This text results from the merging of two simultaneous submissions at
Project Gutenberg; the first, from images generously made available by
the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at
http://gallica.bnf.fr, and processed by David Kline, Carlo Traverso,
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second, scanned by JC Byers(www.wollamshram.ca/1001) and proofread by
Maryann Short.
What Led To The Discovery
of the
Source Of The Nile
by
John Hanning Speke
Captain H.M. Indian Army
Author of 'Journal of the Discovery of the
Source of the Nile'
William Blackwood and Sons
Edinburgh and London
MDCCCLXIV
To
The Memory of
Lieutenant-General Sir Jas. Outram, Bart.
G.C.B.
Who First Gave Me A Start In Africa,
This History
Is Respectfully Inscribed.
Advertisement.
In offering this short connected history of my first two explorations
in Africa, I must state that I have been urged to do so by friends
desirous of knowing what led to the discovery of the source of the
Nile. The greater part of it was originally published in 'Blackwood's
Magazine;' but that lacked the connection which I have now given to
the conclusion of my independent journey to and from the Victoria
N'yanza, which is the great source or reservoir of the Nile. The
manner in which I traced the Nile down from the Victoria N'yanza to
Egypt is explained in my 'Journal of the Discovery of the Source of
the Nile.'
J. H. Speke.
Contents.
Journal of Adventures in Somali Land.
Chapter I.
Introduction to the Journal.--Projects and hobbies--Life in
India--Lord Clyde and Sir James Outram--The position and physical
geography of the Somali country--The Nogal country, and historical
sketches--Costume and Customs.
Chapter II.
The voyage--An Akil--The Somali shore--Sultan (Gerad) Mahamed
Ali--Hidden treasure--The Warsingali--A royal reception--Somali
appetites--Difficulties and impediments--Sultan tries my Abban or
protector.
Chapter III.
Yafir Pass--Rhut Tug (River)--The ruins at Kin's city--Abban
apprehends future consequences--Hyenas--The Dulbahantas--Camel
drivers' tricks--Briny water--Antelope-shoooting--Elephant-hunting
--Ostrich-hunting--Gazelles--Jealousy and suspicions of the
people--Rapid decline of property.
Chapter IV.
Meditations among the tombs--A fracas--The return march--The
north-east monsoon--Relief from persecution--Interesting animals--Gori
again--Shooting a woman--Arrival at Aden--Fresh
projects--Arrangements.
Chapter V.
Aden--Departure--Kurrum--A conclave of sages--Arrangement of the
expedition--The south-west monsoon--Medical practice--The camp
besieged--Wounded and captive--A triumphal procession--Flight Return
to Aden and to England--Fresh projects there.
Journal of a Cruise on the Tanganyika Lake.
Chapter I.
The Royal Geographical Society--The strange lake on the map--Set
off--Arrive at Zanzibar--A preliminary excursion--A sail along the
coast--The Pangani river--A jemadar's trick--Journey to
Fuga--Adventures--Return to Zanzibar--Scenes there--Objects of the
expedition--Recruiting for followers--The Cafila Bashi--The
start--Fevers--Discussions about the Mountains of the Moon and the
Victoria N'yanza--The Tanganyika.
Chapter II.
Canoes--The crews--The biography of Bombay--The
voyage--Crocodiles--The lake scenery--Kivira island--Black beetles--An
adventure with one of them--Kasengé island--African slavery.
Chapter III
Leave Tanganyika--Determine to visit the Ukéréwé lake, alias Victoria
N'yanza--Confusion about rivers running in and out--Idea that it is
the source of the Nile--Arrangements for the journey--Difficulties--The
march--Nature of the country--Formalities at the meeting of
caravans--A pagazi strike--A sultana--Incidents--Pillars of granite.
Chapter IV
First sight of the Victoria N'yanza--Its physical geography--Speculations
on its being the source of the Nile--Sport on the lake--Sultans
Machunda and Mahaya--Missionary accounts of the geography--Arab
accounts--Regrets at inability to complete the discovery--The march
resumed--History of the Watuta--Hippopotamus-hunting--Adventures--Kahama.
Chapter V
General character of the country traversed--The huts--The
geology--Productions--Land of promise--Advice to missionaries--Leave
Ulekampuri--Return of the expedition--Register of temperature.
Journal of Adventures in Somali Land.
Chapter I. Introduction to the Journal.
Projects and Hobbies--life in India--lord Clyde and Sir James
Outram--the Position and Physical Geography of the Somali Country--the
Nogal Country, and Historical Sketches--Costume and Customs.
It was in the year 1849, at the expiration of the Punjaub campaign,
under Lord Gough, where I had been actively engaged as a subaltern
officer in the (so-called) fighting brigade of General Sir Colin
Campbell's division of the army, adding my mite to the four successive
victorious actions--Ramnugger, Sadoolapore, Chillianwallah, and
Guzerat--that I first conceived the idea of exploring Central
Equatorial Africa. My plan was made with a view to strike the Nile at
its head, and then to sail down that river to Egypt. It was conceived,
however, not for geographical interest, so much as for a view I had in
my mind of collecting the fauna of those regions, to complete and
fully develop a museum in my father's house, a nucleus of which I had
already formed from the rich menageries of India, the Himalaya
Mountains, and Tibet. My idea in selecting the new field for my future
researches was, that I should find within it various orders and
species of animals hitherto unknown. Although Major Cornwallis Harris,
Ruppell, and others had by this time well-nigh exhausted, by their
assiduous investigations, all discoveries in animal life, both in the
northern and southern extremities of Africa, in the lowlands of
Kaffraria in the south, and the highlands of Ethiopia in the north, no
one as yet had penetrated to the centre in the low latitudes near the
equator; and by latitudinal differences I thought I should obtain new
descriptions and varieties of animals. Further, I imagined the
Mountains of the Moon were a vast range, stretching across Africa from
east to west, which in all probability would harbour wild goats and
sheep, as the Himalaya range does. There, too, I thought I should find
the Nile rising in snow, as does the Ganges in the Himalayas.
The time I proposed to myself for carrying this scheme into operation
was my furlough--a lease of three years' leave of absence, which I
should become entitled to at the expiration of ten years' service in
India; but I would not leave the reader to infer that I intended
devoting the whole of my furlough to this one pursuit alone. Two of
the three years were to be occupied in collecting animals, and
descending by the valley of the Nile to Egypt and England, whilst the
third year was to be spent in indulgent recreations at home after my
labours should be over.
I had now served five years in the Indian army, and five years were
left to serve ere I should become entitled to take my furlough. During
this time I had to consider two important questions: How I should be
able, out of my very limited pay as a subaltern officer, to meet the
heavy expenditure which such a vast undertaking would necessarily
involve? and how, before leaving India, I might best employ any local
leave I could obtain, in completing my already commenced collections
of the fauna of that country and its adjacent hill-ranges?[1]
Previous experience had taught me that, in the prosecution of my chief
hobby, I would also solve the problem of the most economical mode of
living. In the backwoods and jungles no ceremony or etiquette provokes
unnecessary expenditure; whilst the fewer men and material I took with
me on my sporting excursions the better sport I always got, and the
freer and more independent I was to carry on the chase. I need now
only say I acted on this conviction, and I think, I may add, I managed
it successfully; for there are now but few animals to be found in
either India, Tibet, or the Himalaya Mountains, specimens of which
have not fallen victims to my gun. Of this the paternal hall is an
existing testimony. Every year after the war I obtained leave of
absence, and every year I marched across the Himalayas, and penetrated
into some unknown portions of Tibet, shooting, collecting, and mapping
the country wherever I went. My mess-mates wondered how it was I
succeeded in getting so much leave; but the reason was simply this,
and I tell it that others may profit by it:--The Commander-in-Chief,
Sir William Gomm, observing to what good account I always turned my
leave, instead of idling my time away, or running into debt, took
great pleasure in encouraging my hobby; and his Staff were even heard
to say it would be a pity if I did not get leave, as so much good
resulted from it.
The 3d September 1854 completed my tenth year's servitude in India,
and on the succeeding day, the 4th, I embarked on board one of the P.
and O. Company's steamers at Calcutta, and left the Indian shore for
Aden; but previously to my departure I purchased various cheap
articles of barter, all as tempting and seductive as I could find, for
the simple-minded negroes of Africa. These consisted principally of
cheap guns, revolving pistols, swords, cheap cutlery of all sorts,
beads, cotton stuffs of a variety of kinds, and sewing material, &c.
&c. &c., to the amount of £390 sterling. Arrived at Aden, my first
step was to visit Colonel Outram, the political resident, to open my
views to him with regard to penetrating Africa, and to solicit his
assistance to my doing so, by granting introductory letters to the
native chiefs on the coast, and in any other manner that he could. But
to my utter astonishment and discomfiture, with the frank and
characteristic ardour which has marked him through life, he at once
said he would not only withhold his influence, but would prohibit my
going there at all, as the countries opposite to Aden were so
extremely dangerous for any foreigners to travel in, that he
considered it his duty as a Christian to prevent, as far as he was
able, anybody from hazarding his life there. This opposition,
fortunately, only lasted for a time. After repeated supplications on
my part, the generous kind nature of the Colonel overcame him, and he
thought of a pretext by which, should anything serious happen to me,
there would not remain any onus on his conscience.
The Bombay Government at that time had been induced to order an
expedition to be organised for the purpose of investigating the Somali
country--a large tract of land lying due south of Aden, and separated
only from the Arabian coast by the Gulf of Aden--and had appointed
three officers, Lieutenant Burton to command, and Lieutenants Stroyan
and Herne to assist in its conduct. To this project Colonel Outram had
ever been adverse, and he had remonstrated with the Government about
it, declaring, as his opinion, the scheme to be quite unfeasible. The
Somali, he said, were the most savage of all African savages, and were
of such a wild and inhospitable nature that no stranger could possibly
live amongst them. The Government, however, relying on the ability of
one who made the pilgrimage of Mecca, were bent at least on giving the
Lieutenant a chance of showing what he could do in this even darker
land, and he was then occupied in Aden maturing his plans of
procedure.[2]
This, then, was the opportunity the Colonel took advantage of,
advising me to ask Lieutenant Burton to incorporate me in his
expedition, at the same time saying that, if it was found to be
agreeable to Lieutenant Burton, he would back my application to the
Indian Government, obtain a cancel of my furlough, and get me put on
service-duty as a member of the expedition.
Nothing could have suited me better, as it brought me on service
again, and so saved my furlough leave for a future exploration.
Lieutenant Burton consented, and I was at once installed in the
expedition. My travelling, mapping,[3] and collecting propensities, it
was thought would be of service to the ends of the expedition; and by
my being incorporated in it, there would be no chance of my running
counter to it, by travelling on its line of march, and possibly giving
rise to disturbances with the natives.
Before proceeding further in the narrative of events as they occurred,
it may be as well, perhaps, to anticipate a little, and give a general
impression of the geography, ethnology, history, and other
characteristics of the country under investigation--the Somali
land--and the way in which it was intended that those investigations
should be carried out. As will appear by the following pages, my
experiences were mostly confined to the north central parts, in the
highlands of the Warsingali and Dulbahanta tribes. The rest of my
information is derived from conversations with the natives, or what I
have read in some very interesting pages in vol. xix. of the
'Transactions of the Royal Geographical Society,' written by
Lieutenant Cruttenden.
The Somali country is an elbow of land lying between the equator and
the 11th degree of north latitude, which, from its peculiar form,
might well be designated the Eastern Horn of Africa. The land is high
in the north, and has a general declination, as may be seen by the
river system, to the south and eastward, but with less easting as we
come westward.
It is separated from the main body of Africa by the river Jub, a large
and fertilising stream, which, rising in the mountains of southern
Abyssinia, passes between the territories of the Gallas on the west
and the Somali on the east, and debouches in the Indian Ocean at the
northern extremity of the Zanzibar coast. According to Lieutenant
Cruttenden's map, there are only two other rivers besides this of any
consequence in the land,--the Webbe (river) Shebéli, or Haines river,
which is of considerable importance, having a large flow of water,
trending down a cultivable district of rich red soil, and another less
important to the eastward of these two, called very unfortunately by
him the Wadi[4] Nogal. The proper specific name for this river has
never, to my knowledge, been given; but the Jid Ali Tug is one of its
head branches. It rises in some small hills close overhanging the
north coast, and runs south-easterly into the Indian Ocean, dividing
two large territories, called Ugahden, or Haud, on the west, and Nogal
on the east, mouthing at Ras Ul Khylé. Ugahden is said to be a flat
grassy country, of red soil, almost stoneless, and having water
everywhere near the surface. It is considered by the pastoral Somali a
famous place for keeping cattle, of which by report they possess a
great abundance, such as camels, ponies, cows, and Dumba sheep--a
fat-tailed animal, like the Persian breed. Game also abounds in this
country, of which the gazelles and antelopes, I was assured, roamed
about in vast herds like sheep.
The Nogal country is the opposite of this, containing nothing of any
material value in it. The rock-formation is all lime, very pure and
white like marble, which consequently makes the soil white, and, being
very stony, it is almost barren. The Somali keep cattle here, but with
much apparent difficulty, being, from the scarcity of springs and want
of water, obliged to march about, following the last falls of rain, to
obtain fresh herbage for their cattle. My first and greater journey
gave me an insight into this portion of the interior of the country
south of Bunder Gori. It was very interesting, though not profitable,
from its never having been visited by any Europeans before. I observed
here two distinct leading features in its physical geography. The
first is a narrow hill-range, about 180 miles long and 20 or more
broad, which is occupied by two large tribes--the Warsingali on the
east, and a branch of the Habr Gerhajis on the west. It is situated at
an average distance of from 200 yards to three or four miles from the
sea-shore, separated from it by a sandy flat or maritime plain, and,
like the line of coast, extends from east to west. Immediately due
south of Bunder Gori, the sea-face, or northern slopes of this range,
are very steep and irregular, being trenched down by deep ravines,
which, during the rainy season, shed their water across the maritime
plain into the Gulf of Aden.
The lower folds on this side of the range are composed of brown rocks
and earth, having little or no vegetation upon them, and are just as
uninviting in appearance as the light-brown hills which fringe the
coast of Arabia, as seen by voyagers on the Red Sea. Further up the
hill, in the central folds of the range, this great sterility changes
for a warm rich clothing of bush-jungle and a little grass. Gum-trees,
myrrh, and some varieties of the frankincense are found in great
profusion, as well as a variety of the aloe plant, from which the
Somali manufacture good strong cordage. The upper part of the range is
very steep and precipitous, and on this face is well clad with trees
and bush-jungle. The southern side of the range is exactly the
opposite, in all its characteristics, of the northern. Instead of
having a steep drop of from 6000 to 7000 feet, it falls by gentle
slopes to successive terraces, like a giant staircase, to scarcely
half that depth, where it rests at the head of the high plateau land
of Nogal, and is almost barren. Nogal, as I have said before, is also
very barren, only producing trees, such as the hardy acacia and
jujube, in sheltered places, in the valleys or watercourses which
drain that land to the south-east. I had no means of determining it,
but should judge this second great geographical feature, the plateau
of Nogal, by the directions its streams lie in, to have a gradual
decreasing declination, like all the rest of the interior, from the
north, where it averages an altitude of from 3000 to 4000 feet, down
to the level of the sea on south and by east.
According to traditional histories furnished me by the natives who
accompanied me on the journeys I undertook, it appears that the
present Somali are of rather recent origin, not more than four and a
half centuries old. About the year 1413, an Arab chieftain,
Darud-bin-Ismail, who had been disputing with an elder brother for
certain territorial rights at Mecca, was overpowered and driven from
the Mussulman Holy Land, and marched southwards, accompanied by a
large number of faithful followers,--amongst whom was an Asyri damsel,
of gentle blood and interesting beauty, whom he subsequently
married,--to Makallah, on the southern shores of Arabia. Once arrived
there, this band of vanquished fugitives hired vessels, and, crossing
the Gulf of Aden, came to Bunder Gori. Here they were hospitably
received by the then governing people, who, for the most part, were
Christians--probably Gallas and Abyssinians--who, judging from the few
archaeological remains they subsequently left behind them, must have
lived in a far more advanced state of civilisation than the present
Somali enjoy. Those Christian people were governed by one man, Sultan
Kin, who had a deputy called Wurrah, renowned alike for his ferocity
of character and his ability to govern.
For some years Darud and his Arab followers led a quiet, peaceable
life, gaining the confidence of his host, and inspiring Kin's subjects
with reverence for their superior talents. In process of time, by
intermarriage and proselytising, these Mussulmans increased in number,
and gained such strength, that they began to covet, and finally
determined to take the country from the race that had preceded them.
This project, by various intrigues and machinations, was easily
effected; and Kin, with all his Christians, was driven back to his
native highlands in Ethiopia.[5] Darud now was paramount in all this
land, and reigned until he died, when an only son by his Asyri wife
succeeded to him. This man's name was Kabl Ullah, who had a son called
Harti. On succeeding his father, Harti had three sons, called
respectively, in order of birth, Warsingali, Dulbahanta, and
Mijjertaine. Amongst these three he divided his kingdom, which to this
day retains the names. The Mijjertaine dispersed over the eastern
portions of the land, the Warsingali held the central, and the
Dulbahantas the western territories.[6]
Subsequently to this period, an Arab called Ishak came across from
Southern Arabia and established himself forcibly at Méit, and founded
the three different nations who now occupy all the coast-line from Ras
Galwéni on the eastward to Zeyleh on the extreme west of the Somali
country. Ishak, it appears, had three wives, who gave in issue three
sons, and among these three men was divided the whole country which he
subdued.
Forming themselves into tribes, the senior or Habr Gerhajis, by
constant feuds and other causes, are much distributed about the
country, but mostly occupy the hilly grounds to the southward of the
coast-line; whilst the Habr Owel, or second in order of birth, possess
all the coast of Berbera between Zeyleh and Kurrum; and the third, or
Habr Teljala, hold all the rest thence eastwards to Héis.
The Somali have been chiefly known to us since the time of our taking
occupation of Aden, whither many of them resort with their wives and
families to carry on trade, or do the more menial services of
porterage and donkey-driving. They are at once easily recognised by
the overland traveller by their singular appearance and boisterous
manner, as well as by their cheating and lying propensities, for which
they are peculiarly notorious; indeed, success in fraud is more
agreeable to them than any other mode of gaining a livelihood, and the
narration of such acts is their greatest delight in conversation. They
excel as donkey-boys even the Egyptians. As may be concluded from
their history, they are a mixed Ham-Shemitic race, but differing
considerably from both in their general appearance, though retaining
certain characteristics of both these breeds. They are a tall, slender
people, light and agile as deer; slightly darker than, though much the
colour of Arabs, with thin lip, and noses rather Grecian when compared
with those of blacks, but with woolly heads like the true negroes.
Their natures are so boisterous and warlike, that at Aden it has been
found necessary to disarm them. When they first arrived there, it was
not an unusual sight to see the men of different tribes, on the
hillsides that form the face of the "crater," fighting battles-royal
with their spears and shields; and even to this day, they, without
their arms, sometimes have hot contests, by pelting one another with
sticks and stones. There is scarcely a man of them who does not show
some scars of wounds received in these turmoils, some apparently so
deep that it is marvellous how they ever recovered from them.
Their costume is very simple. The men, who despise trousers, wear a
single sheet of long-cloth, eight cubits long, thrown over the
shoulder, much after the fashion of the Scotsman's plaid. Some shave
their head, leaving it bare; others wear the mane of a lion as a wig,
which is supposed by them to give the character of ferocity and
courage to the wearer, while those who affect the dandy allow their
hair to grow, and jauntily place some sticks in it resembling the
Chinaman's joss-sticks, which, when arranging their toilette, they use
as a comb, and all carry as weapons of defence a spear and shield, a
shillelagh, and a long two-edged knife. The women clothe more
extensively, though not much so. Fastening a cloth tightly round the
body immediately under their arms, they allow it to fall evenly down
to the ground, and effectually cover their legs. The married ones
encase their hair in a piece of blue cloth, gathering it up at the
back of the head in the fashion of English women of the present day;
this is a sign of wedlock. The virgins wear theirs loose, plaited in
small plaits of three, which, being parted in the centre, allows the
hair to fall evenly down all round the head like a well-arranged mop.
On approaching these fairs, they seductively give their heads a cant
backwards, with a half side-jerk, which parts the locks in front, and
discloses a pretty little smiling face, with teeth as white as pearls,
and lips as red as rubies. Pretty as they are when young, this beauty
fades at once after bearing children, and all their fair proportions
go with it. After that marked peculiarity of female negroes, they
swell about the waist, and have that large development behind, which,
in polite language, is called steatopyga. Although they are
Mussulmans, none wear the yashmac. Beads are not so much in request
here as in other parts of Africa, though some do wear necklaces of
them, with large rings of amber. This description, however, applies to
the Somali in his own land. When he comes over to Aden he takes shame
at his nakedness, dons the Arab's gown and trousers, and becomes the
merchant complete.[7]
In consequence of the poorness of their land, almost all the Somali
are wandering pastorals, which of itself is enough to account for
their turbulent natures. The system of government they maintain is
purely patriarchal, and is succeeded to by order of birth generally in
a regular and orderly manner, attributable, it would appear, to the
reverence they feel for preserving their purity of blood. The head of
each clan is called Gerad or Sultan, who would be powerless in himself
were he not supported by the united influence of all the royal family.
