I have now, dear L., quitted the maritime plain or first zone, to enter
the Ghauts, that threshold of the Ethiopian highlands which, beginning at
Tajurrah, sweeps in semicircle round the bay of Zayla, and falls about
Berberah into the range of mountains which fringes the bold Somali coast.
This chain has been inhabited, within History's memory, by three distinct
races,--the Gallas, the ancient Moslems of Adel, and by the modern Somal.
As usual, however, in the East, it has no general vernacular name. [1]
The aspect of these Ghauts is picturesque. The primitive base consists of
micaceous granite, with veins of porphyry and dykes of the purest white
quartz: above lie strata of sandstone and lime, here dun, there yellow, or
of a dull grey, often curiously contorted and washed clear of vegetable
soil by the heavy monsoon. On these heights, which are mostly conoid with
rounded tops, joined by ridges and saddlebacks, various kinds of Acacia
cast a pallid and sickly green, like the olive tree upon the hills of
Provence. They are barren in the cold season, and the Nomads migrate to
the plains: when the monsoon covers them with rich pastures, the people
revisit their deserted kraals. The Kloofs or ravines are the most
remarkable features of this country: in some places the sides rise
perpendicularly, like gigantic walls, the breadth varying from one hundred
yards to half a mile; in others cliffs and scaurs, sapped at their
foundations, encumber the bed, and not unfrequently a broad band of white
sand stretches between two fringes of emerald green, delightful to look
upon after the bare and ghastly basalt of Southern Arabia. The Jujube
grows to a height already betraying signs of African luxuriance: through
its foliage flit birds, gaudy-coloured as kingfishers, of vivid red,
yellow, and changing-green. I remarked a long-tailed jay called Gobiyan or
Fat [2], russet-hued ringdoves, the modest honey-bird, corn quails,
canary-coloured finches, sparrows gay as those of Surinam, humming-birds
with a plume of metallic lustre, and especially a white-eyed kind of
maina, called by the Somal, Shimbir Load or the cow-bird. The Armo-creeper
[3], with large fleshy leaves, pale green, red, or crimson, and clusters
of bright berries like purple grapes, forms a conspicuous ornament in the
valleys. There is a great variety of the Cactus tribe, some growing to the
height of thirty and thirty-five feet: of these one was particularly
pointed out to me. The vulgar Somal call it Guraato, the more learned
Shajarat el Zakkum: it is the mandrake of these regions, and the round
excrescences upon the summits of its fleshy arms are supposed to resemble
men's heads and faces. On Tuesday the 5th December we arose at 6 A.M.,
after a night so dewy that our clothes were drenched, and we began to
ascend the Wady Darkaynlay, which winds from east to south. After an
hour's march appeared a small cairn of rough stones, called Siyaro, or
Mazar [4], to which each person, in token of honor, added his quotum. The
Abban opined that Auliya or holy men had sat there, but the End of Time
more sagaciously conjectured that it was the site of some Galla idol or
superstitious rite. Presently we came upon the hills of the White Ant [5],
a characteristic feature in this part of Africa. Here the land has the
appearance of a Turkish cemetery on a grand scale: there it seems like a
city in ruins: in some places the pillars are truncated into a resemblance
to bee-hives, in others they cluster together, suggesting the idea of a
portico; whilst many of them, veiled by trees, and overrun with gay
creepers, look like the remains of sylvan altars. Generally the hills are
conical, and vary in height from four to twelve feet: they are counted by
hundreds, and the Somal account for the number by declaring that the
insects abandon their home when dry, and commence building another. The
older erections are worn away, by wind and rain, to a thin tapering spire,
and are frequently hollowed and arched beneath by rats and ground
squirrels. The substance, fine yellow mud, glued by the secretions of the
ant, is hard to break: it is pierced, sieve-like, by a network of tiny
shafts. I saw these hills for the first time in the Wady Darkaynlay: in
the interior they are larger and longer than near the maritime regions.
