Lieutenant Speke has passed through three large tribes, the Warsingali,
the Dulbahanta, and the Habr Gerhajis.
The Warsingali have a Sultan or Chief, whose orders are obeyed after a
fashion by all the clans save one, the Bihidur. He cannot demand the
attendance of a subject even to protect the country, and has no power to
raise recruits; consequently increase of territory is never contemplated
in this part of the Somali country. In case of murder, theft, or dispute
between different tribes, the aggrieved consult the Sultan, who,
assembling the elders, deputes them to feel the inclinations of the
"public." The people prefer revenging themselves by violence, as every man
thereby hopes to gain something. The war ends when the enemy has more
spears than cattle left--most frequently, however, by mutual consent, when
both are tired of riding the country. Expeditions seldom meet one another,
this retiring as that advances, and he is deemed a brave who can lift a
few head of cattle and return home in safety. The commissariat department
is rudely organised: at the trysting-place, generally some water, the
people assemble on a day fixed by the Sultan, and slaughter sheep: each
person provides himself by hanging some dried meat upon his pony. It is
said that on many occasions men have passed upwards of a week with no
other sustenance than water. This extensive branch of the Somal is divided
into eighteen principal clans, viz.:
1. Rer Gerad (the royal family).
2. Rer Fatih.
3. Rer Abdullah.
4. Rer Bihidur.
5. Bohogay Salabay.
6. Adan Yakub.
7. Gerad Umar.
8. Gerad Yusuf.
9. Gerad Liban.
10. Nuh Umar.
11. Adan Said.
12. Rer Haji.
13. Dubbays.
14. Warlabah.
15. Bayabarhay.
16. Rer Yasif.
17. Hindudub.
18. Rer Garwayna.
The Northern Dulbahantas are suffering greatly from intestine war. They
are even less tractable than the Warsingali. Their Sultan is a ruler only
in name; no one respects his person or consults him in matters of
importance: their Gerad was in the vicinity of the traveller; but evasive
answers were returned (probably in consequence of the Abban's
machinations) to every inquiry. The elders and men of substance settle
local matters, and all have a voice in everything that concerns the
general weal: such for instance as the transit of a traveller. Lieutenant
Speke saw two tribes, the Mahmud Gerad and Rer Ali Nalay. The latter is
subdivided into six septs.
The Habr Gerhajis, here scattered and cut up, have little power. Their
royal family resides near Berberah, but no one as yet wears the turban;
and even when investiture takes place, a ruler's authority will not extend
to Makhar. Three clans of this tribe inhabit this part of the Somali
country, viz., Bah Gummaron, Rer Hamturwa, and Urus Sugay.