When any disturbances or great disputes arise, the sultan is
consulted, who collects his elders in parliament to debate the matter
over, and, through them, ascertain the people's feelings. Petty
disputes are settled by the elders without any further reference. In
most cases war arises from blood-feuds, when a member of one clan
kills the subject of another, and will not pay the recognised
valuation of the party injured, or allow himself to be given up to the
vengeance of the family who has sustained the loss. In such cases as
these, whole tribes voluntarily march out to revenge the deed by
forcibly taking as many cattle from the aggressor as the market
valuation may amount to.
Thus a war, once contracted, does not subside for years, as by
repeated deaths among the contending parties the balance of
blood-money never can be settled. Moreover, the inflicted punishment
seldom falls on the party immediately concerned; added to which, in
wars of tribes, everybody helps himself to his enemy's cattle in the
best way he can, and men formerly poor now suddenly become rich, which
gives a zest to the extension of the contest nothing else could
produce. Indeed, the poorer orders of Somali are only too glad to have
a good pretext for a fight, as a means of bettering their condition,
by adding a few more head of cattle to their stock. Were this not the
case, there would be no fighting whatever, as the sultan would be
powerless to raise an army against the inclination of the people. War
only ceases when both sides become exhausted, and withdraw as by
mutual consent. The great object in these encounters is to steal away
as many cattle as possible without risk of person, and such feats are
boasted of with rapture by those returning home with any prize. In the
administration of justice they consult the Mosaic law, as given in the
Koran, taking life for life, and kind for kind.
The northern Somali have no permanent villages in the interior of the
country, as the ground is not cultivated; but they scatter about,
constantly moving with their flocks and herds to any place within
their limited districts where water is to be found, and erect
temporary huts of sticks, covered with grass mats; or, when
favourable, they throw up loose stone walls like the dykes in
Scotland. But on the sea-coast, wherever there are harbours for
shipping, they build permanent villages on a very primitive scale.
These are composed of square mat walls, supported by sticks, and all
huddled together, and partitioned off for the accommodation of the
various families, near which there are usually one or more square
box-shaped stone buildings, the property of the chief of the place,
which are designated forts, though there is nothing in their artless
construction to deserve this name. They are all composed of blocks of
coralline, cemented together with mortar extracted from the same
material.
Like nearly all places within the tropics, beyond the equatorial rainy
zone, this country is visited by regular monsoons, or seasons in which
the winds prevail constantly in one direction; consequently vessels
can only come into the harbours of the northern coast when the sun is
in the south, or during five months of the year, from the 15th
November to the 15th April, to trade with the people; and then the
Somali bring the products of their country, such as sheep, cows, ghee,
mats made by the women from certain grasses and the Daum palm, ostrich
feathers, and hides, and settle on the coast to exchange them in
barter with the outer merchants, such as Arabs and men from Cutch, who
bring thither cloths, dates, rice, beads, and iron for that purpose.
Of all the trading places on the coast, the most important is Berbera;
it is, in fact, the great emporium of Somali land, and we must call
the reader's particular attention to it, since it forms the chief
point of interest in these pages. It is on the same meridian as Aden,
and only divided from it by the gulf of that name. Although it is of
such great importance, it is only inhabited during the five months of
the favourable monsoon, when great caravans come up from the rich
provinces which lie to its south and south-west, the principal ones
being those from Ugahden and Harar.
Having now given a general sketch of the country, we shall enter upon
the objects of the expedition. It was obvious, by the lay of the land,
that the richest and most interesting part of the country must be that
which lies between the Jub and Webbe Shebéli rivers, and it was the
most accessible to inspection, as large and powerful caravans,
travelling southwards through Ugahden, much frequent it. Seeing this,
Lieutenant Burton conceived the idea of waiting until the breaking up
of the Berbera fair, when the caravans disperse to their homes, to
travel by the ordinary caravan route, through the Ugahden country to
the Webbe Shebéli, and on to Gananah, and then to proceed further by
any favourable opportunity to the Zanzibar coast.
It was now, however, early October, and fully five months must elapse
ere we could finally enter on our march. In the mean time, Lieutenant
Burton, desirous of becoming acquainted as far as possible with the
habits of the people we were destined to travel amongst, as well as
the nature of the country and the modes of travelling in this _terra
incognita_, determined on making an experimental tour to Harar, a
place which had never been entered by any European, and was said to be
inaccessible to them. Harar, as I have said before, sends caravans
annually to the Berbera fair, and therefore comes within the influence
of British power. Taking advantage of this, Lieutenant Burton ordered
Herne to go to Berbera whilst he was on this expedition, to keep up a
diversion in his favour, arming him with instructions, that in case he
was detained in Harar by the Amir of that place, Herne might detain
their caravan as a ransom for the release of his party.
Further, to obtain more accurate knowledge concerning the march of the
Ugahden caravans, to gain an insight into the market transactions of
Berbera, and to collect cattle for our final march, it was deemed
advisable he should go there. Stroyan, as soon as he could manage it,
was also to go to Berbera to assist him. Thus everybody had a duty to
perform during this interregnum but myself.
Dreading the monotony of a station life, I now volunteered to travel
in any direction my commandant might think proper to direct, and to
any length of time he might consider it advisable for me to be away.
This proposition had its effect, as affording an extra opportunity of
obtaining the knowledge desired, and instructions were drawn up for my
guidance. I was to proceed to Bunder Gori, on the Warsingali frontier,
to penetrate the country southwards as far as possible, passing over
the maritime hill-range, and, turning thence westwards, was to inspect
the Wadi Nogal, and march direct on Berbera, to meet Stroyan and
Herne, at a date not later than the 15th January 1855. Whilst
travelling I was to remark upon the watershed of the country, plot the
route I travelled, keep _copious_ notes on everything I saw, and
collect specimens of natural history in all its branches, as well as
observe and register all meteorological phenomena, and buy camels and
ponies for the great future expedition.
Funds for the expenses of this undertaking were not available at that
time from the public purse, as the Indian Government had stipulated
that the whole sum they would advance for this great expedition should
not exceed £1000, and, for security's sake, had decided on paying it
by instalments of £250 at a time. I therefore, desirous to render as
much assistance as lay within my power to further the cause I had
embarked upon, volunteered to advance the necessary sum from my own
private resources, trusting to Lieutenant Burton's promises in the
future for being repaid.
This project settled, I at once set to work, and commenced laying in
such stores as were necessary for an outfit, whilst Lieutenant Burton,
who had been long resident in Aden, engaged two men to assist me on
the journey. The first was a man named Sumunter, who ranked highly in
his country, who was to be my _Abban_ or protector. The duty of
abbanship is of the greatest importance, for it rests entirely on the
Abban's honesty whether his client can succeed in doing anything in
the country he takes him through. Arabs, when travelling under their
protection, have to ask his permission for anything they may wish to
do, and cannot even make a march, or purchase anything, without his
sanction being first obtained. The Abban introduces the person under
his protection to the chief of his clan, is answerable for all
outrages committed on the way, and is the recognised go-between in all
questions of dispute or barter, and in every other fashion. The second
man was also a Warsingali,[8] by name Ahmed, who knew a slight
smattering of Hindustani, and acted as interpreter between us. I then
engaged two other men, a Hindustani butler named Imam, and a Seedi
called Farhan. This latter man was a perfect Hercules in stature, with
huge arms and limbs, knit together with largely developed ropy-looking
muscles. He had a large head, with small eyes, flabby squat nose, and
prominent muzzle filled with sharp-pointed teeth, as if in imitation
of a crocodile. Farhan told me that when very young he was kidnapped
on the Zanzibar coast by the captain of a small Arab vessel. This
captain one day seeing him engaged with many other little children
playing on the sandy seashore, offered him a handful of fine
fruity-looking dates, which proved so tempting to his juvenile taste
that he could not resist the proffered bait, and he made a grab at
them. The captain's powerful fingers then fell like a mighty trap on
his little closed hand, and he was hurried off to the vessel, where he
was employed in the capacity of "powder-monkey." In this position he
remained serving until full grown, when, finding an opportunity, he
ran away from his master, and has ever since lived the life of a
"free-man."
As a soldier, he had been tried in warfare, and was proved valorous
and cunning in the art, and promised to be a very efficient guard for
me. The next thing of most importance to be considered was the dress I
should wear. I first consulted the Colonel (Outram), who said he was
averse to our going in disguise, thinking that lowering ourselves in
this manner would operate against me in the estimation of the natives.
But this did not suit Lieutenant Burton's plans, who, not wishing to
be conspicuous whilst travelling to Harar, determined on going there
disguised as an Arab merchant, and thought it better we should appear
as his disciples, in accordance with which Herne had already purchased
his dress, and now I bought mine. It was anything but pleasant to the
feel. I had a huge hot turban, a long close-fitting gown, baggy loose
drawers, drawn in at the ankles, sandals on my naked feet, and a silk
girdle decorated with pistol and dirk. As an outfit for this especial
journey, I bought at Aden £120 worth of miscellaneous articles,
consisting chiefly of English and American sheeting, some coarse
fabrics of indigo-dyed Indian manufacture, several sacks of dates and
rice, and a large quantity of salt, with a few coloured stuffs of
greater value than the other cloths, to give away as presents to the
native chiefs. As defensible and other useful implements for the
scientific portion of the expedition, I took rifles, guns, muskets,
pistols, sabres, ammunition in great quantity, large commodious
camel-boxes for carrying specimens of natural history, one sextant and
artificial horizon, three boiling-point and common atmospheric
thermometers, and one primitive kind of camera obscure, which I had
made at Aden under the ingenious supervision of Herne.
Chapter II.
The Voyage--An Akil--The Somali Shore--Sultan (Gerad) Mahamed
Ali--Hidden Treasure--The Warsingali--A Royal Reception--Somali
Appetites--Difficulties and Impediments--Sultan Tries My Abban or
Protector.
On the 18th October 1854, having got all my preparations completed, I
embarked in an Arab vessel, attired in my Oriental costume, with my
retinue and kit complete, and set sail that same evening at 6 P.M.
The voyage, owing to light and varying breezes, was very slow and
tedious. Instead of performing the whole voyage in three days, the
ordinary time, it took us nine. According to the method of Arab
navigation, instead of going from port to port direct, we first
tracked eastward along the Arabian shore three successive days,
setting sail at sunrise, and anchoring regularly at sundown. By this
time we were supposed to be opposite Bunder Héis, on the Somali coast,
and the Nahkoda (captain) thought it time for crossing over the Gulf.
We therefore put out to sea at sunrise on the morning of the 21st, and
arrived the same evening, by mistake, assisted with a stiffish
easterly breeze, at a small place called Rakodah, which, by report,
contained a small fort, three mat huts, and many burnt ones, a little
to the westward of Bunder Héis. My Abban accounted for the destruction
of this place by saying it had been occupied surreptitiously for a
long period by a people called Rheer Dud, who sprang from a man called
Sambur-bin-Ishak; but about four years ago, the Musa Abokr--a
sub-tribe of the Habr Teljala, who were the former and rightful owners
of the place--suddenly returned, took the usurpers by surprise, and
drove them off by setting fire to the village. The next day, by hard
work, tacking up the wind, which still continued easterly, we
succeeded in reaching Bunder Héis, which, like the last place, was
occupied by the Musa Abokr. There were four small craft lying here,
waiting for cargoes, under lee of a spur of low hills which
constituted the harbour; in which, fortunately, there was very good
fishing to be obtained. We were detained here by adverse and light
winds two days, during which time I went on shore and paid my respects
to the Akil (chief) of the place, who lived in a small box-shaped
stone fort, on the west flank of the village of Héis, which was very
small, composed, as usual, of square mat huts, all built together, and
occupied only by a few women, who made mats, collected gums, and
stored the produce of the interior, as sheep, cows, and ghee, which
their men constantly brought down to them, for shipping off to
Arabia.[9] The Akil's reception was very warm and polite. He offered
me everything at his disposal, and gave as an honorary present a Dumba
sheep and a bowl of sour camel's milk, which I thought at the time the
most delicious thing I ever drank. It is sharp and rough, like
labourers' cider, and, drunk in the heat of the day, is most
refreshing. When first taken, and until the stomach becomes accustomed
to it, it operates like medicine, and I on this occasion was fairly
taken in. The fish we caught were not very good, but comical in
appearance, and of a great variety of the most beautiful prismatic
colours, changing in tint as different lights and shades struck upon
them.
We left Héis on the 25th, with very light and unfavourable winds, and
tracked along shore to the eastward, making very little way. The
weather continuing the same, on the 26th I forced the Nahkoda, much
against his will, on at night, as during the darker hours the winds
were much stronger, and by this means we arrived at our destination,
Bunder Gori on the Warsingali frontier, at sundown on the 27th of
October. I had now seen the Somali shore, and must confess I was much
disappointed. All that was visible, besides the village mentioned, was
a sandy tract of ground, the maritime plain, which extended in breadth
from the sea-shore to some brown-looking hills in the background, from
a few hundred yards to one or two miles distant; and hills and
plains--for I could, by my close approximation to them, only see the
brown folds of the hills near the base--were alike almost destitute of
any vegetation; whilst not one animal or any other living creature
could be seen.
28th October.--The Abban would not allow anybody to go on shore until
certain parties came off to welcome us and invite us to land, such
being the etiquette of the country when any big-wigs arrive. After the
sun rose we were duly honoured by the arrival of many half-naked
dignitaries, who tenderly inquired after the state of our health, the
prosperity or otherwise of our voyage, the purpose of our coming
there, and a variety of other such interesting matters. Then again
they were questioned by our people as to the state of the country,
whether in peace or war; how and where the Sultan Gerad Mahamed Ali
was residing; if rain had lately fallen, and where; if the cattle were
well in milk;--to which it was responded that everything was in the
most promising order; the cattle were flourishing in the hills, where
rain had lately fallen, about twenty miles distant from that place;
and the sultan, with all the royal family,[10] were there, revelling
on milk, under the shade of favouring trees, or reposedly basking in
the warm morning sun--the height of Somali bliss. The order was now
given to go ashore, and we all moved off to a fort which the Abban
said was his own property, in Goriat (little Bunder Gori), three miles
to the westward of Bunder Gori. There were two of these little forts
near, and a small collection of mat huts, like those already
described, and of the same material as all Somali forts and huts. The
kit was now brought across and placed within the fort I occupied, all
except the salt, which afterwards proved a bone of contention between
me and the Abban, and the sultan was at once sent for. No one could
move a yard inland, or purchase anything, without his sanction being
first obtained.
Although Gerad Mahamed Ali was living only twenty miles distant from
Goriat, it was not until repeated messages had been sent to him, and
eleven days had elapsed, that he answered the summons by his presence.
In the meanwhile, having nothing better to do during this tedious
interval, as no people would bring cattle or anything for sale, I took
walks about the plain, shooting, and killed a new variety of gazelle,
called Déra[11] by the Somali, and Salt's antelopes, here called
Sagaro, which fortunately were very abundant, though rather wild;
catching fish, drawing with the camera, bathing in the sea,
luxuriating on milk, dates, and rice, or talking and gossiping with
the natives.
On one occasion my interpreter came to me with a mysterious air, and
whispered in my ear that he knew of some hidden treasures of vast
amount, which had been buried not far off, under rocky ground, in such
a way that nobody had been able to dig them up, and he wished that I,
being an Englishman, and consequently knowing secret arts, as well as
_hikmat_ (scientific dodges), would direct how to search for these
treasures. By inquiring farther into the matter, it appeared that an
old man, a miser, who had been hoarding all his life, was suddenly
taken ill about forty years ago, and feared he would die. Seeing this,
his relatives assembled round him to ask his blessing; and the old
man, then fearing all his worldly exertions would end to no good
purpose, asked them to draw near that he might tell them where his
riches were hidden; but even then he would not disclose the secret,
until he was in the last dying gasp, when he said, "Go to a pathway
lying between two trees, and stretch out a walking-stick to the full
length of your arm, and the place where the end of your wand touches
is that in which my treasures are hidden." The wretched man then gave
up the ghost, and his family commenced the search; but though they
toiled hard for many days and weeks, turning up the stones in every
direction, they never succeeded in finding the treasure, and had now
given up the search in despair. The fact was, they omitted to ask
their parent on which side of the path it was concealed, and hence
their discomfiture. At my request the said family came to me,
corroborated the statements of the interpreter, and begged imploringly
I would direct them how to search for the money; saying at the same
time they would work again, if I thought it of any use; and, moreover,
they would give me half if the search proved successful. I lent them
some English pick-axes, and went to see the place, which certainly
showed traces of very severe exertions; but the strong nature of the
soil was too much for them, even when armed with tools, unless they
were fortunate enough to hit upon the exact spot, which they did not,
and therefore toiled in vain again.
The Warsingali complained to me sadly of their decline in power since
the English had interfered in their fights with the Habr Teljala,
which took place near Aden about seven years ago, and had deprived
them of their vessels for creating a disturbance, which interfered
with the ordinary routine of traffic. They said that on that occasion
they had not only beaten the Habr Teljala, but had seized one of their
vessels; and that prior to this rupture they had enjoyed paramount
superiority over all the tribes of the Somali; but now that they were
forbidden to transport soldiers or make reprisals on the sea, every
tribe was on an equality with them.
They further spoke of the decline of their tribe's morals since the
time when the English took possession of Aden and brought in
civilisation with them. This they in most part attributed to our weak
manner in prosecuting crime, by requiring too accurate evidence before
inflicting punishment; saying that many a dishonest person escaped the
vengeance of law from the simple fact of there being no eyewitnesses
to his crime, although there existed such strong presumptive evidence
as to render the accusation proved. When speaking against our laws,
and about their insufficiency to carry out all governmental points
with a strong and spirited hand, they never forget to laud their own
sultan's despotic powers and equity in justice.
Of course no mortal man was like their Gerad Mahamed Ali. In leading
them to war he was like the English French,[12] and in settling
disputes he required no writing office, but, sitting on the woolsack,
he listened to the narration of prosecution and defence with his head
buried in his hands, and never uttering a word until the trial was
over, when he gave his final decision in one word only, ay or nay,
without comment of any sort. In confirmation of their statements, they
gave the description of a recent trial, when a boy was accused of
having attempted to steal some rice from a granary; the lad had put
his hand through a chink in the door of it, and had succeeded in
getting one finger, up to the second joint, in the grain; this, during
the trial, he frankly acknowledged having done, and the sultan
appointed that much of his finger exactly to be cut off, and no
more--punishing the deed exactly according to its deserts. This, to
Somali notions, seemed a punctiliousness in strict equity of judicial
administration which nothing could excel, and they bragged of it
accordingly.
Becoming dreadfully impatient at so much loss of precious time whilst
waiting here, unable to prepare in any way for the journey, I sent
repeated messages to the sultan, demanding his immediate attendance;
but it was not until the 6th of November that I heard definitely of
his approach, and then it was that he was coming down the hill.
On the 7th he came with a host of Akils to Bunder Gori, and put up in
a Nahkoda's hut. This indignity he was obliged to submit to, as he had
not cautioned the merchants who occupied his forts of his intended
approach, and now no one would turn out for him. Finding him so near
me, I longed to walk over to him and settle matters personally at
once; but dignity forbade it; and as he had come with such cautious
trepidation, I feared any over-hastiness might frighten him away
again. He seemed to observe the same punctiliousness towards me, so I
split the difference by sending an embassy by my Abban, assisted by
other powerful Akils, early the following morning, when they held
durbar, and my intentions of travelling were fully discussed in open
court. For a long time the elders on the sultan's side were highly
adverse to my seeing their country, considering no good could possibly
arise from it, and much harm might follow; I might covet their
country, and eventually take it from them, whereas they could gain
nothing. Hearing this, the Abban waxed very wroth, and indignantly
retorted he would never allow such a slur to be cast upon _his
honour_, or the office which he held. He argued he had come there as
my adviser and Abban; his parentage was of such high order, his
patriotism could not be doubted. Had he not fought battles by their
side, of which his scars bore living testimony? and now they wished to
stigmatise him as a traitor to his country! The sultan must decide it.
How could jungle-folk like them know anything of the English and their
intentions?
The sultan listened silently during this discourse, which, though
written in a few lines, took many hours of hot debating, by their
turning and turning every little particular over and over again; and
finally decided it in his usual curt and conclusive manner, by saying,
"The Warsingali were on the most friendly and amicable relations with
the English; and as he was desirous of maintaining it, he would give
me leave to travel anywhere I liked within his dominions, and to see
and examine anything I chose. But out of fear for the consequences, as
the English would hold him answerable should any disasters befall me,
he could not sanction my crossing over his frontier in any direction,
and more especially into the Dulbahanta country, where wars were
raging, and the country so unsafe that even Warsingali dare not
venture there." This announcement was brought back in high exultation
by Sumunter, who thought his success complete, and at the same time
announced to me the sultan's intention of honouring me with a visit in
the evening, which was duly done.
He came a little before sunset, with his bare head shaven, a dirty
coloured tobe thrown over his shoulders, and hanging loosely down to
his sandaled feet.[13] He looked for all the world like a patriarch of
the olden times, and passed me, marching in martial order in the
centre of a double line of men sloping their spears in bristling array
over their shoulders, all keeping step in slow marching order, a scene
evidently got up in imitation of our soldiers. Not a word was spoken,
and the deepest solemnity prevailed. On his arrival in front of the
fort, I drew up my men, and fired a salute to give him welcome. This
was done in right good earnest, by every man cramming his gun with
powder, to excel his neighbour in a loud report, to show the
superiority of his weapon; for such is the black man's notions of
excellence in a fowling-piece. The march concluded, the sultan with
his followers all huddled together and squatted on the ground outside
the second fort, deeply agitated, and not knowing what to do, as they
evidently dreaded what might follow. To dissipate their fears, I
approached his royalty, salaamed, and tried to beguile the time by
engaging them in conversation.