We travelled up the Fiumara in a southerly direction till 8 A.M., when the
guides led us away from the bed. They anticipated meeting Gudabirsis:
pallid with fear, they also trembled with cold and hunger. Anxious
consultations were held. One man, Ali--surnamed "Doso," because he did
nothing but eat, drink, and stand over the fire--determined to leave us:
as, however, he had received a Tobe for pay, we put a veto upon that
proceeding. After a march of two hours, over ground so winding that we had
not covered more than three miles, our guides halted under a tree, near a
deserted kraal, at a place called El Armo, the "Armo-creeper water," or
more facetiously Dabadalashay: from Damal it bore S. W. 190°. One of our
Bedouins, mounting a mule, rode forward to gather intelligence, and bring
back a skin full of water. I asked the End of Time what they expected to
hear: he replied with the proverb "News liveth!" The Somali Bedouins have
a passion for knowing how the world wags. In some of the more desert
regions the whole population of a village will follow the wanderer. No
traveller ever passes a kraal without planting spear in the ground, and
demanding answers to a lengthened string of queries: rather than miss
intelligence he will inquire of a woman. Thus it is that news flies
through the country. Among the wild Gudabirsi the Russian war was a topic
of interest, and at Harar I heard of a violent storm, which had damaged
the shipping in Bombay Harbour, but a few weeks after the event.
The Bedouin returned with an empty skin but a full budget. I will offer
you, dear L., a specimen of the "palaver" [6] which is supposed to prove
the aphorism that all barbarians are orators. Demosthenes leisurely
dismounts, advances, stands for a moment cross-legged--the favourite
posture in this region--supporting each hand with a spear planted in the
ground: thence he slips to squat, looks around, ejects saliva, shifts his
quid to behind his ear, places his weapons before him, takes up a bit of
stick, and traces lines which he carefully smooths away--it being ill-
omened to mark the earth. The listeners sit gravely in a semicircle upon
their heels, with their spears, from whose bright heads flashes a ring of
troubled light, planted upright, and look stedfastly on his countenance
over the upper edges of their shields with eyes apparently planted, like
those of the Blemmyes, in their breasts. When the moment for delivery is
come, the head man inquires, "What is the news?" The informant would
communicate the important fact that he has been to the well: he proceeds
as follows, noting emphasis by raising his voice, at times about six
notes, and often violently striking at the ground in front.
"It is good news, if Allah please!"
"Wa Sidda!"--Even so! respond the listeners, intoning or rather groaning
the response.
"I mounted mule this morning:"
"Even so!"
"I departed from ye riding."
"Even so!"
"_There_" (with a scream and pointing out the direction with a stick).
"Even so!"
"_There_ I went."
"Even so!"
"I threaded the wood."
"Even so!"
"I traversed the sands."
"Even so!"
"I feared nothing."
"Even so!"
"At last I came upon cattle tracks."
"Hoo! hoo!! hoo!!!" (an ominous pause follows this exclamation of
astonishment.)
"They were fresh."
"Even so!"
"So were the earths."
"Even so!"
"I distinguished the feet of women."
"Even so!"
"But there were no camels."
"Even so!"
"At last I saw sticks"--
"Even so!"
"Stones"--
"Even so!"
"Water"--
"Even so!"
"A well!!!"
Then follows the palaver, wherein, as occasionally happens further West,
he distinguishes himself who can rivet the attention of the audience for
at least an hour without saying anything in particular. The advantage of
_their_ circumlocution, however, is that by considering a subject in every
possible light and phase as regards its cause and effect, antecedents,
actualities, and consequences, they are prepared for any emergency which,
without the palaver, might come upon them unawares.
