somewhat advanced when Loheita sent to demand a private audience
upon two points of vital importance; and Mohammad Ali being the agent
employed, no time was lost in arranging the desired interview. "My
beard is troublesome," whispered the Ogre in a most mysterious tone,
after he had been some minutes seated in silence; "my tough beard is not
readily trimmed with a creese, and a razor would therefore have been
desirable." A first-rate Savigny was immediately placed within his
grasp. "And, secondly," he continued, trying the keen edge upon the
largest of his formidable talons, "my sister, who is far advanced in her
pregnancy, has lately rejected food--mutton, beef, every thing in fact
has been offered, and equally loathed. Now I am desirous of trying
whether she might not fancy a bag of dates."
Volume One, Chapter XX.