Finding that this had rather the opposite effect, I then retired, and
soon found them all intently wrapped up in prayer, prostrating and
rising by turns, with uplifted hands, and muttering for hours together
without cessation. I then ordered a regal repast to be served them of
rice swimming in ghee, and dates _ad libitum_. This, notwithstanding
their alarm, was despatched with the most marvellous rapacity, to such
an alarming extent, that I required to know how many men were engaged
in eating it. The Abban replied that there were only a few: he would
not allow many to come over here out of a spirit of economy, knowing I
had not much property to spare, though all the rest had wished to
come, and were greatly disappointed. But these men, as is usual
amongst Somali, had prepared themselves for a feast by several days'
previous fasting, and each man would, if I allowed it, swallow at one
meal as much as a sheep's skin could contain. As a gun is known by the
loudness of its report, and ability to stand a large discharge of
powder, to be of good quality, so is a man's power gauged by his
capacity of devouring food; it is considered a feat of superiority to
surpass another in eating.
I have seen a Somali myself, when half-starved by long fasting, and
his stomach drawn in, sit down to a large skinful of milk, and drink
away without drawing breath until it was quite empty, and it was easy
to observe his stomach swelling out in exact proportion as the skin of
liquor decreased. They are perfect dogs in this fashion. I may here
add, that although the Abban in this speech seemed to show so much
consideration for my property, by several recent tricks of his I
entertained much suspicion of his honesty; and this little address,
though uttered plausibly, was too common and transparent a trick in
the East to beguile me. All Orientals have a proverbial habit of
saving their master's property to leave greater pickings for
themselves, and such I considered was Sumunter's dodge now.
8th November.--This morning the sultan, having now recovered, came to
return my salaam of the previous evening, when I opened to him the
purport of my expedition in minute detail: how I wished to visit the
Southern Dulbahantas, cross and inspect the Wadi Nogal, and thence
proceed west to meet my friends, Stroyan and Herne, at Berbera. He
listened very attentively and politely, but at the conclusion repeated
the words I had already heard; adding that the Dulbahantas had
intestine wars; they had been fighting many years, and were now in hot
strife, dividing the government of their country. Not many days since
a report had arrived that the southern portion of them, who occupied
the countries about one hundred miles due south of Bunder Héis, had
had a fight with the northern ones, who were living on the same
meridian, immediately to their northward, and had succeeded in
capturing 2000 horses, 400 camels, a great number of sheep and goats,
and had wounded one man severely: it was therefore impossible I could
go from the northern division to the southern, for I should be treated
as an enemy; and that was the only line on which water could be found
during this, the dry season. Had I come here during the monsoon, I
might have travelled directly in a diagonal line, from the south of
the mountain-range to the rear of this place, into their, the
southerners', country, who were the older branch, and were now
governed by the hereditary and rightful chief, Gerad Mahamed Ali, who
was on the most friendly terms with the Warsingali, and who, being an
old chief, and well respected by his adherent subjects, might have
granted me a hospitable reception.
On the other hand, the northern Dulbahantas, who were also friendly
with the Warsingali, were under no control: the Gerad, by name Mahamed
Ali also, was recently installed in government, and was consequently
very little respected. He (the Warsingali chief) could not, therefore,
give his sanction to my going amongst them, by which my life would be
endangered, and he, for permitting it, would be held responsible by
the English. No arguments of mine would alter the decision of the
inflexible chief; I therefore changed the subject by asking him to
assist me in procuring camels, by which I might go into the interior,
and feel my way thereafter. This he readily agreed to, and begged
permission to return to Bunder Gori to give the necessary orders to
his subjects. His escort then demanded a cloth apiece from me, to be
given them for their trouble in coming over here; arguing that, had I
not required the sultan's attendance, they would not have had to
come;--a plausible, but truly Somali notion of justice; they knew
their proper master would give them nothing for coming to support his
dignity, but thought I might be softer.
10th.--The sultan, not able to do business hurriedly with his rabble
subjects, did not appear again until this morning, and then, instead
of proceeding at once to work, hinted he should like to have the
presents I had brought from Aden for him, as the best method of
showing our feelings to one another. This was not so easily concluded.
I portioned out the things that were intended for him, and wished he
would take them at once away and clear the room, thinking, in my
inexperience of savages, I had only to give, and it would be received
with a hearty Bism-illah; but I was soon undeceived: the things were
taken with a grunt of discontentment; all looked over one by one. If a
cloth was soiled, it must be changed; and then the measurements began
by cubits = 18 inches, or from the point of the elbow to the tip of
the middle finger, just as Noah must have done when he built the ark.
But as all forearms are not of equal length, much delay was occasioned
by the sultan trying the length of his forearm against everybody's in
the room, and then by measuring every cloth by turn, and remeasuring
them again for fear of mistake; then they were divided into lots, to
be disposed of to his wives, and children and Akils and servants, and,
of course, found insufficient to meet everybody's expectations, and I
must give more.
Tedious hours passed in this way; as a final petition, the sultan said
I must give him for himself a gun and my silk turban, as I had given
up wearing anything on my head, and did not require it: these were,
after a certain amount of haggling, surrendered, on condition that the
sultan would exert himself a little more energetically on my account.
The way he handled the musket was very amusing: he had never had one
in his hands before, and could not get it to sit against his shoulder;
and when his people placed it for him, he persisted in always cocking
the wrong eye, which tickled Farhan's fancy so much, that he burst
into loud roars of laughter. Nevertheless, the sultan took things
quietly, and would not allow himself to be discomposed, but coolly
said the gun would be of no use unless I gave him some powder to feed
it with. This last straw broke the camel's back; all things must have
an end, and I promised I would give him some after he procured enough
camels for my wants, but not before. This settled the matter, and he
walked off, with all the things I had given him, as sulkily as if he
had been injured.
Camels were then brought for sale, and purchasing commenced. When the
sultan was present, he had to determine if the prices asked by the
sellers were reasonable or not, and took for his office as mediator a
tithe on all purchases; but in his absence, Akils were appointed to
officiate on the same conditions. This system of robbing, I was
assured, was the custom of the country, and if I wanted to buy at all
I must abide by it. Cloth was at a great discount on the coast, for
the men there had, by their dealings with Aden, become accustomed to
handle dollars, and were in consequence inspired with that superior
innate love for the precious metal over all other materials, with
which all men, and especially those newly acquainted with it, become
unaccountably possessed. No one would believe that my boxes could be
made for any other purpose than for locking up money; and I was
obliged to leave them open to inspection before they would sell
anything for cloth.[14]
The sultan now lived at Bunder Gori, and seldom showed himself,
promising to come to me every day, without the least intention of
doing so; and only at last, after three days' absence, when I
threatened to invade his dwelling, did he appear, bringing several
camels with him: of these I purchased some good ones, and sent the
rest away: this was the 15th November. He then returned home again,
and promised faithfully he would bring on the morrow a sufficient
number of camels to carry all my kit.
16th.--For the first time the sultan kept his promise by returning,
but the animals he brought were weak and useless, and I could plainly
see I was being trifled with, and detained here for the mere purpose
of being robbed in an indirect manner, so that no accusation could be
laid against any one. Nothing, I may say, in all my experiences, vexes
the mind so much as feeling one's self injured in a way that cannot be
prevented or avenged. Some might take such matters quietly, but I
confess I could not. Indeed, I stormed and expostulated with the
sultan until he agreed to assist me in a move. I had now eleven
camels, and wanted some five more, but thought it better not to wait;
for as long as I remained in a comfortable dwelling, I knew my men
would not exert themselves. That day, then, packing up what I most
required, I started for Bunder Gori, and unloaded, after a three
miles' march, at an old well in rear of the village, selecting as a
camping-ground the least comfortable place I could find, and not
allowing the tent to be pitched, though the sun-heat was 112 degrees,
and the sand was blowing in perfect clouds. Some days previous to my
leaving Goriat, Sumunter induced me to give him twenty rupees to hire
donkeys for conveying the heavier things over the hills, and
repeatedly assured me he had got them, but they never came; and now I
asked him to return the money, as I had brought it with me as a
reserve fund, to provide against any possible difficulty, and not to
be parted with for any ordinary purpose. This commenced a series of
rows between Sumunter and myself: he had made away with the money, and
could not produce it. The salt also was never forthcoming.
17th.--I could not succeed in making up my complement of camels. The
sultan said he and his men must be fed before they could do work, and
sat upon the date-bags so resolutely I was fain to open them that some
business might be done. After feasting they all dispersed, under
pretence of bringing other camels, and I went into the town to inspect
the place. There were five small forts, occupied by merchants, of whom
one was a Hindi from Cutch, and a large collection of mat huts, mostly
occupied by women. Instead of finding a harbour (Bunder), as the name
of the village implied, the shore was a gradual shelving open
roadstead, in which two buggaloes were lying at anchor, waiting for
cargoes, and four small sailing-boats were preparing, with harpoon and
tackle, to go porpoise-hunting for oil.
18th.--Having made everybody as uncomfortable as I could wish, sitting
in the sandy open plain, all the men were equally desirous with myself
for a move on the journey; but still I was five camels short, and saw
no hopes of getting them. The plan then settled was to move southwards
half-way up the hill, leaving the few things still in the fort as they
were, until I arrived at the camping-place, and could send the animals
I was taking with me back to fetch them. Having now desired the
sultan, Sumunter, and Farhan to return to Goriat, and leave the rear
property in safe custody with the fort-keeper, I commenced the march
across the maritime plain with Ahmed, Imam, a number of Somali
camel-tenders armed with spear and bow, and the sultan's youngest son,
Abdullah, to direct the way until his father and the other two should
arrive, which they promised they would do by the evening. The track
first led us across the maritime plain, here about two miles broad,
and composed of sand overlying limestone, with boulders in the dry
shallow watercourses, and with no vegetable life save a few scrub
acacias and certain salsola. This traversed, we next wound along a
deep ravine called Tug (river) Tura,[15] lying between the lower spurs
of the mountain-range, and commenced a slight ascent up its cracked,
uneven passage, until we reached a halting-place called Iskodubuk. The
distance we had made was only about five miles from Bunder Gori, but
the camels were so fatigued by travelling over boulders, that we were
obliged to unload and stop there for the day. The sultan and Abban now
overtook us to say that the rear things were in safe custody in the
fort; and, leaving instructions with the young Prince Abdullah about
the road we should follow on the morrow, returned _nolens volens_ back
to Bunder Gori, saying, as they went away, we might expect them at the
next camping-ground as soon even as we could get there with the
camels. A little after sunset, some interesting rock-pigeons--very
similar to the Indian painted bird, which I found there frequenting
ground much of the same nature--lit at some pools in the bed of the
ravine, and enabled me to shoot and stuff several of them.
19th.--We got under way in the early morning, and commenced ascending
the same ravine, when a messenger from the sultan arrived, and desired
we would stop until he came. We had scarcely accomplished two miles,
and the morning was yet young and cool, and I strove with every effort
in my power to induce the men to go a little further forward, but
without the slightest effect; they were as obstinate as mules, and
just as unruly. This was a fair specimen of Somali travelling; any
pretext to save the trouble of moving is accounted too precious to be
lost. The ground here was a little more wooded; tall slender trees,
with thick green foliage, grew in the bed of the ravine, in which
there were some occasional pools of stagnant rain-water, and the brown
rocky hill-sides were decorated with budding bush acacias, which
afforded a good repast for the weary camels, whose journey over the
boulders must have been very fatiguing to them.
20th.--As the sultan did not arrive, and the young prince would not
allow my men to load, I ordered the interpreter and Imam to remain
where they were, whilst I returned to Bunder Gori to see what was the
matter, and on no account were they to issue any food until I came
back again. As soon as I had gone two or three miles, I found the
young prince and all the camel-men hastening after me, and entreating
me to return; they said the sultan was on his way, and would arrive in
camp in the evening. I complied, conditionally that they bound
themselves to march in the morning whether he came or not. Once again
in camp, I had my food prepared, and sat savagely watching the effect
its odour had upon my starving men, who, fearing they would get none,
formed in a body, and came petitioning me to forgive them, as they
consented to do my bidding for ever after. They were then fed.
21st.--After loading in the morning, with a great deal of beating and
thumping, all the camels, save two or three weakly ones, were whipped
up a winding steep ridge, one of the buttresses of the mountain, to a
camping-ground, six miles farther on, called Adhai. Here we were at
the station originally assigned for the first day's march, and, for
the first and last time during the whole journey, I pitched the tent.
The higher we ascended the hill the more abundant became the wooding,
and green grass for the first time was visible amongst the stones.
This freshness was attributed to a recent fall of rain. Altitude, by
boiling thermometer, 4577 feet.
22d.--I sent all the freshest camels off to Goriat for the remaining
property, with orders that everybody should return on the following
day. At this height the temperature of the air was very delightful,
the range at noon being only 79°. I spent the whole day
specimen-hunting, and found the rocks were full of fossil shells. I
killed a new snake or variety of _Psammophis sibilans_, and shot an
interesting little antelope, _Oreotragus saltatrix_, the
"klip-springer" of the Cape Colonist, as well as hyraxes and various
small birds, which we duly preserved. My collections in this country
were sent by Lieutenant Burton to the Asiatic Society's Museum,
Calcutta, and have been described in their journals by Mr E. Blyth,
the Curator.
23d and 24th.--Passed without anybody appearing, and I was becoming
much alarmed at repeated stories I heard of the Abban's dishonesty. It
then transpired that Sumunter was heavily in debt, and one of his
principal creditors was at Bunder Gori detaining him there. A pony had
been hired for my riding, and on this animal I wished to send Imam
back, to find out the truth of everything, and to return to me the
following day; but the wicked young prince, Abdullah, got wind of my
intention, and had the pony driven away, so that the unfortunate Imam
had to walk.
25th.--Still nobody came. I now despatched the interpreter on the same
mission, and was left alone with the young prince and two or three
camel-drivers. After a little while had elapsed, a number of savage
hungry-looking men came up the hill and settled themselves in my
encampment, squatting on the date-bags and clamouring for food. The
prince and camel-drivers joined them, and became so importunate, I was
obliged to rebuke them with angry demonstration. No sooner did they
see me vexed than they began hovering tauntingly around me, jeering
and vociferating in savage delight at the impunity they enjoyed in
irritating me when all alone and helpless. However, I stood by the
date and rice bags with my gun, and prevented anybody coming near me.
The prince and camel-men now seeing me determined, and no farther
discomposed by their manoeuvres, came supplicating for their daily
rations. I gave it them at once, but could not satisfy them; they must
have some more for all their brothers (meaning the _blackguards_ who
had just arrived), or they would strike work. This stirred my blood; I
took back what I had given, and resolutely declined to be passively
cajoled out of anything, let happen what may. They saw I was
determined not to submit to them; and suddenly, as if the same thought
struck every one of them at the same instant, they dashed down the
hill, flying over the bushes and stones in their way, with yells and
shouts, and, seizing a goat from a neighbouring flock, killed and
quartered it without a moment's hesitation. At this juncture, just as
the robbed shepherd came crying to me for the price of his goat, Imam
arrived from Goriat, and tried to reason with him that it was no
business of mine, and I could not be expected to pay it. The injured
man then swore he would have justice done him at the sultan's hands,
and all yelled again for dates and rice. As they could not get it, the
young prince, ever full of boyish tricks, now seized up a mussack
(water-skin), and said I should have no more water until I complied
with their demands. The others, following his example, picked up as
many more as they could find, and left but one mussack remaining. This
one I immediately captured, and requested Imam to fill from a spring
farther down the hill; but the men, thus far outdone, rather than
allow it, said they would kill him if he dared attempt to go now. As
Imam showed alarm at their wild threats, I took the water-skin myself
and walked off to fill it, upon which the savages threw themselves out
in line, flourishing their spears and bows, and declared they would
kill me if I persisted in going. On I went, however, and had just
passed through their line, when the sultan's eldest son, Mohamed Aul,
fortunately arrived, and rebuked them, together with his brother, for
allowing me to be ill-treated. Finding Mohamed Aul very reasonable and
obliging, I begged him to send Abdullah away as a nuisance, for I
could never permit him to eat any more salt of mine.
Imam now disclosed to me the results of his investigations at Goriat
and Bunder Gori. The Abban, as I had heard before, was detained there
by a creditor to whom he had contracted debts in Aden, and now, in
part liquidation of them, he had given away all my salt, the twenty
rupees he took for hiring donkeys, several pieces of cloth, and he had
changed my good rice for bad; and, knowing Farhan to be cognisant of
all his villanies, had tried by bribes to induce him to desert. The
sultan now arrived, and excused his long absence, saying that he had
lost the time in fruitless endeavours to induce Sumunter to come with
him. He said he had been remonstrating with Sumunter, and thought him
very culpable in not obeying me. Hoping the sultan was in earnest in
what he said, I now told him of all I had seen and heard about
Sumunter, and begged he would assist me in sending him back to Aden,
for no reliance could possibly be placed on a man who had proved
himself so dishonest and unprincipled as he was. The interpreter also
thought this would be a good plan, and advised my employing the
sultan's brother Hasan as abban or protector in his stead. However,
the sultan said he could not undo what the English had done in Aden,
but said if I wished he would send for Sumunter and rebuke him in my
presence. I replied that I thought he could not get Sumunter to leave
Bunder Gori, or he should have done so ere this. This touched his
pride, and he raised his body indignantly, and said, "If I command, he
must obey." "Then, for goodness' sake," said I, "order him with
all--all my things at once, and lose no more time."
The following day they all arrived, and Sumunter with them, riding on
a pony. I felt much incensed as the Abban came cringing up to me, and
proclaimed him in presence of the sultan and all my men a traitor and
robber, mentioning all his villanies in detail, and begging he would
leave my camp at once, for I could not travel with him. He appeared
very humble, and denied flatly all the accusations I brought against
him. Upon this I begged the sultan, flattering him with his great
renown for administering justice, that he would do me justice as his
guest. He said he was willing to do anything for me if I would direct
the way in which I wished him to proceed; he did not understand the
English law, and I must submit to Somali methods. This was agreed to,
and we all assembled in my tent, and arranged the court as follows:--I
sat at the gable end of the tent with Imam, Ahmed, and Farhan, with
Sumunter facing us. The sultan mounted on the bales of cloth, and all
his retainers and princes, and my camel-drivers, sat in a group on the
ground at his feet.
In opening the proceedings of the prosecution, I first said to
Sumunter--
_P. Speke_.--"Where is the salt which you confess came with us to
Goriat, and which you have told me daily you would give; but as yet,
though everything, you say, is in the camp, it has not arrived?"
_D. Sumunter_.--"I did not bring it because it was so heavy, and
thought you would not want it."
_P._--"Then why did you not land it at Goriat, and give it me there,
or why did you even buy it at all at Aden if it was of no use?"
_D._--"Because the Nahkoda took it to Bunder Gori."
After a few more questions and answers, and the subject was exhausted,
the sultan (judge), who had been sitting in silence with his head
buried in his hands, now gave a grunt and motioned us to continue.
_P._--"Where are the bales of cloth which by my account and Imam's are
missing?"
_D._--"I did not take them; somebody else must have."
_P._--" They were in your charge, and you are answerable for them;
besides which, Farhan here knows you gave them away."
_Judge_.--"Ahem!" and the prosecution continued.
_P._--"Where are the twenty rupees I gave you for hiring donkeys, and
which I particularly ordered should not be expended for any other
purpose?"
Sumunter, putting his hand fixedly in his breast, said, "I've got
them; they are all right. I will give them to you presently."
_Speke_.--"No! give them to me now; I want them this instant."
Sumunter, confused, and fumbling at his pocket, much to the delight of
all the court, who burst with laughter, said, "No! I've left them at
home in Bunder Gori, and will give them by-and-by."
_Judge_.--"Ahem!" and the prosecution continued.
_P._--"Why did you change my good rice for bad?" (opening and showing
the contents of the nearest sack).
_D._--"I thought it would not signify: bad rice is good enough for the
camel-drivers, and I have left enough good for your consumption. An
old friend asked me for it, and I did it to oblige him."
_Judge_.--"Ahem!" and the prosecution continued.
_P._--"Why did you attempt to bribe Farhan to leave my service, and
say nothing to me about it?"
_D._--"Farhan is a bad man; and I was afraid he would steal your
things."
_Judge_.--"Ahem!"
Thus ended the prosecution and defence. The sultan raised his head,
and in answer to my appeal as to what judgment he would give, calmly
said, he could see no harm in what had been done--Sumunter was my
Abban, and, in virtue of the ship he commanded, was at liberty to do
whatever he pleased either with or to my property. Words, in fact,
equivalent to saying I had come into a land of robbers, and therefore
must submit to being robbed; and this I plainly told him. Further, I
even threatened the sultan with a pretended determination to return to
Aden, where I said the matter would be settled at our police court
without bias or favour. I then desired the interpreter to look out for
any vessel that would give me a passage to Aden, as it was obvious to
me Sumunter had more power in the land than the sultan. This took them
all by surprise, abashed the old sultan and his family--for they were
proud of their strength--and induced them to say I need not fear
anything on that score;--was the sultan of the Warsingali, indeed, not
the greatest chief in the land, and, moreover, a great ally of the
English? This, of course, was only a feint on my part to bring them to
a proper sense of their duty towards me; for I had brought letters of
recommendation from the Government at Aden to their chief, and knew
they would rather do anything than let me go back in a huff.