Although the thermometer showed summer heat, the air was cloudy and raw
blasts poured down from the mountains. At half past 3 P.M. our camels were
lazily loaded, and we followed the course of the Fiumara, which runs to
the W. and S. W. After half an hour's progress, we arrived at the gully in
which are the wells, and the guides halted because they descried half-a-
dozen youths and boys bathing and washing their Tobes. All, cattle as well
as men, were sadly thirsty: many of us had been chewing pebbles during the
morning, yet, afraid of demands for tobacco, the Bedouins would have
pursued the march without water had I not forced them to halt. We found
three holes in the sand; one was dry, a second foul, and the third
contained a scanty supply of the pure element from twenty to twenty-five
feet below the surface. A youth stood in the water and filled a wicker-
pail, which he tossed to a companion perched against the side half way up:
the latter in his turn hove it to a third, who catching it at the brink,
threw the contents, by this time half wasted, into the skin cattle trough.
We halted about half an hour to refresh man and beast, and then resumed
our way up the Wady, quitting it where a short cut avoids the frequent
windings of the bed. This operation saved but little time; the ground was
stony, the rough ascents fatigued the camels, and our legs and feet were
lacerated by the spear-like thorns. Here, the ground was overgrown with
aloes [7], sometimes six feet high with pink and "pale Pomona green"
leaves, bending in the line of beauty towards the ground, graceful in form
as the capitals of Corinthian columns, and crowned with gay-coloured
bells, but barbarously supplied with woody thorns and strong serrated
edges. There the Hig, an aloetic plant with a point so hard and sharp that
horses cannot cross ground where it grows, stood in bunches like the
largest and stiffest of rushes. [8] Senna sprang spontaneously on the
banks, and the gigantic Ushr or Asclepias shed its bloom upon the stones
and pebbles of the bed. My attendants occupied themselves with gathering
the edible pod of an Acacia called Kura [9], whilst I observed the view.
Frequent ant-hills gave an appearance of habitation to a desert still
covered with the mosques and tombs of old Adel; and the shape of the
country had gradually changed, basins and broad slopes now replacing the
thickly crowded conoid peaks of the lower regions.
As the sun sank towards the west, Long Guled complained bitterly of the
raw breeze from the hills. We passed many villages, distinguished by the
barking of dogs and the bleating of flocks, on their way to the field: the
unhappy Raghe, however, who had now become our _protege_, would neither
venture into a settlement, nor bivouac amongst the lions. He hurried us
forwards till we arrived at a hollow called Gud, "the Hole," which
supplied us with the protection of a deserted kraal, where our camels,
half-starved and knocked-up by an eight miles' march, were speedily
unloaded. Whilst pitching the tent, we were visited by some Gudabirsi, who
attempted to seize our Abban, alleging that he owed them a cow. We replied
doughtily, that he was under our sandals: as they continued to speak in a
high tone, a pistol was discharged over their heads, after which they
cringed like dogs. A blazing fire, a warm supper, dry beds, broad jests,
and funny stories, soon restored the flagging spirits of our party.
Towards night the moon dispersed the thick mists which, gathering into
clouds, threatened rain, and the cold sensibly diminished: there was
little dew, and we should have slept comfortably had not our hungry mules,
hobbled as they were, hopped about the kraal and fought till dawn.
On the 6th December, we arose late to avoid the cold morning air, and at 7
A.M. set out over rough ground, hoping to ascend the Ghauts that day.