29th.--I had been now nine days waiting here, and had taken many walks
about the hill-sides, investigating the place, and making sundry
collections. The most interesting amongst these was a small lizard, a
new species, afterwards named by Mr E. Blyth, the Curator of the
Asiatic Society, _Tiloqua Burtoni_, after my commandant. The Somali
brought a leopard into camp, which they said they had destroyed in a
cave by beating it to death with sticks and stones. They have a mortal
antipathy to these animals, as they sometimes kill defenceless men,
and are very destructive to their flocks. Besides the little antelope
described, I only saw the Saltiana antelope, and the tracks of two
other species which were said to be very scarce. Rhinoceroses were
formerly very abundant here, but have been nearly all killed down with
spear and bow (they do not use firearms) by the Somali hunters, in
consequence of the great demand for their skins for making shields.
Amongst the bush and trees there were several gum-producing ones, of
which the frankincense, I think, ranked first. These gums are usually
plucked by the women and transported to Aden. The barks of various
other trees are also very useful; for instance, they strip down the
bark of the acacia in long slips, and chew it until only fibres
remain, which, when twisted in the hand, make strong cordage. The
acacia bark also makes a good tan for preserving leather; but of far
greater account than this is the bark of a squat stunted tree, like
the "elephant's foot," called by the Somali mohur, which has a smooth
skin, with knotty-looking warts upon it like a huge turnip, reddish
inside, with a yellowish-green exterior. It has a highly aromatic
flavour, and is a powerful astringent. When making mussacks, the
Somali pull a sheep or goat out of his skin; tie its legs and tail,
where incisions had been made, to make it a waterproof bag, and then
fill it with bits of this bark, chopped up and mixed with water. They
then suspend it in a tree to dry, and afterwards render it soft and
pliable by a severe course of manipulation. The taste of the bark is
considered very wholesome, and a corrective to bad and fetid water.
Besides possessing this quality, the mohur is useful as a
poultice-when mashed and mixed with water; and the Somali always have
recourse to it when badly wounded.
During my peregrinations at this place, I often dropped bits of paper
about the jungle, little suspecting what would become of them; and, to
my surprise, one day the interpreter came to me in some alarm, to say
that several Dulbahantas had arrived at Bunder Gori, and were sharply
canvassing amongst themselves the probable objects of my visit. I
could not be travelling without a purpose, at so much expense; and
they thought these bits of paper, which they had carefully picked up,
conclusive evidence I was marking out some spots for future purposes.
They abused the Warsingali for being such fools as to let me travel in
their country, and said I should never cross over to them. This little
incident of dropping paper, though fully explained to them, was ever
afterwards brought up in accusation against me, and proved very
perplexing.
30th.--Camp Habal Ishawalé. Altitude 5052 feet.--We were now all
together, and I thought ready to march; but the men had first to be
paid their hire in advance--a monthly stipend of five tobes each. When
that was settled, many other men, and amongst them the sultan's second
brother Hassan, coveting my clothes, wished to be engaged. Some
tedious hours were wasted on this subject. The sultan, at the
instigation of these advocates for service, would have it, if I wished
to travel according to the custom of the country, I must take more men
with me as a guard. I, on the other hand, neither wanted them nor
could afford to pay them, as I had been so extensively plundered--but
wished to exchange Sumunter for his brother, and promised high rewards
if he would take me through the journey. To put an end to the
discussion, I struck my tent, never to be pitched again, and waited
patiently until the camels came. It was not until near sundown that
the camels were ready and the march commenced. The sultan then ordered
Hassan and the naughty boy Abdullah, against my wish, to accompany me
on the journey; and we set off, leaving two or three loads behind to
be brought up on the morrow. The march was a short one, made to
relieve the one beyond; for the spring of water we were now drinking
from was the last on this side the range. It led us up a gradual but
tortuous ascent, very thickly clad with strong bushes, to a kraal or
ring-fence of prickly acacias, which was evidently made to protect the
Somali's sheep from lions, leopards, hyenas, and freebooters suddenly
pouncing on them.
We remained here three days, sending the things I had brought in
relays across the mountain, and fetching up the rear ones. The sultan
could not lose the opportunity afforded by my detention to come again
and beg for presents, and I gave him a razor to shave his head with
and make a clean Mussulman of him. On finding he could get nothing
further from me gratis, he demanded that a cloth should be paid to the
man whom my camel-drivers had robbed of the goat at Adhai, and, before
retiring, wished me urgently to take a letter for him to Aden,
petitioning the English to allow him to form an expedition by sea, and
take retribution on the Musa Abokr at Héis, who had recently killed
one of his subjects.
Chapter III.
Yafir Pass--Rhut Tug--The Ruins at Kin's City--Abban Apprehends Future
Consequences--Hyenas--The Dulbahantas--Camel Drivers' Tricks--Briny
Water--Antelope-shooting--Elephant-hunting--Ostrich-hunting
--Gazelles--Jealousy and Suspicions of the People--Troubles from Forty
Thieves--Rapid Decline of Property.
4th December 1854.--At dawn of day the last of the camels was loaded,
and we set out to clamber up to the top of the mountain-range and
descend on the other side to the first watering-place in the interior
of the country. It was a double march, and a very stiff one for the
camels. Directly in our front lay an easy, flattish ground, with
moderate undulations, densely wooded with such trees as I had already
seen; but beyond it, about three miles from camp, the face of the
mountain-top, towering to a great height, stood frowning over us like
a huge bluff wall, which at first sight it appeared quite impossible
any camel could surmount. At 9 A.M. we reached this steep, and
commenced the stiffest and last ascent up a winding, narrow goat-path,
having sharp turns at the extremity of every zigzag, and with huge
projecting stones, which seemed to bid defiance to the passage of the
camels' bodies. Indeed, it was very marvellous, with their long
spindle-shanks and great splay feet, and the awkward boxes on their
backs striking constantly against every little projection in the hill,
that they did not tumble headlong over the pathway; for many times, at
the corners, they fell upon their chests, with their hind-legs
dangling over the side, and were only pulled into the path again by
the combined exertions of all the men. Like Tibet ponies, when they
felt their bodies slipping helplessly over the precipices--down which,
had they fallen, they would have met instantaneous and certain
death--they invariably seized hold of anything and everything with
their teeth to save their equilibrium. The ascent was at length
completed after an infinity of trouble, and our view from the top of
the mountain repaid me fully for everything of the past. It was a
glorious place! In one glance round I had a complete survey of all the
country I was now destined to travel over, and what I had already gone
over.
The pass was called Yafir, and, by the boiling thermometer, showed an
altitude of 6704 feet. It was almost the highest point on this range.
From a cedar tree I cooked my breakfast under, on facing to the north
I saw at once the vast waters of the Gulf, all smooth and glassy as a
mill-pond, the village of Bunder Gori, and the two buggaloes lying in
its anchorage-ground, like little dots of nut-shells, immediately
below the steep face of the mountain. So deep and perpendicular was
it, that it had almost the effect of looking down a vast precipice.
But how different was the view on turning to the south! Instead of
this enormous grandeur--a deep rugged hill, green and fresh in
verdure, with the sea like a large lake below--it was tame in the
extreme; the land dropped gently to scarcely more than half its depth,
with barely a tree visible on its surface; and at the foot of the
hill, stretched out as far as the eye could reach, was a howling,
blank-looking desert, all hot and arid, and very wretched to look
upon. It was the more disappointing, as the Somali had pictured this
to me as a land of promise, literally flowing with milk and honey,
where, they said, I should see boundless prairies of grass, large
roomy trees, beautiful valleys with deep brooks running down them, and
cattle, wild animals, and bees in abundance. Perhaps this was true to
them, who had seen nothing finer in creation; who thought ponies fine
horses, a few weeds grass, and a puny little brook a fine large
stream. At noon we reloaded, and proceeded to join the camels and men
sent forward on the previous day. The track first led us a mile or two
across the hill-top, where I remarked several heaps of stones piled
up, much after the fashion of those monuments the Tibet Tartars erect
in commemoration of their Lahma saints. These, the Somali said, were
left here by their predecessors, and, they thought, were Christian
tombs. Once over the brow of the hill, we descended the slopes on the
south, which fell gently in terraces, and travelled until dark, when
we reached a deep nullah, here called Mukur, in which we found our
vanguard safely encamped in a strong ring-fence of thorn bushes.
The distance accomplished was seventeen miles; the altitude 3660 feet.
The two following days (5th and 6th) we halted to rest the cattle,
whilst I went shooting and collecting. There were a great number of
gazelles and antelopes, some bustard, many florikan and partridges, as
well as other very interesting birds and reptiles. These were mostly
found in ravines at the foot of the hills, or amongst acacia and
jujube trees, with patches of heather in places. We now held
_durbar_,[16] to consult on the plan of proceeding. It was obviously
impossible to march across the plateau directly upon the southern
Dulbahantas, as there was not a blade of grass to be seen nor any
water on the way beyond the first ten miles from the foot of the
hills. To go to Berbera, then, I must perforce pass through the
territories of the northern Dulbahantas; and this was fixed upon. But
hearing of some "ancient Christian ruins" (left by Sultan Kin) only a
day's march to the south-eastward, I resolved to see them first, and
on the 7th made a move five miles in that direction to a kraal, called
Karrah, where we found a deep pool of stagnant water.
8th.--My kit was now so much diminished that we all marched together
down a broad shallow valley south-eastward, in which meandered a
nullah, called Rhut Tug, the first wadi I came upon in Nogal. The
distance accomplished was eight miles when we put up in the Kraal of
Rhut; for, as I have said before, there were no villages or permanent
habitations in the interior of the Nogal country. All the little
wooding there is, is found in depressions like this, near the base of
hill-ranges, where water is moderately near the surface, and the trees
are sheltered from the winds that blow over the higher grounds of the
general plateau. Rhut is the most favoured spot in the Warsingali
dominions, and had been loudly lauded by my followers; but all I could
find were a few trees larger than the ordinary acacias, a symptom of
grass having grown there in more favoured times when rain had fallen,
a few puddles of water in the bed of the nullah, and one flock of
sheep to keep the place alive. Gazelles were numerous, and many small
birds in gaudy plumage flitted about the trees, amongst which the most
beautiful was the _Lamprotornis superba_, a kind of Maina, called by
the Somali Lhimber-load (the cowbird), because it follows after cows
to feed.
9th.--Halt. Kin's City, or rather the ruins of it, I was told, lay to
the northward of my camp, in the direction of the hills, at a distance
of about two miles; so I proceeded at once to see it, hoping by this
means I should be able to advance westward on the following day. After
an hour's walk I came upon those remains of which I had heard so much
at first on landing in the country, as indicative of the great
advancement in architectural art of Kin's Christian legion over the
present Somali inhabitants; but I was as much disappointed in this
matter as in all others of Somali fabrication. There were five objects
of attraction here:--1. The ruins of a (said to be) Christian church;
2. The site and remains of a village; 3. A hole in the ground,
denoting a lime-kiln; 4. A cemetery; and, 5. The ground-lines of a
fort. This certainly showed a degree of advancement beyond what the
Somali now enjoy, inasmuch as they have no buildings in the interior,
though that does not say much for the ancients. The plan of the church
is an oblong square, 48 by 27 feet, its length lying N.E. and S.W.,
whilst its breadth was directed N.W. and S.E., which latter may be
considered its front and rear. In the centre of the N.W. wall there
was a niche, which evidently, if built by Christians, was intended to
point to Jerusalem; and this might have been conclusive evidence of
its having been a Christian house of worship, and consequently of
great antiquity, did it not unfortunately point likewise in the
direction of Mecca, to which place all Mohammedans turn when saying
their prayers. Again, I entertained some suspicion that the walls,
which were in some parts ten feet high, had not sufficient decay to
warrant their being four and a half or more centuries old. But one
thing was remarkable at this present time--there were no springs or
any water nearer than my camping place, which could not have been the
case when this place was occupied; but it denoted a certain amount of
antiquity, without any doubt. The walls of the church were composed of
limestone rocks, cemented together with a very pure white lime.
The entrance fronted the niche, and was led up to by a street of round
pebbles, protected on each side by semicircular loosely-thrown-up
stone walls. There was nothing left of the village but its foundation
outlines, which at once showed simplicity of construction, as well as
economy of labour in building. It lay about 50 yards to the east of
the church. One straight wall ran down the centre, from which, as
supports, ran out a number of lateral chambers lying at right angles
to it.
To the northward of the church was the cemetery, in which, strange to
say, if the Somali believe their own story, they even at the present
time bury their dead, and erect crosses at the head of the tombs, in
the same manner as we Christians do. The kiln was an artless hole in
the ground, in which there was a large collection of cinders, and
other debris not worth mentioning. Lastly, the fort, or rather remains
of what the Somali said had been one, was situated on an eminence
overlooking the village, and about 70 yards to the S.W. of the church.
Now, having completed my investigations of the ruins, I returned to
camp, where I was met by the Abban, looking as sulky as a bear with a
sore head, and frowning diabolically. He had been brooding over my
late censures, and reflecting on the consequences his bad conduct
would finally have upon him, if he could not obtain a pardon from me.
And should he not be able to elicit it by fair means, he thought at
any rate he would extract it by foul, then and there, without
condition or any clause whatever. This was preposterous. I frankly
told him exactly what I thought of him, saying I could not forget what
had happened; that he had abused the trust reposed in him by the
English, and I was bound in duty to report the whole matter in every
detail to the Government; but should he discontinue his evil ways, and
take me safely to my journey's end, I would promise him a full pardon
as soon as I arrived at Berbera. This would not answer his
purpose--bygones must be bygones without any condition whatever, and
he went to his bed as wrathful as he rose.
10th.--I rose early and ordered the men to load, but not a soul would
stir. The Abban had ordered otherwise, and they all preferred to
stick, like brother villains, to him. And then began a battle-royal;
as obstinately as I insisted, so obstinately did he persist; then, to
show his superior authority, and thinking to touch me on a tender
point, forbade my shooting any more. This was too much for my now
heated blood to stand, so I immediately killed a partridge running on
the ground before his face. Seeing this, he wheeled about, prepared
his pony, and, mounting it, with his arms agitated and ready for
action, said to the people standing by that he would kill me if I
dared shoot again. I was all this while standing prepared to shoot,
without understanding a word of what was said, when the interpreter
rushed towards me pale and trembling, and implored me not to shoot,
but to arrange matters quietly. He would not tell me, however, what
had occasioned the great anxiety his excited manner showed. I of
course was ready at any time to do anything I could to help me on the
journey, and again stated the terms on which I would grant the man a
pardon. At this juncture, Hassan, the sultan's brother, who had been
absent a few days, came and interceded between us. I told him
everything that had happened, how the Abban had even superseded the
sultan's order, by forbidding me to do what I wished in his country,
and again begged him to be my Abban in Sumunter's stead. This he said
he could not do, but gave Sumunter a wigging, and desired me to go and
shoot anywhere I liked. Thus ended this valuable day.
11th.--Last night I shot a female spotted crocuta hyena (here called
Durwa) in the act of robbing. These tiresome brutes prowl about at
night, and pick up anything they can find. Their approach is always
indicated by a whining sound, which had prepared me on this occasion.
She was caught in the act of stealing away some leather thongs. The
specimen was a fine one, but until dissected I could not, from the
hermaphrodital form of these animals, determine which sex it was that
I had killed. We now prepared for the march westward, when Hassan said
he would go back to near the Mijjertaine frontier, where rain had
lately fallen, and all the Warsingalis had migrated with their cattle,
to fetch some ponies, which he would bring to me in a few days, even
before I could arrive at the Dulbahanta frontier, and begged a gun at
parting as Judge's fee for his settlement of the Abban question, and
as an earnest that he would bring the five ponies which I wanted. We
then got under way, and travelled westward, bidding Rhut Tug adieu,
but every one was stiff and formal. Sumunter had not confessed
contrition, and I had not committed myself to saying that I would hush
the matter up, assuring him that in duty as a public officer I could
not, that I was bound to report every circumstance, though privately I
promised a pardon as before. After travelling a little way, we emerged
from the low land of the valley, and ascended a higher track to the
normal level of the plateau, which, as I have said before, was all
bleak and barren, with scarcely a tree growing on it, and very stony.
Here I saw a large troop of ostriches and numberless gazelles stalking
away out of the line of the caravan's march. My men were all highly
anxious I should shoot them, but I would not, to try what effect it
would have on the Abban, saying, sport was of secondary importance to
me, and I now only wished to finish the journey quickly.
By his detentions I had lost so much time, I despaired of reaching
Berbera agreeably with my instructions, and, moreover, he had not
begged my pardon, from which I doubted his intention to serve me
faithfully. This caused a halt. Sumunter and all the men alike said,
"Of what good is your coming here, if you do not enjoy yourself? We
all came on this journey to reap advantages from serving you, and now
if you don't shoot, what may we expect?" I said, Prove to me that I
shall not be thwarted again, and I will shoot or do anything to create
good-will. Then appointing three men as Sumunter's advisers to hold
him in restraint in case any wrong-headedness on his part should get
the mastery of him, I begged they would proceed. This proved
successful for the time. Sumunter wrote me a letter, stating his
intention of abject servitude, and ratified it by presenting his spear
and shield, through the hands of the interpreter, for me to return to
him as an acknowledgment that I would henceforth forgive him; and we
again proceeded on the journey.
After travelling ten miles without seeing a single habitation or human
being of any sort, we arrived at a nullah, in which there were several
pools of bitter spring-water, and some Egyptian geese swimming on
them. This place was called Barham. On the right or northern side of
the line of our march was the hill-range, about ten miles distant, at
the foot of which, in the beds of small ravines, grew some belts of
the jujube-tree and hardy acacias; but to the south the land was all
sterile, and stretched away in a succession of little flat plains,
circumscribed by bosses or hillocks of pure white limestone rock,
which appeared standing unaffected by the weathering which had worn
down the plains that were lying between them. Again these little
enclosed plains sank in gentle gradation to their centres, where
nullahs, like the one I was encamped upon, drained the land and refuse
debris to the south and eastward, possibly to join eventually the Rhut
Tug.
12th.--At 9 A.M. we were again in motion on our westward course,
rising by a gentle incline to about half-way between Rhut Tug and a
second Wadi Nogal farther on, called Yubbé Tug. Here, at the
water-parting between these two large watercourses, was the tomb of
the great founder of these mighty nations, Darud bin Ismail, and an
excavated tumulus. There were also several bitter springs in the
neighbourhood, with stone enclosures and numerous flocks of sheep
tended by Somali. On passing the tomb I scarcely remarked it, so
insignificant did it appear, whilst the Somali paid no homage to it
whatever. But the tumulus excited more attention, and I was requested
to examine it. Six years ago, the interpreter said, a Somali who
wished to bury his wife in it, broke through its exterior, and found a
hollow compartment propped up by beams of timber, at the bottom of
which, buried in the ground, were several earthenware pots, some
leaden coins, a ring of gold such as the Indian Mussulman women wear
in their noses, and various other miscellaneous property.
I was very much struck with the sleekness of the sheep, considering
there appeared nothing for them to live upon; but I was shown amongst
the stony ground here and there a little green pulpy-looking weed, an
ice plant called Buskàlé, succulent, and by repute highly nutritious.
It was on this they fed and throve. These Dumba sheep--the fat-tailed
breed--appear to thrive on much less food, and can abstain longer from
eating, than any others. This is probably occasioned by the
nourishment they derive from the fat of their tails, which acts as a
reservoir, regularly supplying, as it necessarily would do, any sudden
or excessive drainage from any other part of their systems.
After crossing over this high land we began descending to the
westward, and at the completion of the twelfth mile dropped into a
nullah tributary to the Yubbé Tug, made a kraal for protection against
hyenas close to a pool of water, and spent the night. This plain was
called Libbahdilé (the haunt of lions).[17]
13th.--The air was so cold, the men could not bestir themselves until
after sunrise, when, to my great surprise and delight, without one
angry word or attempted impediment from the Abban, we were on the move
at 8 A.M. I now fondly hoped the Abban had really turned over a new
leaf, but was soon undeceived, and also disappointed. He was married
to a Dulbahanta woman, and this wife, for he had two others, with her
family, was residing in that country. I was therefore, unawares to
myself, travelling directly on his home. Hence these three consecutive
marches. Gradually we descended into a broad valley, down the centre
of which meandered the Yubbé Tug, or the second Wadi Nogal of my
acquaintance. This formed a natural boundary-line, separating the
Warsingali from the northern Dulbahanta frontiers. Where we first came
upon the nullah it was deep and broad, with such steep perpendicular
sides that camels could not cross it. We therefore turned suddenly
northward, and followed up its left bank till we turned its head,
which begins abruptly, and marched five miles to the Yubbé Kraals. Had
this valley been blessed with a moderate quantity of rain, there is no
doubt it would have been available for agricultural purposes; and as
it was, there were more trees growing in the hollow here than in any
other place I had seen, and several flocks and herds were congregated
in it. Whilst travelling to-day the interpreter narrated the
circumstances of a fight which the Warsingali had with the Dulbahantas
about ten years ago in this valley, in which it appeared the
Dulbahantas were the aggressing party, having sent a foraging-party
over their frontier to lift some cattle. The Warsingali, seeing this,
mustered their forces and repelled the enemy; but would not follow
them up, preferring rather to tease them into submission than to
engender a bloody contest. This they effected by exposing all their
flocks and herds to the view of the Dulbahantas on the bank of the
impassable nullah, whilst they guarded its head and protected their
flank by stationing a strong party of warriors there. The Dulbahantas,
tantalised at this tempting yet aggravating sight, for they had not
strength enough to cope with the Warsingali in full force, waited
covetously gazing across the nullah for some time, and then retired in
such great disgust, they have never attempted to steal again.
When once ensconced in the new camp, the Abban came to me with an air
of high importance, to announce that we were now on the Dulbahanta
frontier, and that, if I wished to see their land, I must allow him to
precede me, and pave the way, taking the young prince Abdullah with
him to magnify the purport of his mission, as the Dulbahantas were a
terrible and savage nation, governed, not like the Warsingalis, by an
old and revered chief, but by a young sultan whom nobody listened to.
Moreover, the Dulbahantas had sent word to say they had heard of my
marking the Warsingali country out with paper, and would not admit me
on any consideration. Besides which, it was a custom in the country
that strangers should ask permission to enter through the medium of an
abban, and as I had acted on that custom in the Warsingali country, so
also must I do it here.
I was kept at this station eight days, sometimes hearing ominous
announcements of the terrible Dulbahantas, sent to frighten me by the
Abban, and sometimes amusing myself in other and various ways. The
Dulbahantas could not conceive my motive for wishing to travel in
their land; no peddling Arab, even, had ever ventured there, so why
should I desire to go? Fortunately I had a good deal of employment
with my gun; for, besides gazelles, antelopes, a lynx, florikans, and
partridges, I shot many very beautiful little honey-birds, as well as
other small birds. Of these former the most beautiful was the
_Nectarinia Habessinica_. It has an exceedingly gaudy plumage, that
glistens in metallic lustre as the rays of light strike upon its
various-coloured feathers. This is the more remarkable on a warm
sunshiny day, when the tiny bird, like a busy humble-bee, bowing the
slender plant with its weight, inserts his sharp curved bill into the
flower-bells to drink their honey-dew, keeping its wings the whole
time in such rapid motion as to be scarcely distinguishable.
Without animal flesh I do not know what I should have done here. The
water was so nitrous I could not drink it. To quench my thirst, I
threw it in gulps down my throat; and rice, when boiled in it,
resembled salts and senna. After returning from sport one day, the
interpreter brought up one of the camel-drivers, to be punished for
having stolen some deer flesh when sent to clean it. He was a Midgar,
or low-caste fellow, who does not object to indulge in cannibalism
when hard pressed by hunger. I would not decide the case myself, but
handed him over, much against his wish, to the _tender_ mercies of the
interpreter and two other men whom the sultan, at parting, appointed
judges on any sudden occasion. It was everybody's interest to make him
guilty, and therefore he was condemned to find two sheep, to be killed
and eaten in the camp. Another case of theft, much more vexatious than
this, occurred when I first arrived here, and turned off some spare
camel-drivers, who took away all the packing-ropes with them, and I
have been obliged to employ the remaining men ever since in chewing
acacia bark into fibres to make new ones.
I was now becoming so much alarmed at the Abban's delay and tricks,
that I wrote a letter to Lieutenant Playfair, Assistant Political
Resident at Aden, complaining of what he had done, saying I felt very
uncertain of being able to reach Berbera by the time appointed, and
requesting him to send a letter of remonstrance to the sultan. This I
forwarded by a man called Abdie, _viâ_ Bunder Gori. Prudence would
have suggested my returning with the letter, for I had now received
intelligence that the Abban was in his home, and after experience
gained by the tragedies on the coast, I could have expected no good
from him. But as long as life and time lasted, I was resolved to go
ahead.
It was very remarkable to see the great length of time animals in this
country can exist, even under hard work, without drinking water. In an
ordinary way, the Somali water camels only twice a-month, donkeys four
times, sheep every fourth day, and ponies only once in two days, and
even object to doing it oftener, when the water is plentiful, lest the
animals should lose their hardihood. I do not think antelopes could
possibly get at water for several months together, as every drop of
water in the country is guarded by the Somali. We were now in "the
land of honey," and the Somali nomads constantly came to me to borrow
my English pickaxe for digging it out of the ground; for the bees of
this country, instead of settling in the boughs of trees, as they do
in England, work holes in the ground like wasps, or take advantage
more generally of chinks or fissures in the rocks to build their combs
and deposit their wax. It was a great treat to get a little of this
sweet nutriment, to counteract the salts which prevail in all the
spring waters of the interior. When out shooting specimens, I often
saw the Somali chasing down the Salt's antelopes on foot.
I killed many of them myself right and left, when running like hares,
with common shot, much to the astonishment of the Somali, for they are
too small a mark for their bow-and-arrow shooting. The little
creatures cannot stand travelling in the mid-day sun, and usually lie
about under favouring trees which line the watercourses. Knowing this
weakness, the cunning Somali hunter watches him down from feeding to
his favourite haunts, and, after the sun shines strong enough, quietly
disturbs him; then, as he trots away to search for another shady bush,
they follow gently after to prevent his resting. In the course of an
hour or so, the terrified animal, utterly exhausted, rushes from bush
to bush, throwing itself down under each in succession, until at
length it gets captured.
Somali, from their roving habits of life, are as keen and cunning
sportsmen as any in the world. They told me of many dodges they
adopted for killing elephants, ostriches, and gazelles, which they do
as follows:--If an elephant is ever seen upon the plains, a large body
of men assemble on foot, armed with spears, bows, and sharp
double-edged knives, with one man mounted on a white horse, to act as
teaser. This man commences by riding in front of the animal, to
irritate and absorb his entire attention by riding in repeated circles
just in front of him. When the huge beast shows signs of distress by
fruitlessly charging on his nimble adversary, the footmen rush in upon
him from behind, and hamstring him with their knives, and then with
great facility soon despatch him with their arrows and spears.
Ostriches, again, are killed in two ways; the more simple one is by
finding out what places they usually resort to in search of food, and
then throwing down some tempting herb of strong poisonous properties,
which they eagerly eat and die from. The other method adopted in
catching them is not so easy, but is managed with great effect. The
ostrich is, as is generally known, a remarkably shy bird, and is so
blind at night it cannot feed. Again, the Somali pony, though
wonderfully hardy and enduring, is not swift; therefore, to
accommodate existing power to knowledge of these various weaknesses,
the Somali provides himself with a pony, and provisions for two or
three days, and begins his hunt by showing himself at such a
considerable distance from the birds he has formed his design upon,
that they quietly stalk off, and he, at the same rate, follows after,
but never draws near enough to scare them out of sight of him. At
night, the birds stop in consequence of the darkness, but cannot feed.
He, on the other hand, dismounts to rest and feed with his pony, and
resumes the chase the following day. After the second or third day,
when he and the pony are as fresh as ever, the ostriches, from
constant fasting, become so weak, he is able to ride in amongst them,
and knock down one by one as many as may be in the flock. The flesh is
eaten, and the feathers are taken to the sea-coast for transportation
to the Aden market. I once saw a donkey-load of feathers carried to
market that had been taken in this way.
There are two methods, also, of killing gazelles; the more usual one
is effected by two men walking into a bushy ground to search for them,
and when discovered, walking in such large circles around them as will
not scare them; gradually they draw their circles in, until a favoured
bush, down wind, is found, which the herd is most likely, when once
moved, to pass by, and behind this one of the men stops, with his bow
and arrows, whilst the second one, without ever stopping to create
alarm, continues drawing in the circles of circumvention until he
induces the gazelles to walk up to the bush his friend is concealed
in, when one or more may be easily shot. The other plan for killing
them is extremely artful, and is done on horseback, and therefore on
the open plain. Fleet animals, like antelopes and gazelles, always
endeavour to head across their pursuers, no matter in which direction
they go. The Somali, therefore, taking advantage of this habit, when
they wish to catch them on ponies, which are not half so swift as the
gazelles in fair open chase, economise their strength by directing
their animals' heads towards the leading gazelle, and thus inducing
the herd, as they continue heading on, to describe double the
circumference of ground their ponies have to traverse. In process of
time, the gazelles, by their extra exertions, begin to flag and drop,
and the hunters rush in upon them, and cut them up in detail.
20th.--To-day the young prince, Abdullah, returned to say the
Dulbahantas had been conferred with, and had shown the strongest
objections to my seeing their country, enumerating at the same time
all their reasonings, such as I had already heard; but added, as a
great concession on their part, as a particular favour they wished to
show to my Abban, that I might be permitted to advance a little way to
the next valley; but then only on condition that I would surrender to
them the whole of my remaining property.
I now heard more particulars of the Dulbahantas' fights, and the
manner in which they first originated. For full thirteen years they
had been disputing amongst themselves, and many cabals had sprung out
of it. Whilst these intrigues were gaining ground, a minor chief,
named Ali Haram, with a powerful support in connections, about five
years ago determined on alienating himself from the yoke of the
government, which was headed by an old Gerad, called Mahamed Ali, the
rightful and hereditary chief. Since then the original kingdom has
been divided into two portions, called the Northern and Southern
Dulbahantas; but although the northerners declare themselves
independent, the chief of the south still fights for his lawful
rights, and at this present time had driven the northerners, with all
their cattle and stock, to Jid Ali Tug, the next valley beyond this,
which I was now desirous of visiting. Ali Haram was an old man, and
consequently incapacitated from taking an active part in these
tumultuous filibusterings; he had therefore, since his first accession
to power, deputed a son called Mahamed Ali Gerad to act as Regent in
his stead, and this was the man of whom the Warsingali spoke to me at
Bunder Gori so disparagingly.
21st.--I was now preparing to start again westward, when an order came
from the Abban to my men, that no property should accompany me,
excepting what little I felt disposed to part with in presents to the
Dulbahantas; as an Akil, by name Husayn Hadji, the senior man present
at Jid Ali, had decided, as a final measure, on seizing everything I
brought with me immediately I set foot in Jid Ali. Though I had had
experience enough of the Abban's tricks to see that this was merely a
farce, though a very useless and inconvenient one, I permitted the
arrangement rather than make a row and retard my progress, and set out
with the young prince, Hamed, Farhan, and two camels and drivers,
leaving Imam and the other nine camels, with their drivers, behind, to
follow as soon as I should send back.
At the western extremity of the valley we came upon a small mound of
earth, all white and glistening, covered with nitre in an efflorescent
form, which shone so conspicuously in the sun, it could be seen at
many miles' distance; from the base of it a clear spring of water
trickled, so disagreeable in taste that no one, save Somali, could
possibly drink it. Now, emerging from the low land, we again left the
trees behind us, and rose by a well-beaten foot-track to the primary
level of the country, where stone and bare ground prevailed. Each of
these elevations and depressions was a mere reflection of the other,
only varying more or less according to their size; and as my line was
directed due west, I always had the mountain-range at even distance on
the north, whilst every feature on the south remained the same. It was
monotonous in the extreme. At the fifth mile we came upon some springs
of bitter water, sunk in deep cavities in the earth, from which we
filled our water-skins, and travelled on till night; when, dark
overtaking us, we slipped into a hollow in the ground, called Ali,
cooked a little rice with the water we had brought, and slept it out
till morning. Distance, thirteen miles.
22d.--As soon as the morning was well aired with the sun, and the
black men had recovered from the torpor which the cold seemed to
produce on them as it does on lizards and snakes, I struck out for Jid
Ali, hoping to surprise the Abban, and thereby counteract, if
possible, his various machinations. But this was not to be done. At
the thirteenth mile, as we were descending in full view of Jid Ali, at
a place called Birhamir, I was met by the Akil Husayn Hadji himself,
who, instead of showing any disposition to hinder my approach, was
very affable and kind in manner. He politely begged me to remain where
I was and rest the day, and on the morrow he would take me to the Tug
(river) below. He had never felt indisposed towards me; but one Galed
Ali, an Akil superior to himself, was averse to my proceeding further.
Unfortunately for the Somali, their lies are very transparent, and
they were too fond of uttering falsehoods ever to be trusted. I
neither believed in the existence of Galed Ali, nor in his own kind
intentions towards me, and therefore begged him to prove it by
allowing me to pass. This began a long discussion. The wars were
raging. The Dulbahantas would not let me see their country, as they
could not see why an Englishman should wish to travel where even
beggars were afraid to go; and then followed a hundred other excuses,
all of which I rejected as freely as he advanced them.
Then at length, Somali fashion, the true meaning of his unwelcome
visit transpired. He then said--"Well, if you have no fear of
anything, and will join us in our fight, to represent your nation's
disposition in our favour, I will give you as many horses as you may
wish to have, and a free passage to Berbera, as soon as it is
concluded." This was certainly a tempting offer, as I told him; but I
said, Although, as far as I was individually concerned, there was
nothing which would please me better, still, being a servant of the
Government, I could not represent anything they had not sanctioned;
and, moreover, I was bound to be at Berbera by a certain date, which I
could not if I went southwards with them. They argued, There would be
no delay in finishing the battles, if I merely showed myself as a
representative of the English, for the enemy would retire before a
shot was fired, concluding that the opinion of the world was against
them. They all declared the war had lasted so long, and had been so
harassing, they wished ardently to put an end to it. I told them, in
my opinion, it was all their own fault; that they ought never to have
commenced the war, for the chief they now recognised was a mere
usurper--a traitor, in fact, who ought to be punished.
The Abban's mother, Mrs Awado, of whom I knew nothing until now, and
who was living at Birhamir, in a hut close by, then hastened towards
us, joined our party, and interrupted the conversation by clapping her
hands and beating her knees, exclaiming, in wild dismay and terrifying
words, "Oh! why have you come to this land, where there are no laws,
or any respect for life? You don't know what these people are you've
come amongst! Come with me now to my place; rest the night, and
refresh yourself: tomorrow morning your Abban will come and conduct
you safely on your way." This was a climax to the day's journey; the
men smelt grub in an instant, and hurried off with the old lady to
some empty stone enclosures (sheepfolds), and at once unburdened and
"lay-to" for the night. As before, I had many conferences about the
THE WADI NOGAL, which Lieutenant Burton had desired me to investigate,
but could obtain no satisfactory information. They said there were
many wadis in Nogal, but the largest one was in the Mijjertaine
country, where its waters were deep and large, with extensive forest
around it, frequented by numerous herds of elephants. Those in advance
of my line of march, on the road to Berbera, were all mere nullahs,
like Yubbé Tug, or Jid Ali Tug, and were not used for agricultural
purposes. However, in the southern Dulbahanta country, south by west
of this, at a distance of five or six marches, there was a nullah,
with many springs in it, which united in certain places, and became a
running stream. This I now, from subsequent inquiries and inspection
of Lieut. Cruttenden's map,[18] suspect is the watercourse set down in
my instructions as the Wadi Nogal. This watercourse, I was assured,
bounded the Nogal or white stony country on the west, and divided it
from the Haud or red stoneless country, which is occupied in most part
by the southern Dulbahantas, who have "the finest grazing-grounds in
the world, and possess incalculable numbers of camels and horses
(meaning ponies), and cows, sheep, and goats; whilst the game which
roamed about there covered the ground like flocks of sheep." Of these
the largest were giraffes, rhinoceroses, and lions, elephants being
confined to the Mijjertaine country, the Koolies hills to the south of
Berbera, and the Webbé Shebéli, or Haines River.[19]
23d.--Early in the morning, accompanied by Husayn Ali, who opposed me
no longer, we commenced our descent to the valley of Jid Ali, an
expansive flat several miles in breadth, fuller and better wooded in
the north than any place I had yet seen, but tapering away to the
south and eastwards, until it became lost to sight in the barren
plateau. After marching a mile or so, we found the Abban hastening to
meet us, in high dudgeon with my men for having advanced contrary to
his mandates, before he had time to arrive and smooth the way; for now
the great impressive spell, his influence, which I was to understand
could alone save me from the terrors of the unruly Dulbahantas, was
proved to me of secondary importance, and he, consequently,
insignificant. This occasioned a little delay; but at last, the Abban
becoming reconciled to this defeat of his projected plans, we were
permitted to resume the march, and, soon arriving in the bed of the
valley, encamped near the watercourse of Jid Ali Tug, on the meridian
of Mai. The water in the nullah extended upwards of half a mile, when
it became absorbed in the thirsty soil. It consisted of a chain of
pools, connected by little runners, the produce of some bitter
springs, and made the country green in consequence. Attracted by my
dates and rice--for I had brought no other property save my
specimen-boxes and ammunition--many of the Dulbahantas forgot their
occupations in war, and flocked around my camp all day and night,
bothering my servants incessantly whilst cooking, and begging presents
from me every moment. I remained here three days, trying to negotiate
with the head men for permission to advance, but obtained no practical
result. They insisted, for even coming thus far, that I should give
them as many cloths and material as I had given to the Warsingali, for
they would take no less. When told all my worldly goods did not admit
of such a payment, they quietly said, I had come there against their
will; they did not believe me; and if I did not open my boxes to their
inspection, they would smash them up and help themselves. This was an
everyday occurrence, which became only insignificant, as it was
repeated without being carried into execution. Most of the time the
Abban was away, stopping at his home, and no business could be done. I
therefore took short excursions about the valley shooting, and
inspecting the various habitations.
Animals were more abundant, in consequence of the greater extent of
water; and I shot gazelles, little saltiana antelopes, hares, Egyptian
geese, rock-pigeons, ducks and teal, and snipe and partridge, besides
a choice collection of small birds. In one place I found a small stone
hut, occupied by an old man who had once been on a pilgrimage to
Mecca, and had seen the art of cultivating ground. He was now turning
his experience to account by growing jowari (a species of millet), and
effected it with some success; for he had two small enclosures, which
he irrigated by cuts from the nullah, that produced grain, which grew
from eight to nine feet high. He was loud in praise of the advantages
which he derived from his farm, saying it saved his flocks, and
assisted him in the means of food when his ewes were pregnant, or
giving lamb. I patronised this farmer, and offered to lend him some
tools for digging with, when he said he did not want that so much as
some hints about sowing, and wished I would send a man to instruct
him. Farhan, who was with me, delighted at the prospect of showing his
skill in any manner--for he styled himself professor of all things--at
once took the hint, and bargained to do a day's work, and furnish him
with some wrinkles for his future guidance, for the payment of a goat,
which was readily agreed to.
The people here were highly superstitious, and, like all ignorant
races, very punctilious in their ceremonies of worship. As _true_
Mussulmans, they were constant in their time of prayer, and abused my
interpreter for never saying his. When I made him cut the deer's
throats a little lower down the throat than their canons permit, to
save the specimen, they spat on the ground to show their contempt, and
abused him heartily. If I threw date-stones in the fire (the seed of
paradisiacal food), they looked upon it as a sacrilege. They were also
very suspicious. If I walked up and down the same place to stretch my
legs, they formed councils of war on my motives, considering I must
have some secret designs upon their country, or I would not do it, as
no man in his senses could be guilty of working his legs
unnecessarily.
Considering all the northerners were said to have been driven up here
by the war, I was much surprised to see so few habitations or flocks
in the valley; all there were consisted in a few kraals scattered over
the plain, which were constantly moved as soon as each plot of ground
in turn was eaten up by the cattle. In changing ground, these nomads
pack up everything on their camels, mat and stick, hut and all, and
placing the wife, with perhaps a baby also, on a donkey, march to any
unoccupied watering-place they can find. Their food is very limited,
except in the rainy season, when milk prevails: in consequence of
this, it being now the dry season, my servants accounted for their
increasing appetite for my dates. Some of the poorer men are said to
pass their whole lives without tasting any flesh or grain, but to live
entirely on sour milk, wild honey, or gums, as they may chance to come
across them, and they are almost naked; but notwithstanding this,
disease is scarcely known, and excepting in a few cases of endemic
ophthalmia, which appears to attack the country periodically, at
intervals of two or three years, I never heard of any. The climate was
very delightful at this season, and the nights so cold I had to wrap
myself well up in flannels. But perhaps that which best illustrates
the healthiness of the country and pleasantness of its atmosphere, is
the fact that I, although I had no bedstead, but always slept on the
ground, never pitched my tent a single day in the interior, and
neither wore a hat or shoe throughout the journey, save on one or two
occasions, when, severely stabbed with thorns, I put on a sandal. I
never knew a moment's illness.
25th.--This evening, Husayn Hadji, who I now found out was
brother-in-law to Sumunter, approached me as I came in from shooting,
and said, "We are surprised to see you return alive; did you not meet
some armed men when you were shooting?" I replied, "No, not one."
"Then," said he, "there are many men come here, who from the first
have forbid your coming into this country; they are under no control,
but, in open defiance of the Gerad, do and act just as they like:
indeed, every head man is a Gerad here, and those who are strongest
carry the day." This was the prelude to another farce; presently the
men came of whom Husayn Hadji spoke, and, surrounding my camp,
boisterously demanded to know what I was doing in their country
against their orders. A violent altercation then ensued. They must
have all my property given up at once, or they would take it by force;
and remained trying to bully me into compliance, until I said I would
sooner die than give them anything. Seeing me determined, they then
walked off, saying I had not one night left to live, for they would
return and kill me after dark. The place was now getting too hot to be
pleasant, for the fact was, we were so near the watering-place, that
my camp offered a convenient and tempting lounge for all the idle
blackguards of the country to assemble at.
26th.--I sent orders back for the rear traps to come on as quick as
possible, and at the suggestion of my servants, who were just as tired
as myself of these incessant provocations, changed camp to a place
three miles farther up the valley, much more remote from water, but
nearer to the Abban's home, by which I hoped I should be able to get
at him easier; for the aggravating wretch, whenever I sent messages to
recall him, invariably returned plausible excuses, showing the
necessity of his having stopped away, and as repeatedly said he would
not fail in coming immediately; but at the same time, as the sequence
showed, never intending to do so.