After creeping about two miles, the camels, unable to proceed, threw
themselves upon the earth, and we unwillingly called a halt at Jiyaf, a
basin below the Dobo [10] fiumara. Here, white flocks dotting the hills,
and the scavengers of the air warned us that we were in the vicinity of
villages. Our wigwam was soon full of fair-faced Gudabirsi, mostly Loajira
[11] or cow-herd boys, who, according to the custom of their class, wore
their Tobes bound scarf-like round their necks. They begged us to visit
their village, and offered a heifer for each lion shot on Mount Libahlay:
unhappily we could not afford time. These youths were followed by men and
women bringing milk, sheep, and goats, for which, grass being rare, they
asked exorbitant prices,--eighteen cubits of Cutch canvass for a lamb, and
two of blue cotton for a bottle of ghee. Amongst them was the first really
pretty face seen by me in the Somali country. The head was well formed,
and gracefully placed upon a long thin neck and narrow shoulders; the
hair, brow, and nose were unexceptionable, there was an arch look in the
eyes of jet and pearl, and a suspicion of African protuberance about the
lips, which gave the countenance an exceeding _naivete_. Her skin was a
warm, rich nut-brown, an especial charm in these regions, and her
movements had that grace which suggests perfect symmetry of limb. The poor
girl's costume, a coif for the back hair, a cloth imperfectly covering the
bosom, and a petticoat of hides, made no great mystery of forms: equally
rude were her ornaments; an armlet and pewter earrings, the work of some
blacksmith, a necklace of white porcelain beads, and sundry talismans in
cases of tarnished and blackened leather. As a tribute to her prettiness I
gave her some cloth, tobacco, and a bit of salt, which was rapidly
becoming valuable; her husband stood by, and, although the preference was
marked, he displayed neither anger nor jealousy. She showed her gratitude
by bringing us milk, and by assisting us to start next morning. In the
evening we hired three fresh camels [12] to carry our goods up the ascent,
and killed some antelopes which, in a stew, were not contemptible. The End
of Time insisted upon firing a gun to frighten away the lions, who make
night hideous with their growls, but never put in an appearance.
The morning cold greatly increased, and we did not start till 8 A.M. After
half an hour's march up the bed of a fiumara, leading apparently to a _cul
de sac_ of lofty rocks in the hills, we quitted it for a rude zig-zag
winding along its left side, amongst bushes, thorn trees, and huge rocks.
The walls of the opposite bank were strikingly perpendicular; in some
places stratified, in others solid and polished by the course of stream
and cascade. The principal material was a granite, so coarse, that the
composing mica, quartz, and felspar separated into detached pieces as
large as a man's thumb; micaceous grit, which glittered in the sunbeams,
and various sandstones, abounded. The road caused us some trouble; the
camels' loads were always slipping from their mats; I found it necessary
to dismount from my mule, and, sitting down, we were stung by the large
black ants which infest these hills. [13]
About half way up, we passed two cairns, and added to them our mite like
good Somal. After two hours of hard work the summit of this primitive pass
was attained, and sixty minutes more saw us on the plateau above the
hills,--the second zone of East Africa. Behind us lay the plains, of which
we vainly sought a view: the broken ground at the foot of the mountains is
broad, and mists veiled the reeking expanse of the low country. [14] The
plateau in front of us was a wide extent of rolling ground, rising
slightly towards the west; its colour was brown with a threadbare coat of
verdure, and at the bottom of each rugged slope ran a stony water-course
trending from south-west to north-east. The mass of tangled aloes, ragged
thorn, and prim-looking poison trees, [15] must once have been populous;
tombs and houses of the early Moslems covered with ruins the hills and
ridges.
About noon, we arrived at a spot called the Kafir's Grave. It is a square
enceinte of rude stones about one hundred yards each side; and legends say
that one Misr, a Galla chief, when dying, ordered the place to be filled
seven times with she-camels destined for his Ahan or funeral feast. This
is the fourth stage upon the direct road from Zayla to Harar: we had
wasted ten days, and the want of grass and water made us anxious about our
animals. The camels could scarcely walk, and my mule's spine rose high
beneath the Arab pad:--such are the effects of Jilal [16], the worst of
travelling seasons in Eastern Africa.
At 1 P.M. we unloaded under a sycamore tree, called, after a Galla
chieftain [17], "Halimalah," and giving its name to the surrounding
valley. This ancient of the forest is more than half decayed, several huge
limbs lie stretched upon the ground, whence, for reverence, no one removes
them: upon the trunk, or rather trunks, for its bifurcates, are marks
deeply cut by a former race, and Time has hollowed in the larger stem an
arbour capable of containing half-a-dozen men. This holy tree was,
according to the Somal, a place of prayer for the infidel, and its ancient
honors are not departed. Here, probably to commemorate the westward
progress of the tribe, the Gudabirsi Ugaz or chief has the white canvass
turban bound about his brows, and hence rides forth to witness the
equestrian games in the Harawwah Valley. As everyone who passes by, visits
the Halimalah tree, foraging parties of the Northern Eesa and the Jibril
Abokr (a clan of the Habr Awal) frequently meet, and the traveller wends
his way in fear and trembling.