It would be useless, as well as painful, to narrate in detail all the
daily and hourly incidents which occurred in the next few days whilst
I was detained here by the artful and dishonest machinations of this
vile-conditioned man, from whom I could never get one true word, and
whose absence, although I was striving to induce his coming to me,
really seemed a relief. A wicked feeling was almost coming over me,
which made me shudder again when I reflected more calmly on what my
mind was now dilating. He seemed to me only as an animal in satanical
disguise; to have shot him would have given me great relief, for I
fairly despaired of ever producing any good effect upon his mind.
Again I tried the old scheme of forcing him to leave me, and even
begged an Akil of the Dulbahantas, offering him large rewards, to be
my guide to Berbera. This, as might be imagined, provoked a severe
row. The man I was endeavouring to seduce to favour me was one of the
gang of forty thieves, and as birds of a feather all Dulbahantas
flocked together to assist the victim of my displeasure; for Sumunter
was, by his intermarriage with these northerners, naturalised amongst
them. However, I had my wicked will, by relating, in presence of all
his now rapidly congregating friends (a row always brings a crowd),
the whole of his misdemeanours since he first came with me to this
country, and threatened him with the lasting displeasure of our
Government, and ruin to his trade at Aden, if he still persisted in
his tricks. This brought matters home much closer than anybody liked
to hear, and set all parties cogitating on what course had best be
followed. I now retired to cool myself by shooting, and on returning
again was met by the Abban, interpreter, and many Dulbahanta Akils,
who, now trying the conciliating dodge, came to report the good news
that a victory had been gained by the northerners, and the southerners
were in full retreat to their provinces, by which the road to Berbera
would be open to my proceeding onwards. Moreover, the rear traps had
arrived at Abi, by which accident everything seemed to harmonise. This
sounded very cheering for the moment, but I soon was damped again.
I wanted to move at once, and lose no time in taking full benefit of
the opportunity thus offered; but this, like every other proposal that
I made, was immediately checked by a cruel device, as unforeseen as it
was objectionable. Hassan had not come with the ponies he went after
from Rhut Tug; I must therefore, before advancing, send back to the
farther frontier of the Warsingali to purchase, by bills on Aden, five
ponies at thirty dollars a-head, to be afterwards given away in
presents to chiefs on the road for allowing me to pass through their
territories, and this, at a minimum calculation, would occupy a
fortnight's time, and even then I should have to go single-handed,
without a servant, instrument, or article of any bulk with me. Of
course this, as the Abban knew, I never would consent to. On no
account would I suffer my being separated from my men and property
when the time for my return to Berbera was so close at hand; and,
moreover, without the instruments the journey would be of no avail.
Row succeeded row when I pushed matters closely; the Abban sometimes
affected repentance, but more often became defiant, and forbade
anybody's assisting me without his entire consent. Such, in fact, were
the effects of these angry ebullitions of temper on the minds of my
people, that the young Prince Abdullah, fearing to be witness to them
any more, took his leave and departed home.
31st.--At length the rear traps arrived, but one camel, having been
taken ill on the march this morning whilst coming from Abi, was
slaughtered to "_save_" his flesh, and devoured by my hungry men. As
soon as everything had arrived, and the men were made aware of my
intention to push forward, they requested their discharge, affecting
fear to enter on a strange land, but in reality seeing I had no cloths
left to pay them, as afterwards transpired. This deficiency I visited
on the Abban, who, in trying to excuse himself for inefficiency in his
protectorship, meekly said he had been grieved to see the very rapid
decline of my property, but he could not help it, as I had so many
thieves in my employment!!! Mrs Awado now came over from Birhamir,
bringing a sheep and some ghee as a present for me; but I refused
taking anything from the relative of the Abban, and this appeared to
grieve her much. She said she had heard of all my disputes with
Sumunter, her son, and had remonstrated with him about them; he was a
proud man, and easily led away by vanity. She could see his being at
variance with me would not end to his advantage on his return to Aden,
and tried coaxing him to journey with me; but at the same time told me
he would have to be well upon his guard, as in former years he had
married clandestinely with a damsel of the Rheer Hamaturwa, a
sub-tribe of the Habr Gerhajis, who occupy the hill-range overlooking
Bunder Héis; and her loss to those people would be avenged at once, if
he ever came within their power. The Rheer Hamaturwa had heard of my
intention to journey westwards, and would be in readiness to descend
upon and intercept our march, kill Sumunter, and destroy the whole of
us; indeed, they had sent messages to that effect.
Chapter IV.
Meditations among the Tombs--A Fracas--The Return March--The
North-east Monsoon--Relief from Persecution--Interesting Animals--Gori
Again--Shooting a Woman--Arrival at Aden--Fresh Projects--Arrangements.
3d January 1855.--During these three days I visited a ruined musjid
and a cemetery, which, though much resembling the one at Rhut in every
respect, was said to be of more recent origin, and built by
Mohammedans. On my walking amongst the tombs, and inspecting the
crosses[20] at their heads, the interpreter rebuked me for
sacrilegious motives, and desired me to come away, lest the
Dulbahantas should find it out, and be angry with me. Besides this, I
daily tried to draw Sumunter, like a badger, from his hut, which was
four miles distant from my tent, but without effect. He and his wife,
two dwarf sisters (little bits of things, who, the interpreter said,
were too small to be of any use), and some children, all lived
together in a small beehive hut, so low that they had to crawl in on
all-fours, and so small that it was marvellous how they could turn
round in it. At length to-day he arrived in a sullen angry mood, and
said, haughtily, he was displeased at my trying to force him into
compliance, as if I had the power to make him move unless he chose. It
was impossible to keep one's temper under such constant provocation;
so I abused him vehemently, and warned him off the camp, again
repeating he had abused his commission, as well as the Government
authorities who engaged him,--and entreated he would "get away," and
let me take my chance of proceeding how I could, for his presence
simply made my position one of purgatory. He laughed in scorn, wishing
to know if I thought I could do anything without him,--and said he had
only to turn his back an instant, and the Dulbahantas were ready to
devour me. I still persisted; and then he said, "If you say go once
more, I take you at your word; and see you to the consequences."
My resolution was fixed; for I plainly saw I could not by any
possibility be worse off. He now tried frightening me by assembling
the Dulbahantas to confirm his words, making them say they only
permitted my residence there out of the love they bore to their
brother Sumunter, and that they certainly would kill me if he once
left the place. They did not fear guns. The English could not reach
them; besides, their fathers had driven Christians from these lands;
and if an army was to attack them, they would assemble so many
cavalry, and ride in such rapidity around them, that their gunners
could not take aim in consequence of the clouds of dust which this
feat would occasion. In addition to this, they thought the English
only efficacious behind walls; else, why did they not take revenge
upon the Arabs at Lahej, two years ago, for the murder of an officer?
They had often heard of the English threatening and preparing to do
it, but somehow they never carried their intention into execution. I
treated these vain bombastic words with the contempt which they
deserved,--but said, I only wanted Sumunter to take me on, or
otherwise to leave me to my fate. They then tried weakening my party
by bribing Farhan to side with them and leave; but the noble-hearted
Seedi disclosed their treachery, and gallantly said he would share
misfortunes with me, and fight, if necessary, to the last extremity.
Imam, tame-hearted Indian, got in a dreadful fright, and implored I
would compromise the matter; for by this time all the camels had been
driven away; and the Warsingali moved off with Sumunter, saying I
brought the rupture by my obstinacy on my own head, and that as soon
as they were out of sight, the Dulbahantas would walk in and kill us
all in a heap. I then loaded all the guns, and, giving one to each of
the servants, sat on the boxes waiting to see the up-shot. I was
clearly outmanoeuvred--unable to move or get anything--but still was,
to use their own expression, "obstinate." After proceeding a certain
distance, the retiring band, with Sumunter at their head, sitting
fully equipped with spear and shield on his war-steed, came to a halt,
and invited the interpreter to meet them, presuming, they said, there
might be some mistake, and therefore they wished to open negotiations
afresh. Sumunter then gave me back my own words, saying, "If the Sahib
would only say he wished me to take him to Berbera, I will give some
small presents to the Akils of the Dulbahantas as a passport for him,
and proceed at once;" for they were only endeavouring to feel my
disposition towards them, and did not intend desertion, if I was not
irredeemably incensed against them. They then came back, and work
began afresh, by the distribution of presents, which, as is usual when
no man can bear to see the smallest trifle slip from his grasp to be
given to another, was a matter of no small difficulty in adjusting. If
the Dulbahantas did not succeed in skinning me of all my effects, they
naturally thought the next tribe would; and a whole day was consumed
in wrangling and disputing how much they should get. This ended by my
giving one musket, thirteen tobes, and my reserve silk turban; and now
I was at liberty to quit Jid Ali.
11th.--At 10 A.M. we were loaded, and commenced the journey westward;
whilst the Abban said he would bid his friends adieu at home, and
bring five horses with him to Biyn Hablé, where he would meet us on
the following day. The track led us across a flat alluvial plain,
still in the valley, which was well covered with a thick growth of
acacias, and dry short grass, nipped short by cattle. After walking
five miles, we arrived at our destination, not far from a well, and
made a ring-fence of prickly boughs.
Here for the last time I boiled the thermometer, to ascertain the
altitude of the plateau along my line of march, and found its average
height was 3913 feet: the minimum, at Rhut Tug, being 3077 feet--and
the maximum, at Yubbé Tug, 4498 feet.
The following day two Dulbahantas paid us a visit, and demanded to
know by whose authority we had come upon their grounds; we were
trespassers, and must pay our footing. The ground was theirs, and they
recognised no authority over them. What I had given at the last place
was no concern of theirs, but I must give them also a quantity of
cloth equivalent to it. This being refused as a preposterous
imposition, they turned hastily away, and, tossing their heads, said,
I might soon expect to see them again in larger numbers, when they
would help themselves. Moreover, for my satisfaction, they could
assure me that a number of men, who had learned which road I was bent
on travelling, were fast gathering on ahead, to oppose my advance. In
the evening the Abban arrived, bringing only two ponies with him.
17th.--It would be needless to recount all the varied incidents of the
next five days which were wasted here, by the thousand and one stories
which the Abban produced to fritter away my time near his home, and
swindle me out of my property. The time had now arrived when by
appointment I should have been at Berbera; and as I was not then aware
at what time the fair usually broke up, I felt much afraid of being
too late to join my companions. Sometimes Sumunter raised my hopes by
saying he would certainly proceed on a certain date; and when that day
arrived, the journey was deferred again, but not without severe rows,
so exactly like the past ones as to be unworthy of description. One
day we were ready, and I was to pass through any people that might
fall in the way by giving large credits on Aden under his security,
when the tide was turned again in another moment by the arrival of
some accomplices, who dropped in like unexpected evils, to say the
southern Dulbahantas had gained a great victory, slaughtering men and
cattle, and the road to Berbera would be thronged with people, so that
advance would be impossible for the present. This was a settler to my
westward march; and now I thought of escaping from this land of
robbers by turning northwards, and marching over the hills to Bunder
Héis, where I could either ship off, or march along the coast to
Berbera.
Negotiations were then set on foot with the Rheer Hamaturwa, and
several of their Akils came at my bidding, but were as implacable
about obliging a stranger as any of their neighbours. The whole
distance was not three days' travel; still they said I should not see
their country, and acknowledged themselves a lawless band, who would
take everything from me if I ventured there: adding, if the Warsingali
and Dulbahantas, who were stronger than themselves, would only
withdraw from me one day, they would come down at once, and demolish
my whole camp. They then demanded cloths for the trouble I had given
them, but, not receiving any, retired in huge disgust.
18th.--In final despair I faced about, and marched north-easterly, by
a new route, to reach Bunder Gori again, to ship for Aden, as there
only could I be certain of finding a vessel to convey me over the
Gulf. After six miles' march across the head of the valley, we arrived
at Mirhiddo Kraal, on elevated ground, and found a large party
assembled there. Some of them were the Rheer Hamaturwa, with whom I
tried again for permission to cross their hills, but this time by the
gap at the head of the valley in front of Bunder Jedid. This they were
ready to permit, and give security of passage to my people, if I gave
them all my remaining cloths; but they thought I should not find a
vessel there, which settled the question. I had no time to lose, and,
moreover, should save my cloths by continuing on the line I was
travelling. For though I should have to cross the hills where they
were occupied by the Habr Gerhajis, in the new way my track would pass
so near to the Warsingali frontier, that that tribe would not have
strength enough to demand anything from me, and passport fees are only
given in such places to the extent to which they can be enforced.
The other people I met here were some Dulbahantas arming for the
fight. They said they were 4000 strong in cavalry, and were
slaughtering sheep wholesale for provision on the road. Each man
carried a junk of flesh, a skin of water, and a little hay, and was
then ready for a long campaign, for they were not soft like the
English (their general boast), who must have their daily food; they
were hardy enough to work without eating ten days in succession, if
the emergency required it. Here a second camel was on the point of
dying, when his flesh was saved from becoming carrion by a knife being
passed across his throat.
21st.--The Abban slipped away on the 19th, when I was out
specimen-hunting, and would not come again till to-day, and then even
returned to give his wife a last salute, permitting me to advance to a
watercourse called Hanfallal, whilst he would join me on the following
day. This day we accomplished ten miles, and made a kraal about four
miles north of our old line of march.
22d.--As the Abban did not keep his promise, and none of us knew the
road, I now tried to prevail on his mother Awado, who was tending her
flocks close by, to be my guide, which she readily consented to do, as
she was anxious herself to go to Bunder Gori. The water found here was
in a circular cleft of limestone, sixty feet below the surface, which
was so small, only one person at a time could descend to it; and the
supply was so limited, I was obliged to keep my men down there all
night, to be the first for drawing in the morning. Gazelles were very
abundant, and in the evening we were visited by a very singular-looking
canine animal, which unfortunately I could not get a shot at. It was a
little less in size than the Crocuta hyena, but inclined rather more,
in its general shape, to a wolf than a hyena. The body was a pure
black, like the black Tibet wolf, but the tail was tipped with white.
I am not aware that this animal has ever been described.
23d.--At the usual starting-hour the Abban arrived, with two ponies
belonging to his brother-in-law, Husayn Ali, but which he tried to
pass off as his own, being ever very anxious to make me believe he was
a large stock proprietor, to magnify his importance. But,
unfortunately for him, the interpreter, who was as treacherous a man
as any of the breed, although he often confounded me by his innate
deceit, also peached at times upon his brother Sumunter. The Abban, on
seeing his mother equipped and ready on her donkey to go with me,
scolded her heartily for presuming to undertake the journey without
his leave, and sent her home faster than she came. We now commenced
the march, and travelled five miles diagonally across some low spurs
of hills, and encamped in the evening in a broad, deep, dry nullah, at
a place called Dalmallé. We brought water with us, and fortunate it
was so, for none could be found anywhere near the camp.
24th.--We started early in the morning, ascending the hill-range by a
steep winding footpath up one of its ridges, which, in respect to its
barrenness and soil, resembled the descent I had from Yafir. After
completing eleven miles' march, the caravan crested the hill opposite
Ras[21] Galwéni, travelled a short way on the flat of the summit, and
encamped in the evening amongst some thick jungle on its north or
seaward side, at a kraal called Gobamiré.
Immediately on arriving, as we commenced to unload the camels, a
number of men who were occupying that district--the Urus Sagé section
of the Habr Gerhajis tribe--seized the camels by their heads, and
demanded their customary fees, at the same time boisterously
gesticulating that they would help themselves if their request was not
complied with. Farhan enjoyed the row in the boisterous characteristic
manner of a Seedi--began dancing frantically the negro war-dance,
cocking his gun, and pointing it at everybody by turns; whilst
Sumunter and the other Warsingali began thumping them with their
clubs, and swearing a fearful vengeance would be wrought upon them by
their tribe, who were living within an hour or two's call, should they
not desist. The fact was, my men knew their power here, and, guided
only by animal passions, enjoyed showing it. The poor discomfited Urus
Sagé now slunk off like defeated dogs, or schoolboys returning from a
fight, just wishing to know if they were only to be considered in the
light of women, who could not maintain their own right, and, snarling
and snapping, threatened they would return again in stronger force
before the morning.
We then unloaded, and lay-to for the night. Immediately on reaching
the top of this range, a most interesting and novel sight was
presented to our view. We stepped in one instant from constant
sunshine into constant clouds, and saw what accounted for the dense
verdure of the north, as well as the extreme barrenness of the south
side of the hills. For two months we had not seen the vestige of a
cloud, or felt a drop of rain, and now we were at once launched into
the middle of the "Dairti" or north-east monsoon, which had been
pouring for some time previously against the north face of the
mountain, and was arrested there by it. It reminded me at once of that
marked phenomenon with which all travellers in the Himalaya Mountains,
who spend their "hot-weather" season at Chini, on the banks of the
Sutlege river, to escape rain, must be acquainted, when the clouds of
the great Indian monsoon envelop all the mountain-range for months
together on the weather or south-west side, and hang suspended on the
top of a high hill in sight of that place, but never pass over,
looking as if the mountain was too high to be surmounted by them, when
trying to reach the dry plateaux of Tibet. The clouds were rolling in
thick successive volumes at our feet, and obscured the view below us.
25th.--We were detained until noon in consequence of the Abban's
ponies, which had gone astray, and until then could not be found. In
the meanwhile the Urus Sagé came again, and tried to prevent us
loading, on the same plea as yesterday, but without effect; but when
we were starting, a compromise was effected on condition they would
escort us down the hill and guide the way. The road was steep and very
slippery, so that the camels could hardly get along, and this was
further increased by the thick strong green jungle-bushes, as well as
rocks and other difficulties incidental to mountain travelling with
such large and ungainly animals as laden camels. At the fourth mile we
found a large roomy cave under a rock, and put up for the night. Sheep
had been kept here, and the place was so full of fleas that the ground
was literally browned with them. I never saw such an astonishing
quantity congregated in one place; but we soon disposed of them by
burning certain boughs, which the Somali justly said was a specific
remedy against them.
26th and 27th.--During these two days we descended by a tortuous
winding footpath under no mean difficulties, and finally arrived,
after twelve miles' marching, at a place called Hundurgal, situated in
the hollow of a watercourse which divides the Warsingali from the Habr
Gerhajis frontiers, and transmits its waters to the Gulf at Ras
Galwéni. During the journey the Somali pointed out some of their
richest gum-trees, of which the finest in order is a species of
frankincense, called by them Falafala, or Luban Maiti. The gum of this
tree is especially valued by the Somali women for fumigating purposes,
which they apply to their bodies by sitting over it, when ignited, in
the same manner as Cashmeres sit over their little charcoal-pots to
keep themselves warm when resting on their travels. They enshroud
themselves in a large wrapper, place a pot with the burning gum
between their legs, and allow the perfume to rise to every portion of
their body simultaneously. We gave our guides five cloths for escort,
and sent them away.
I was informed by my men that under lee of Ras Galwéni there is a
better harbour than any on the whole coast-line, having deep water
close in to the shore, but, being neutral ground, the Warsingali will
not allow anybody to occupy it. They do not allow the Habr Gerhajis to
do so, as they would monopolise the trade; and they will not take it
themselves, as their sultan sagely remarks it would draw all their
force to one side of their possessions, and thus leave the other
exposed to attack from the Mijjertaines. Now the Dulbahantas are
obliged to come to Bunder Gori if they want to traffic with outer
nations, but were the Habr Gerhajis at Galwéni, this custom would be
drawn from them.
28th.--The inexpressible delight I felt at snuffing the fresh sea-air,
and being comparatively free from the tyranny of my persecutor
Sumunter, was truly indescribable; and I felt so impatient to end this
useless journey, and join my friends for the larger and more promising
one, I could hardly restrain my spirits. I stepped out before the
caravan was ready, and began the journey alone, when presently a rapid
fire, the discharge of a six-barrel revolver, attracted my attention.
This was done by the Abban, who said that whilst travelling there his
life was in jeopardy from the Habr Gerhajis, in consequence of an old
feud he had contracted with them, on account of which they had
forbidden this road to him. He thought to frighten them by the report
of firearms, but it seemed to have the opposite effect, for many men
at once gathered around the caravan, and for the time prevented its
onward course. As usual, they wanted me not only to pay for travelling
in their country, but to liquidate their claim on the Abban, as I had
brought him there, and only out of consideration for the respect they
felt towards me, they permitted his passage in safety.
They might as well have tried to skin a flint as obtain anything from
me, and I told them so, for Sumunter had fleeced me of all my effects.
This parley concluded, we travelled on without any further
molestation, and, crossing over the foot of some low spurs, arrived at
noon in a broad watercourse on the maritime plain to eat some
breakfast.
Here I shot and stuffed a very interesting rat, with a bushy tail,
very much resembling the little gilléri squirrel of the Indian plains,
but plumper in face and body, like a recently born rabbit. I had seen
many of them in rocks about the hill's side, but until now had not
secured a good specimen.[22] Again at this place I saw those large
black canine animals with white-tipped tail, but could not get a shot:
there were three hunting together, like jungle dogs in India. After
refreshing ourselves we resumed the march, and travelled along the
sandy shore eastward to a halting-place called Farjeh, completing a
march of twelve miles.
29th.--This day we completed our journey by marching into Gori, when I
again took occupation of the old fort. An answer from the Government
at Aden to my appeal against the sultan and Abban had now arrived, and
affected Sumunter severely. He was ready to sink into the earth, and
said to me, "Oh, why did you not whip me when I was in fault? I could
have borne that well, but writing to the English at Aden is more than
I can bear. What will be the consequences now if I return to Aden?" I
said I could not answer for it, as it was now beyond my control, and
if he went over there he must take his chance; but I strongly advised
his not going at all. "Indeed," I said, "I wish you would depart from
me at once. From the first, I told you I was obliged, by order, to
write accurate accounts of everything as it happened, and the English,
as you have often said yourself, are remarkable for not telling lies."