The thermometer showed an altitude of 3,350 feet: under the tree's cool
shade, the climate reminded me of Southern Italy in winter. I found a
butter-cup, and heard a wood-pecker [18] tapping on the hollow trunk, a
reminiscence of English glades. The Abban and his men urged an advance in
the afternoon. But my health had suffered from the bad water of the coast,
and the camels were faint with fatigue: we therefore dismissed the hired
beasts, carried our property into a deserted kraal, and, lighting a fire,
prepared to "make all snug" for the night. The Bedouins, chattering with
cold, stood closer to the comfortable blaze than ever did pater familias
in England: they smoked their faces, toasted their hands, broiled their
backs with intense enjoyment, and waved their legs to and fro through the
flame to singe away the pile, which at this season grows long. The End of
Time, who was surly, compared them to demons, and quoted the Arab's
saying:--"Allah never bless smooth man, or hairy woman!" On the 8th of
December, at 8 A.M., we travelled slowly up the Halimalah Valley, whose
clayey surface glistened with mica and quartz pebbles from the hills. All
the trees are thorny except the Sycamore and the Asclepias. The Gub, or
Jujube, grows luxuriantly in thickets: its dried wood is used by women to
fumigate their hair [19]: the Kedi, a tree like the porcupine,--all
spikes,--supplies the Bedouins with hatchet-handles. I was shown the Abol
with its edible gum, and a kind of Acacia, here called Galol. Its bark
dyes cloth a dull red, and the thorn issues from a bulb which, when young
and soft, is eaten by the Somal, when old it becomes woody, and hard as a
nut. At 9 A.M. we crossed the Lesser Abbaso, a Fiumara with high banks of
stiff clay and filled with large rolled stones: issuing from it, we
traversed a thorny path over ascending ground between higher hills, and
covered with large boulders and step-like layers of grit. Here appeared
several Gudabirsi tombs, heaps of stones or pebbles, surrounded by a fence
of thorns, or an enceinte of loose blocks: in the latter, slabs are used
to make such houses as children would build in play, to denote the number
of establishments left by the deceased. The new grave is known by the
conical milk-pails surmounting the stick at the head of the corpse, upon
the neighbouring tree is thrown the mat which bore the dead man to his
last home, and hard by are the blackened stones upon which his funeral
feast was cooked. At 11 A.M. we reached the Greater Abbaso, a Fiumara
about 100 yards wide, fringed with lovely verdure and full of the antelope
called Gurnuk: its watershed was, as usual in this region, from west and
south-west to east and north-east. About noon we halted, having travelled
eight miles from the Holy Tree.
At half past three reloading we followed the course of the Abbaso Valley,
the most beautiful spot we had yet seen. The presence of mankind, however,
was denoted by the cut branches of thorn encumbering the bed: we remarked
too, the tracks of lions pursued by hunters, and the frequent streaks of
serpents, sometimes five inches in diameter. Towards evening, our party
closed up in fear, thinking that they saw spears glancing through the
trees: I treated their alarm lightly, but the next day proved that it was
not wholly imaginary. At sunset we met a shepherd who swore upon the stone
[20] to bring us milk in exchange for tobacco, and presently, after a five
miles' march, we halted in a deserted kraal on the left bank of a Fiumara.
Clouds gathered black upon the hill tops, and a comfortless blast,
threatening rain, warned us not to delay pitching the Gurgi. A large fire
was lighted, and several guns were discharged to frighten away the lions
that infest this place. Twice during the night our camels started up and
rushed round their thorn ring in alarm.