The sultan, into whose hands the letter first went, would not show
himself, but remained in the distant jungles, although I sent
repeatedly for him to converse concerning Sumunter.
The buggalow in which I came from Aden was now anchored in Bunder
Gori. It had made a voyage somewhere in the meanwhile, but the captain
had been afraid to go to Aden in consequence of the salt question, in
which Sumunter had made him confederate, fearing lest I might have
since written to the authorities there about it. However, I now wanted
to hire it again, and made sundry overtures to the captain, who at
first showed a disposition to treat, hoping thereby I should forgive
him; but he was finally hindered from doing so by the insidious
machinations of Sumunter, who doubtless was afraid by this means of
collecting at Aden more witnesses against himself. Sumunter now saw
his position clearly, and must have felt equally with myself it was a
great pity the letter of reproof from the Brigadier of Aden[23] did
not arrive sooner, and keep him on a course of rectitude, for he was
obliged to return to Aden and take his chance, as there he had not
only a wife and family, but it was the headquarters of all his
mercantile transactions. During this time, whilst I was in the old
fort, an odd accident occurred to an Akil's wife. She was playing with
my interpreter, who, for a frolic, snatched up one of my six-barrelled
revolver pistols and gave her chase. Suddenly she darted into the room
I was sitting in, bounced on a bench and poked her tail in my man's
face. He, not knowing the pistol was loaded, pulled at the trigger,
and discharged the contents of two barrels at once into her fleshy
projection. In an instant their fun came to an end, and great
consternation ensued. She thought she must die from it, and bolted off
home to give up the ghost. Her husband now came and clamoured for
revenge--her value was so-and-so, and my man must pay it. The
interpreter, hearing this, came crying to me, and wished to know if I
thought she would die; for should she do so, he, by the laws of the
land, would have to pay her price. I said I could not tell without
seeing her wounds, but, under any circumstances, the bullets ought to
be extracted. This appeared to them still more alarming than ever.
They did not wish me to inspect the wounds, and the woman herself was
very bashful. However, the Sahib was the only surgeon present, and
votes gave me the practice. It was certainly very amusing to witness
the struggle between virtue and necessity, and the operation was so
far satisfactory that I succeeded in extracting one of the balls. The
other ball, however, was so deeply imbedded I could not find a probe
that would reach it. Fortunately it was not fired in a dangerous
direction, and the ball being small, I thought it would not occasion
her any serious inconvenience. In short, I set their minds easy on
that score, though it did not keep their tongues quiet from
importunate begging. I was now dreadfully impatient to get away, but
day by day I had to suffer disappointment. I was assured by Sumunter
he was doing everything in his power to facilitate it, and as often
told by the interpreter, when he had gone away, that he was doing
nothing of the sort, but, on the contrary, had sent to the interior to
get three ponies, which would make five with what he had, the
complement required by Lieutenant Burton, to make a present to him on
arrival, as a bribe to overlook his faults. I besought he would desist
from this hopeless speculation, as time was now more precious than any
other matter. Still he persisted, and in a fortnight's time the
animals arrived, and then, without further trouble, we chartered a
vessel for thirty-five dollars, twelve times the fare I paid for
coming over, with the whole vessel to myself; and embarked with eight
camels and five ponies on the 15th February 1855. After five days'
sailing we anchored in Aden harbour, and no sooner did the "let go the
anchor" sound, than, Somali fashion, overjoyed at my release from
three and a half months' persecution, I took a header into the sea,
and hastily swam ashore to hurry off and meet old friends.
After the first greetings were over, and I had delivered for report
all my sketch-notes[24] of the journey, as well as maps and
collections, which latter were sent to the public museum in Calcutta,
a discussion took place as to the disposal of the Abban, who, I now
found out, was not singular in the way of treating his clients, for
Herne had been writing over complaints constantly about his man. I was
averse to punishing him, from the simple fact of having brought him
over; but my commandant thought otherwise, and that he had better be
punished, if for no other reason than to set a good moral example to
the others.[25]
Against my inclination I was appointed to be Sumunter's prosecutor,
and with my servants as witnesses, a verdict of guilty was speedily
effected against him in the Aden Police Court. He was then sentenced
to two months' imprisonment, and to pay the sum of 200 rupees, or,
failing to do that within the given time, he would be further
subjected to imprisonment, with hard labour, for six months more, and
was to be banished with his family for ever after the present
punishment should cease.
I now advised Lieutenant Burton, after my late defeat in travelling,
that it would be highly essential to the success of the great
expedition that we should be escorted by some Somali picked from the
Aden police force, as by this means alone should we have men on whom
we could depend. He also was aware of this fact, from having been
successfully taken himself into Harar by one of that corps; but,
unfortunately for us, there were none to spare.
Though the Somali are rare blackguards in most respects, there are
some traits in their character which have always won me to them. They
love freedom and liberty, and enjoy a jolly row, added to which they
are always in good spirits. In my humble opinion, they would make
first-rate guerilla soldiers for Aden, if armed and trained to shoot
with good rifles, and not restrained to wearing any particular
clothes, or confined to steady-marching drills. They have a national
antipathy to the Arabs, their elder brothers, and would glory in
having scrimmages with them.
This was the climax of my first proceedings with Africa.
Stroyan and Herne were now both employed at Berbera or in its
vicinity. The former had been making slight excursions inland,
shooting, and had killed three elephants; whilst the latter was
purchasing baggage-cattle for the expedition transport. After enjoying
a short repose in civilised life, I again felt restless, and proposed
a move to proceed thither in order to assist Herne in completing the
desired complement of animals. This at once met the views of our
commandant, who, doubting whether Berbera could supply a sufficient
number of beasts of burden of itself, asked me to cross over the Gulf
and see what I could do at Kurrum, to keep in communication with
Herne, and as soon as I had got enough, to march with them along the
sea-shore to Berbera.
Nothing could have suited me better. I saw before me, by this measure,
active employment until the breaking-up of the Berbera fair.
A kind friend (Lieutenant Dansey of the Bombay army, late Assistant
Political Agent of Aden, who knew the characters of all the Somali
well) offered to procure me a man as guide and interpreter who had
formerly performed, during the time of his appointment, some political
service in the Somali country, with great credit both to his mission
and himself. In consequence of this he was nicknamed El Balyuz, or the
Ambassador.
Balyuz was a clever Hindostani scholar, and, as I ultimately found,
possessed such honesty of purpose and straightforwardness of
character, as rendered him a perfect _rara avis_ amongst all Somali.
He was of the Mijjertaine tribe. Travelling in his company, after my
experiences with Sumunter and Ahmed, was verily a luxury. I parted
with him at the termination of the expedition with pure feelings of
affection.
Lieutenant Burton now conceived the idea of suppressing the system of
Abbanship, thinking that, as the Somali had access to Aden without any
impost, Englishmen ought to enjoy a corresponding freedom to travel in
Somali Land. This perhaps was scarcely the right time to dictate a
policy which would be distasteful as well as injurious (in a monetary
sense) to the people among whom we were about to travel, and with whom
it was highly essential to our interest to be on the most friendly
terms.[26]
I now applied to the Government for some Somali policemen, but
unfortunately there were then too few hands present to carry on the
duties of the office, and I could not have them. I therefore engaged,
by the orders of Lieutenant Burton, a dozen men of various races
(Egyptians, Nubians, Arabs, and Seedis), to form an escort, and armed
them with my sabres and muskets. They were all raw recruits, and
unaccustomed to warfare. Still we could get no others. With a little
practice they learned to shoot at a mark with tolerable accuracy.
Seven of these men, together with the eight camels I brought across
from Bunder Gori, were despatched direct to Berbera, whilst the
remaining five, and some ponies I purchased in Aden, remained with me.
I then took a bag of dollars for purchasing camels; some dates and
rice for the consumption of the party; and with the Balyuz and the old
servants, Imam the butler and Farhan the gamekeeper, all was ready for
my second adventure on the 20th March 1855.
Chapter V.
Aden--Departure--Kurrum--A Conclave of Sages--Arangement of the
Expedition--The South-west Monsoon--Medical Practice--The Camp
Besieged--Wounded and Captive--A Triumphal Procession--Flight--Return
to Aden and to England--Projects.
21st March 1855.--Having engaged a buggalow and stowed away all the
traps, I embarked in the evening, weighed anchor, and set sail. Even
before we could sail out of the harbour, the first row commenced. The
Nakhoda (captain), as is often the case in these primitive countries,
kept no regular sailors, but trusted to finding men desirous of going
to their country, who would work his vessel for him--all Somali being
by nature sailors.
The men he had now on board were of the Habr Gerhajis and Habr Teljala
tribes, who occupy the coast-line near Kurrum, and had waited the
opportunity of obtaining a passage over there in company with me. They
were all dreadfully uproarious, and would not by any persuasion on my
part keep quiet. On inquiring from the Balyuz the cause of their
violent discussions, he informed me they were drawing lots to see who
should be my Abban, and those of the seven foreign servants I had with
me. The bare idea of eight Abbans was too ridiculous, and their
persistency made it beyond a joke. I instantly ordered the sails to be
hauled down, and had my instructions from Lieutenant Burton about
Abbans proclaimed to the whole crew: that the Balyuz was my Ras
Cafila, and the other foreigners my protectors. The Somali were
evidently determined not to be done. If I had been allowed to have but
one Abban with me, this could not have occurred. As it was, I said if
they determined on wrangling any more, I should 'bout ship and settle
the difference with them in a less ceremonious manner in the harbour.
This effectually stopped their tongues, and we again proceeded on the
journey. After two entire days' sailing across the Gulf with variable
and gentle breezes, we arrived at our destination, Kurrum, in safety,
on the third evening, the 24th March, and at once sent some Government
letters to the Akils, ordering their attendance, and to proclaim
publicly the nature of my business, in order that camels might be
brought for sale. I found all the people extremely obliging; they
tried to make my residence as comfortable as they could; showed me
great deference because I was an Englishman, and brought their camels
readily, though, of course, as might be expected, they were canny in
their mode of dealing, trying to dispose of their worst animals first,
and asking prices much above the market tariff. For poor animals they
asked from four to five and a half dollars, which, though not a third
of the price I paid in the Warsingali country, was full price for the
finest animals at Berbera. Berbera during the fair time is undoubtedly
the cheapest place to purchase camels in of all the coast-line, and
the farther you leave it the more expensive animals become, increasing
in price at the same ratio as the extent of distance. Whilst halting
here I heard of the existence of the Victoria N'yanza. The Somali
described its dimensions as equal in extent to the Gulf of Aden, and
further alluded to its being navigated by white men. None of the men
present had been there to see it, though it was currently known as a
positive fact amongst them. I did not believe the story in the light
they expressed it, supposing they confounded an inland sea with the
Western or Atlantic Ocean. Colonel Rigby, H.B.M. Consul at Zanzibar,
tells me he also heard of this lake when he was travelling in this
country some years previously. It is strange this story was never
published earlier. The white navigators alluded to are evidently the
expeditionists who were sent by Mehemet Ali, Viceroy of Egypt, up the
White Nile as far as Gondokoro, about twelve or fourteen years ago,
and the Nile and lake have been confounded as one water in the
transmission of the intelligence, though both were seen.
The minds of the Kurrum people seemed greatly discomposed about
various rumours which they heard. One was that the English intended to
suppress the slave-trade, and they wished me to tell them if such was
not a fact--saying it would be unjust for us to do so, as slaving was
an acknowledged right given them in the Koran, and handed down by
their Russool Mahamed.
The other bugbear which alarmed them was a report that the English
intended either to take possession of Berbera, or that they would give
it to Shermarky--a native chief and ally of ours who lives at Zeylah.
In short, these numerous fears arose from Herne's long residence at
Berbera. It looked suspicious seeing him take notes there of
everything, and they naturally put the worst interpretation on all his
actions. What could be the use of his watching the trade, if our
Government did not want to take the country?--of watching the
slave-trade, if it did not mean stopping it? And then the suppression
of Abbanships was the crowning of all.
The village of Kurrum consisted of a single fort and a large
collection of mat huts, all grouped together, situated close to the
shore. The maritime plain consisted of sandy-brown soil, very
uninteresting, with scarcely any vegetation growing on it, and was
here only about half a mile broad. The hills in the background were
very insignificant, not half so high as any I had seen, and were dull
and brown, like those one sees when travelling down the Red Sea. The
people say that in their recesses and ravines acacias and other
gum-trees grow as they do elsewhere. Gum only exudes in the dry hot
season; and the confined air in the ravines is described as being so
hot that people can hardly stay there, and many of the gum-pickers who
do, become deaf in consequence of it.
The water which the villagers used was so brackish as to be hardly
drinkable. I lived here five days, enjoying sour camel's milk,
gossiping with the natives, and roaming about the place. The
difference between the life I was now living, attributable principally
to the sagacity and good-heartedness of the Balyuz, was a charming
contrast to my wretched existence when with the Warsingali. I bought
twenty-five camels, at an average rate of five and a half dollars
a-head, and then stopped purchasing, as I heard by letter from Herne
he had then got nearly sufficient for our requirements--that camels
were very plentiful at Berbera, and he was buying them at a cheaper
rate than I could.
On the 29th March, at 4 P.M., I broke ground with all my camels and
ponies, and commenced the march on Berbera. At sundown, after
travelling three miles along the sea-shore, we encamped in a
water-course called Goldéra. The water we found here, in a little well
in its bed, was deliciously sweet--so pleasant after the brackish
Kurrum wells. No one who had not been deprived for a long time of the
pure element, can conceive the greed with which a man first plunges
his head into clear sweet water. It is the natural fluid for man, and
for no other beverage does abstinence produce so keen an appetite.
The following morning, a little after daybreak, the caravan was ready,
and we soon got under way. Travelling with tedious slowness,
aggravated by the dreary monotony of the road and the sandy plain,
constantly crossing dry, shallow watercourses, lined on both sides by
fringes of stunted acacias or other salsolacious plants, we at last
arrived at a hot spring of sweet water, called Golamiro, and rested
here for several hours during the great heat of the mid-day sun. When
the day became cooler we resumed the march, and travelled until after
dark to a grazing-ground one mile short of Ain Tarad, and there spent
the night. The farther we travelled westwards, the broader became the
maritime plain, and the richer its clothing of shrubs and grass.
Besides the ordinary acacias, which were finer and more numerous,
there were many patches of the bastard cypress and tall rank grasses
growing on sandy hillocks, in the same way as they do in India. The
Somali exultingly pointed this out as a paradise, replete with every
necessary for life's enjoyment, and begged to know if the English had
any country pastures like it, where camels and sheep can roam about
the whole year round without exhausting it.
31st.--To-day we made a short march, passing through Ain Tarad, and
encamping on a grazing-ground one mile to its westward. The village,
as usual, was close to the shore, for the convenience of shipping. It
is not half the size of Kurrum, but boasts of a fort of recent
construction, with six rusty pieces of cannon lying on the sand in
front of it. An Akil, named Abdie, being chief of the place, is the
lordly proprietor of these instruments of defence.
On first entering the place he advanced to receive me, and politely
said, "Had you not dropped so suddenly in upon me this morning, it was
my intention to have welcomed you with a royal salute, for the honour
you have done, as the representative of the English, in paying me this
visit." This speech, though showing what his feelings were towards me,
was obviously a matter of simple palaver; for, in the first place, the
guns could not have possibly been fired without occasioning their
total destruction; and it was doubtful if he possessed any powder.
Whilst sitting in his village, and drinking a bowl of sour curd--the
first thing always offered to a visitor--I observed a group of old men
sitting, in hot discussion on some knotty point, under the lee of the
fort, and desired the Balyuz to ascertain the purport of the arguments
under debate, as by their gesticulations I could plainly see it had
some connection with my coming here.
After joining them and listening some time, he returned to say they
were discussing the possibility of our expedition ever reaching the
Webbé (River) Shebéli; to go as far as Ugahden, they thought, was out
of the question. Hearing this, I went up to them, and asked what
reasons they had for thinking so. They replied openly that the Somali
would stop us before we got half-way. The Balyuz then interposed,
saying, "But the British are strong, and can do anything, they like."
Hearing this, they laughingly replied, "If the Somali came down to
fight, and then ran away back into the fastnesses of their hills, what
would the English do then, who cannot live a day without drinking beer
and eating meat? whereas the Somali can do very well without anything,
seldom requiring even water, and not more than one morsel of meat, for
a whole week together." I concluded the argument by saying, "Without
any exertion on our parts, we could cripple you at once; we have the
seaboard in our hands, and at any moment could stop your trade, so
that neither grain nor clothing would ever be supplied you; besides,
if we wished, we could take quiet occupation of your hills and
watering-places, and then what would become of you?" The sages mildly
shook their heads, and said the English were indeed Shaitans (devils),
and that they had never looked at their position in that light before.
I then repaired to the camp, and found the cattle, as usual, gone out
to graze, under charge of their drivers and two soldiers. In the
evening, when the animals were brought home to be picketed, one pony
and one camel were found wanting.
I sent men immediately to track the missing ones down, when it was
discovered by footprints that some savages had singled them out from
the herd, had driven them gently into a deep ravine, and when there
out of sight had hurried them off to the hills lying beyond the plain.
This open plunder on the coast, where British authority seemed to
prevail, was monstrous. I summoned Abdie, as chief of the place, told
him the whole story, and demanded that he should produce the missing
animals immediately, as it was impossible for him not to be cognisant
of the transaction. He said he did not then know who had stolen them,
but I might rest satisfied he would find out by the morning, and they
should be returned intact. He assured me he was lord of all he
surveyed, and his power was infinite within the limits of his clan.
The same night he brought back the pony, and said he would produce the
camel in the morning. I believed he had played this trick himself to
show the effect of his power, and so did the Balyuz; but he said he
had been obliged to pay ten dollars to the thief before he would give
it up. I now demanded he would produce the thief for trial, suspecting
that thief to be himself, but he said he could not. This reply made
the Balyuz knowingly cock his eye. The next day, as the camel did not
come by noon, I wrote a letter to Aden reporting the circumstance, and
begging some retribution would be taken from the Akil, as it was
obvious to any man who knows these savages, that Abdie could not have
been ignorant of one single feature in the whole of these
transactions. Though the loss was small, I did not think it of little
importance, as it remained a precedent, if overlooked, for the
committal of greater deeds; and the place, being a port, was open to
the exaction by blockade of any fines--which, without doubt, is the
true way to make Somali feel.
During that day and the succeeding one we travelled along the coast to
Siyareh, a small dilapidated fort,[27] standing alone without any
other habitation, as if only intended for a traveller's lodge. Near it
was an old well, said to be of antique construction, sunk by the
former occupants of the land. As we increased our distance westwards,
the maritime plain also enlarged, and was bounded to the southwards by
small irregularly-disposed hills, all brown and dreary-looking as
before. To judge from the quantity of vegetation, it would appear that
water is nearer the surface here than elsewhere, though there was none
of any importance to be seen. These few marches, slight as they were,
served to prove the stamina of the soldiers, and showed the Seedis to
have twice the heart and bottom of the Egyptians, who succumbed at
once to the influences of the sun and fatigue of marching.
3d April.--The caravan broke ground at 2 A.M., and, after travelling
over much the same ground as yesterday, nearly the whole day long
without passing a single habitation, arrived in the evening at
Berbera. Here I was warmly met by my companions, Herne and Stroyan,
and began again a social life of great enjoyment. Berbera was in the
plenitude of its prosperity. Its market was full of life and bustle,
and the harbour was full of native Oriental craft. Our camp was
pitched on a little rise in the land, facing the east and overlooking
the fair. Our tents, three in number, were formed in line--Stroyan's
on the right, Herne's in the centre, and mine on the left flank
nearest the sea, and each about a dozen yards apart. Herne had
procured his fair share of animals, and we mustered from forty to
fifty camels and six or seven ponies and mules, including those I
brought. These at night-time were all tethered in front of our tents,
and guarded by a sentry. During the day they were always sent out to
graze under an escort of soldiers, with Somali archers to look after
them. The boxes, pack-saddles, and grain were placed between the
central tent and mine, whilst the dates and more precious cloths I
kept underneath my tent. Including ourselves, servants, guards, and
camel-tenders, we mustered in all about forty souls; amongst these
were the two Abbans of Herne and Stroyan, who, now matters had gone so
far, could not prudently be dispensed with; but my man, the Balyuz,
was considered chief, or Ras Cafila.
During the four days succeeding my arrival I inspected the fair and
shipping. The marketplace was supposed to contain upwards of 60,000
people,[28] Banyans from Cutch and Aden, Arab merchants and Somali,
who had been gradually flocking in from about the 15th November; and
as they arrived they erected mat huts as booths for carrying on their
bartering trade. According to Herne's investigations, the Somali took
coarse cloths, such as American and English sheeting, black and
indigo-dyed stuffs, and cotton nets (worn by married women generally
to encase their hair), small bars of iron and steel, as well as zinc
and lead, beads of various sorts, and dates and rice. In exchange for
these, they exported slaves, cattle, gums of all sorts, ghee, ivory,
ostrich-feathers, and rhinoceros-horns.