* * * * *
Late in the morning of Saturday, the 9th December, I set out, accompanied
by Rirash and the End of Time, to visit some ruins a little way distant
from the direct road. After an hour's ride we turned away from the Abbaso
Fiumara and entered a basin among the hills distant about sixteen miles
from the Holy Tree. This is the site of Darbiyah Kola,--Kola's Fort,--so
called from its Galla queen. It is said that this city and its neighbour
Aububah fought like certain cats in Kilkenny till both were "eaten up:"
the Gudabirsi fix the event at the period when their forefathers still
inhabited Bulhar on the coast,--about 300 years ago. If the date be
correct, the substantial ruins have fought a stern fight with time.
Remnants of houses cumber the soil, and the carefully built wells are
filled with rubbish: the palace was pointed out to me with its walls of
stone and clay intersected by layers of woodwork. The mosque is a large
roofless building containing twelve square pillars of rude masonry, and
the Mihrab, or prayer niche, is denoted by a circular arch of tolerable
construction. But the voice of the Muezzin is hushed for ever, and
creepers now twine around the ruined fane. The scene was still and dreary
as the grave; for a mile and a half in length all was ruins--ruins--ruins.
Leaving this dead city, we rode towards the south-west between two rugged
hills of which the loftiest summit is called Wanauli. As usual they are
rich in thorns: the tall "Wadi" affords a gum useful to cloth-dyers, and
the leaves of the lofty Wumba are considered, after the Daum-palm, the
best material for mats. On the ground appeared the blue flowers of the
"Man" or "Himbah," a shrub resembling a potatoe: it bears a gay yellow
apple full of brown seeds which is not eaten by the Somal. My companions
made me taste some of the Karir berries, which in color and flavor
resemble red currants: the leaves are used as a dressing to ulcers.
Topping the ridge we stood for a few minutes to observe the view before
us. Beneath our feet lay a long grassy plain-the sight must have gladdened
the hearts of our starving mules!--and for the first time in Africa horses
appeared grazing free amongst the bushes. A little further off lay the
Aylonda valley studded with graves, and dark with verdure. Beyond it
stretched the Wady Harawwah, a long gloomy hollow in the general level.
The background was a bold sweep of blue hill, the second gradient of the
Harar line, and on its summit closing the western horizon lay a golden
streak--the Marar Prairie. Already I felt at the end of my journey. About
noon, reaching a kraal, whence but that morning our Gudabirsi Abbans had
driven off their kine, we sat under a tree and with a pistol reported
arrival. Presently the elders came out and welcomed their old acquaintance
the End of Time as a distinguished guest. He eagerly inquired about the
reported quarrel between the Abbans and their brother-in-law the Gerad
Adan. When, assured that it was the offspring of Somali imagination, he
rolled his head, and with dignity remarked, "What man shutteth to us, that
Allah openeth!" We complimented each other gravely upon the purity of our
intentions,--amongst Moslems a condition of success,--and not despising
second causes, lost no time in sending a horseman for the Abbans.
Presently some warriors came out and inquired if we were of the Caravan
that was travelling last evening up a valley with laden camels. On our
answering in the affirmative, they laughingly declared that a commando of
twelve horsemen had followed us with the intention of a sham-attack. This
is favourite sport with the Bedouin. When however the traveller shows
fright, the feint is apt to turn out a fact. On one occasion a party of
Arab merchants, not understanding the "fun of the thing," shot two Somal:
the tribe had the justice to acquit the strangers, mulcting them, however,
a few yards of cloth for the families of the deceased. In reply I fired a
pistol unexpectedly over the heads of my new hosts, and improved the
occasion of their terror by deprecating any practical facetiousness in
future.
We passed the day under a tree: the camels escorted by my two attendants,
and the women, did not arrive till sunset, having occupied about eight
hours in marching as many miles. Fearing lions, we pitched inside the
kraal, despite crying children, scolding wives, cattle rushing about,
barking dogs, flies and ticks, filth and confinement.