7th.--At sunrise this morning a very interesting scene took place in
the arrival of the great annual Harar caravan,--a large body, composed
of an aggregate of numerous small caravans, which all march together
that their combined strength may give mutual support. Down the whole
breadth of the plain, like a busy stream of ants, they came in single
file, one camel's nose tied to his leader's tail. Immediately on their
flanks were Somali, armed with spear and bow, the men who tended them
and looked after the loading. Outside them again were occasional
detachments of men riding ponies, all armed, and guarding the caravan
from sudden surprise or attack. In this caravan alone there were about
three thousand people, as many head of cattle, and 500 or more slaves,
all driven chained together for sale in the market. A little later the
same morning a second excitement enlivened our little camp in the
approach of a man-of-war, which came sailing up the coast in full
sail, looking like a giant swan in contrast to the little ducks of
native shipping. It was the Hon. East India Company's schooner Mahi,
commanded by Lieutenant King, conveying our Captain, Lieutenant
Burton, and the complement of the expedition. Arrived in the harbour,
we saluted them with our small-arms, and went on board to pay respects
and exchange congratulations. King then gave us a hospitable
entertainment, and we all repaired on shore.
The same evening a thundering salute from the Mahi was fired, to
assure the Somali we were travelling under the auspices of the British
Government, and King departed with his vessel.
Lieutenant Burton now took occupation of the centre tent with Herne,
and the party was complete.
We were then severally appointed to our respective duties, Lieutenant
Burton commanding; Stroyan chief surveyor; Herne, photographer,
geologist, and assistant-surveyor; whilst I was to be a
Jack-of-all-trades, assisting everybody, looking after the interests
of the men, portioning out their rations, setting the guards, and
collecting specimens of natural history in all its branches. The
central tent was fixed as a place of rendezvous for all to flock to in
case of any sudden alarm. Here I appended my guns and sword, whilst my
revolver-pistol and dirk were placed within my belt by day, or under
my pillow by night. I made the whole guard sleep with their arms in
rear of the camp, where it was most likely any attack might be
expected. As so many men were necessarily brought on duty by watching
the cattle grazing in the day-time, I only posted two sentries by
night to watch the camp--one with the guard in the rear, the other
over the cattle in front; whilst we Englishmen and the Balyuz
occasionally patrolled the camp to see that the sentries were on the
alert.
9th.--On this day the Gugi, or south-west Somali monsoon, in
opposition to the Dairti, or north-east monsoon, commenced in the
hills behind our camp, and warned us that we should soon have to start
southwards. The fair had already begun to break. Caravan after caravan
streamed out of the town, wending their way across the plain like
strings of ants emerging from a hole, and, like the busy habits of
those little insects, kept the whole maritime plain alive in motion.
At this time we were daily expecting a vessel from Aden, which would
bring us some letters and instruments that were on their way out from
England, and saw the great Ugahden caravan preparing to leave, but
were undecided what to do--whether to go with them without our things
from England, or wait and rely upon our strength in travelling alone.
The latter alternative was unfortunately decided upon, and we saw our
wonted protector depart upon its journey.
15th.--Saw the shore and harbour, alike both destitute of any living
thing, save a few diseased and dying cattle, and one poor forlorn
girl, in whom the smallpox had begun to show its symptoms, and who was
now mercilessly left by her parents, with only two or three days'
provisions, to die like a dog on the inhospitable plain. Having
suffered from that disease myself, and not fearing contagion, I went
to her and administered some medicine, which she took without any
hesitation; and I hoped to cure her, for she was really, barring the
blackness, a very pretty creature, but the disease was beyond my skill
to relieve. I then took her to a room in the tomb of an Arab sheikh,
gave her some rice-water, and bade her keep out of the sun, but it was
no use. She took fright at the idea of living with the dead, and
wandered into the desert no one knows whither, and was seen no more.
So completely was Berbera cleared out now, that even the matting and
sticks which formed the booths, with two or three exceptions, were
packed on the camels and carried away. We were now alone, and nobody
came near us; our two Abbans had begged and obtained permission to go
with their families to their homes in the hills close by, in company
with the retiring caravans, leaving their sons for the time being, as
substitutes, until we marched past their abodes.
In this isolated position we felt no alarm for our safety, as long at
least as we remained upon the sea-shore, deeming the Somali would
never be so imprudent as to attack us in such a vital place to them as
Berbera, where their whole interests of life were centred, and where,
by the simple process of blockading, we could so easily take
retribution in any way we liked.
So confident were we in this assumption, that we did not take the
precaution of standing sentry ourselves at night, thinking it more
prudent to nurse our strength whilst here, to be better able to hold
out when it would become necessary after our leaving the sea-shore.
Though Somali are cunning as foxes, they are not wise.
On the 18th April, by a providential coincidence, a small Arab vessel
came into the deserted harbour to see if anything still remained of
the fair. In her there were several men and four women, Somali,
desirous of going to their homes. Finding we were the only people
left, and not daring to travel in that country alone, they petitioned
us to take them with us. It was hard to refuse these poor creatures;
but fearing our supply of dates and rice would not hold out with so
many additional mouths to eat it, we reluctantly refused the men. The
four women, however, on their engaging to do the minor offices of the
camp, to bring water, and lead the camels, were permitted to remain
with us. That evening we invited the captain and his crew to dine in
the camp; and it was fortunate that we did so, as the sequel will
show. Shortly after sundown, as we were all sitting in our usual way,
on an extempore divan in front of the tents, drinking coffee, telling
stories, and enjoying the cool sea evening breezes, a challenge was
heard by the sentinel placed on the rear right of the camp, followed
by a sudden and rapid discharge of musketry, which took us by
surprise. I had previously given strict orders that no ammunition was
to be wasted in firing to frighten, or giving false alarms; therefore,
hearing this, I instantly ran to the spot to see what was the matter,
and found three men walking quietly into camp, leading ponies by their
reins, whilst the guard, to intimidate them, were firing bullets in
the air immediately over their heads. My anger knew no bounds. All
hopes of security seemed annihilated by such direct disobedience to
all order, and persistence in such a false principle as trying to
frighten, which all black men, by a sort of natural instinct,
invariably endeavour to do. I then assembled the men, and in presence
of the intruders again proclaimed through the Balyuz my intention to
punish with severity any person who might create a false alarm or fire
a bullet vacantly in the air; directing that, in case of any
opposition to a challenge, they should fire into, and not over, their
object.
I then sent the Balyuz and the three newly-arrived men round to the
front of the camp, where Lieutenant Burton and the other two officers
were sitting, to be interrogated as to the purpose of their visit. We
all at first naturally suspected them of being spies sent to inspect
our dispositions and resources; but after a long palaver with
Lieutenant Burton, he concluded that their coming there was
accidental, and not designed. True to their nature as Easterns, who
from constant practice can forge lies with far greater facility to
themselves than they can speak simple truths, bringing in with the
readiest aptitude the application of immediate circumstances to
harmonise appropriately in the development of their tale, these men at
once made use of the circumstance of the arrival of the vessel that
evening, saying they merely came down to ascertain if the ship was not
full of building material, as it was currently reported amongst their
clan, the Habr Owel, that their old enemy, Shermarkey, the chief of
Zeylah, was lying with other vessels in the port of Siyareh, waiting
an opportunity to land at Berbera and take occupation of the place by
building forts, as he had done on previous occasions. This story
seemed the more probable from the fact that everybody knew Shermarkey
wished to have the place, and that he would at any time have taken it,
had it lain within his power to do so.
The more to impose on our credulity, they further asked, with an air
of indignation, "How could you suspect us of any treacherous
intentions towards you, when you know us to be men of the same tribe
as your Abbans?" The palaver over, these wolves in sheep's clothing
were allowed to sup on dates with our men, and depart at their
pleasure.
At the usual hour we all turned in to sleep, and silence reigned
throughout the camp. A little after midnight, probably at one or two
A.M., there suddenly arose a furious noise, as though the world were
coming to end: there was a terrible rush and hurry, then came sticks
and stones, flying as thick as hail, followed by a rapid discharge of
firearms, and my tent shook as if it would come down. I bounced out of
bed, with pistol and dirk in hand, and ran across to the central tent
to know what was the matter, and if we were to have any shooting.
Lieutenant Burton, who was occupied in trying to load his revolver,
replied there was:[29] "Be sharp, and arm to defend the camp." This I
immediately did, stepping out in front of his tent; but though I saw
many dusky forms before me, it was too dark to discern whether they
were friend or foe.
Whilst standing, in hesitation how to act, stones kept whizzing over
and around me, and I received a blow with one in the inside of my
knee, which nearly knocked my leg from under me; it came from the
left, where I had not been looking. I then ran under lee of the fly of
the tent to take a better survey, and, by stooping low, could perceive
the heads of some men peeping like monkeys over the boxes. Lieutenant
Burton now said, "Don't step back, or they will think we are
retiring." Chagrined by this rebuke at my management in fighting, and
imagining by the remark I was expected to defend the camp, I stepped
boldly to the front, and fired at close quarters into the first man
before me. He was stooping to get a sight of my figure in relief
against the sky; he fell back at the discharge, and I saw no more of
him. Proceeding on, I saw some more men also stooping; I fired into
the foremost, and he likewise fell back, but I do not know that I hit
him. I then fired into a third man at close quarters, who also
receded, possibly uninjured, though I cannot say. I was now close to
the brink of the rising-ground, entirely surrounded by men, when I
placed the muzzle of the Dean & Adams against the breast of the
largest man before me, and pulled the trigger, but pulled in vain; the
cylinder would not rotate; I imagine a cap had got jammed by the
trigger-guard. In a fit of desperation, I was raising the revolver to
hit the man in the face with it, when I suddenly found my legs
powerless to support me, and I was falling, grasping for support, and
gasping for breath, I did not then know why, though afterwards I
discovered it was caused by the shock of a heavy blow on the lungs.
In another instant I was on the ground with a dozen Somali on the top
of me. The man I had endeavoured to shoot wrenched the pistol out of
my hand, and the way the scoundrel handled me sent a creeping shudder
all over me. I felt as if my hair stood on end; and, not knowing who
my opponents were, I feared that they belonged to a tribe called Eesa,
who are notorious, not only for their ferocity in fighting, but for
the unmanly mutilations they delight in. Indescribable was my relief
when I found that my most dreadful fears were without foundation. The
men were in reality feeling whether, after an Arab fashion, I was
carrying a dagger between my legs, to rip up a foe after his victim
was supposed to be powerless. Finding me naked, all but a few rags,
they tied my hands behind my back, and began speaking to me in Arabic.
Not knowing a word of that language, I spoke in broken Somali, and
heard them say they had not killed any of the English, and would not
kill me.
The man I had last endeavoured to kill was evidently the captain of
the gang; he now made me rise, and, holding the other end of the rope
to which my hands were attached, led me round to the rear of the camp,
taking great precaution not to bring me in contact with many men at
once, fearing lest they might take the law into their own hands, and
despatch me against his will and authority. Arrived on the interior or
rear side of the camp, men kept flocking round me, and showed a hasty
anxiety to stab their spears into me; all, doubtless, were anxious for
the honour of drawing the white man's blood, but none, in my captor's
presence, dared do it.
I was now becoming very weak and faint, and almost unable to breathe;
for the fact was, when I was knocked down, it was done with such
violence by a shillelah on the lung breast, my whole frame was stunned
by it, so that I could not feel; but now a swelling had set in, which,
with the tightness of the skin drawn over the chest, by my hands being
tied behind, nearly prevented respiration. I begged my captor to untie
my hands and fasten them in front. He obligingly did so. I then asked
for a little water and something to lie down upon; they were both
supplied. Feeling myself somewhat revived, I began a rambling
conversation with my captor, who sat by my side still holding the
string, when several other men came and joined in the talk. They began
a mocking tirade in their own language, of which I understood but
little and could answer less; when an Aden donkey-boy (judging from
his appearance) came with a jeering, sarcastic sneer, and asked me, in
Hindustani, what business I had in their country, and where I had
intended going, adding, were I a good Mohammedan like themselves, they
would not touch me, but being a Christian I should be killed. This
ridiculous farce excited my risible faculties, and provoked a laugh,
when I replied, Our intentions were simply travelling; we wished to
see the country of Ugahden, and pass on to Zanzibar. I was a
Christian, and invited them, if it must be so, to despatch their work
at once. On the donkey-boy's communicating this to the bystanders,
they all broke into a rude boisterous laugh, spun upon their heels,
and went off to open out the property. Nothing as yet had been taken
away. Several wounded men were now brought and placed in a line before
me; they groaned, and rolled, and stretched their limbs, as though
they were in agonies of pain, and incessantly called for water, which
was readily supplied them. In the rear I heard the sound of murmuring
voices, the breaking of boxes, and ripping of bales of cloth, as
though a band of robbers were stealthily dividing their
unlawfully-gotten spoils in silence and fear of detection.
Just then the day began to dawn, and the light increased sufficiently
to disclose what had been done. The tents were down, the property was
lying in order on the ground, the camels and ponies were still
picketed in their places, and all the robbers were standing looking
on. At this juncture my captor and protector gave his end of my string
over to the care of another man of very mean aspect, ordering him to
look after me, and see that nobody came to injure me, whilst he
retired in the direction of the property, and, selecting two fine
stalwart men of equal proportions with himself, came again in front of
me; then linking arms, and sloping spears over their shoulders, they
commenced a slow martial march, keeping time by singing a solemn
well-regulated tune, in deep, full, stentorian voices, until they
completed the full circuit of the camp, and arrived again in front of
me. This, I imagine, was their "Conquering hero comes," the song of
victory. It was well sung, and had a very imposing effect, greatly
increased by the dead silence which reigned in every other quarter. I
felt quite sorry when this act was over, and would willingly have had
it encored. From the orderly manner and regularity with which
everything was done, I judge this to be a fair sample of the manner in
which all plundering parties are conducted. The song and march were no
sooner at an end than the whole ground became a scene of busy, active
life. Every man, save the one who was holding my string, rushed in a
regular scramble upon the property, and, like a legion of devils,
began tearing and pulling at everything in promiscuous confusion, to
see who could carry most away. Some darted at the camels and began
pulling them along, others seized the ponies and began decamping;
others, again, caught up the cloths, or dates, or rice, or anything
they could lay hands on, and endeavoured to carry them off. But this
was not so easy; there were too many men to be all satisfied, and
those who had least began wrangling with their more fortunate
competitors, who, on their part, not wishing to relinquish anything
they had obtained, forcibly contested for their rights.
A more complete and ferocious _mêlée_ I never witnessed. The whole
ground was a scene of pull devil, pull baker, and victory to the
stronger. As one man, hurrying along, was trailing his cloth behind,
another rushed at it and pulled him back; clubs were unsparingly used,
and destruction threatened with spears; what would not easily succumb
to pulling, was separated with stabs of the spears or cuts of their
knives. The camels and ponies were not more easily disposed of; by
snatching from one hand and snatching from another, they were
constantly in different people's hands. It was a scene very like that
of an Indian poultry-yard, when some entrails are thrown amongst the
chickens, and every fowl tries to rob the other.
Whilst all were intent with deep earnestness in this scramble, an
alarm was suddenly given that another party were coming down the hills
to fight and rob them of their spoils. The disordered band were
instantly panic-stricken; for a moment or two there was the deadest
silence; and then everybody, save some forty or fifty men who were
probably more experienced hands, burst across the plain, flying in
long jumps, and hurrying with all their might towards the hills. I
heard afterwards it was not an unusual practice in this land of
robbers for one party to get up an attack upon a caravan, and then
another one, getting wind of their design, to project a plan of
despoiling them as soon as they shall be in such a disconcerted
_mêlée_ that they would not be able to act in concert to support one
another.
Whilst they were away, three fine-looking men came, with some of our
soldiers' sabres; and one, standing over me, threatened, with
ferocious determination in his countenance, to cut me in two. Twice he
lifted his sword above his head, and brought it down with violence to
within an inch or two of my side, and each time withdrew it, as if
suddenly repenting of his purpose. I stared him earnestly in the face,
but neither flinched nor uttered any noise. They then left me, and
went to join the other forty thieves. I conceive this demonstration
was made with a view of testing my pluck, and had I cried or implored
for mercy, I should inevitably have been killed upon the spot. The
last and worst scene in this tragedy was now to be performed.
My jailer, who was still holding the string, stepped up close to me,
and coolly stabbed me with his spear. I then raised my body a little
in defence, when he knocked me down by jobbing his spear violently on
my shoulder, almost cutting the jugular arteries. I rose again as he
poised his spear, and caught the next prod, which was intended for my
heart, on the back of one of my shackled hands; this gouged the flesh
up to the bone. The cruel villain now stepped back a pace or two, to
get me off my guard, and dashed his spear down to the bone of my left
thigh. I seized it violently with both my hands, and would not
relinquish the gripe until he drew a shillelah from his girdle, and
gave me such a violent blow on my left arm, I thought the bone was
broken, and the spear fell helplessly from my hands. Finding his spear
too blunt for running me through by a simple job when standing still,
he now dropped the rope-end, walked back a dozen paces, and, rushing
on me with savage fury, plunged his spear through the thick part of my
right thigh into the ground, passing it between the thigh-bone and
large sinew below.
With the action of lightning, seeing that death was inevitable if I
remained lying there a moment longer, I sprang upon my legs, and gave
the miscreant such a sharp back-hander in the face with my
double-bound fists that he lost his presence of mind, and gave me a
moment's opportunity to run away; which, by the Lord, I lost no time
in doing, taking very good care, by holding my hands on one side, not
to allow the dangling rope to trip me up. I was almost naked, and
quite bare upon the feet, but I ran over the shingly beach towards the
sea like wildfire. The man followed me a little way, but, finding I
had the foot of him, threw his spear like a javelin, but did not
strike me, for I bobbed, and allowed it to pass safely over my head;
he then gave up the chase. Still I had at least forty more men to pass
through, who were scattered all about the place, looking for what
property they could pick up, before I could get safe away. These men,
seeing the chase, all tried to cut off my retreat.
However, I dodged them all by turns, running fast across them, and
bobbing as they threw their spears after me, until I reached the
shore, when I had the satisfaction of seeing the last man give up the
pursuit and leave me to myself. I was now fast fainting from loss of
blood, and sat gently on a mound of sand, picked the knots which bound
my hands open with my teeth, and exposed my breast to the genial
influences of the refreshing sea-breeze, which at sunrise, as this
was, is indescribably pleasant. But what a gloomy prospect was now
before me!! I was growing weaker every minute; my limbs were beginning
to stiffen and the muscles to contract, and I thought there was no
help probably nearer than Ain Tarad; what was to be done? I could not
travel the distance, and I must perish miserably by slow degrees, from
starvation and exhaustion, in the dreary desert; far better, thought
I, had the spear done its worst, and no lingering would have followed.
Whilst reflecting in this strain, my eyes, wistfully gazing on the few
remaining huts of Berbera, lit upon some female figures beckoning to
me, but I could not divine who they were, or what was their meaning.
I rose as a last hope, and hobbled towards them, for my right leg was
nearly crooked up double, and was so weak it could not support the
weight of my body but for an instant at a time. Drawing nearer, I
discovered them to be the four women whom we the evening before
permitted to join our camp. Just then I saw some men hurrying from the
eastward along the shore, endeavouring to meet me.
These, I soon perceived, were the old Balyuz and several of our
servants. As soon as they arrived, they told me all that had happened.
Immediately on the outbreak, the soldiers fired their guns, and all
but one or two at once departed. Stroyan, he supposed, was killed at
the outset; Lieutenants Burton and Herne had run away with him
immediately after I left the central tent to fight. The former had
been speared in the face, the latter had been much bruised with
war-clubs, and some of our men had received severe sword-cuts. After
escaping from the fight, Herne took refuge in the empty huts of
Berbera, and at daybreak sent a servant to detain the Ain Tarad
vessel, which had so providentially come in the previous evening. My
companions were then on board of her, and had sent the Balyuz with the
men to search for me, and pick up anything they could find.
I was now carried to the vessel, and stretched upon the poop in
safety, and felt more truly thankful for this miraculous escape than
words can tell. It is only after a deliverance of this kind one fully
values or can properly appreciate the gift of life. My companions
seemed downcast and full of sorrow for the sad misfortune which had so
disastrously terminated our long-cherished hopes, and had deprived us
so prematurely of an old and valued friend, especially dear to me, as
he was a thorough sportsman. For courage, daring, and enterprise, as
well as good-fellowship, there never lived a man more worthy of esteem
than poor Stroyan.
Lieutenant Burton had sent a boat's crew off to near the site of our
camp, a distance of three miles, to fetch away anything that might
remain there, and bring it to us. They found the place deserted, with
only such things left as the Somali could make no use of, and were too
cumbersome to carry away; such, for instance, as grain, boxes, books,
and various scientific instruments, which, after being wantonly
injured, were left scattered on the ground. It appeared, by accounts
brought back, that many of the men who ran off at the first false
alarm never ventured back again to help themselves from the spoils.
They had now destroyed about £1500 worth of property, but had enriched
themselves but very little, for, whilst fighting, they had destroyed
in the scramble nearly everything of any worth to themselves. When the
boat's crew returned with Stroyan's body, it was found to be too late
to sail that evening.
During the time of waiting, a poor man, with no covering on his body,
crawled up to the vessel, and implored the captain, in the name of
Allah--the fakir's mode of begging--to give him a passage to Aden. His
prayer was answered, and he came on board. He was a Mussulman, born in
Cashmere, and had been wandering about the world in the capacity of a
fakir; but was now, through hunger and starvation, reduced to a mere
skeleton of skin and bones. His stomach was so completely doubled
inwards, it was surprising the vital spark remained within him. On
being asked to recite his history, he said, "I was born in the 'happy
valley' of Cashmere; but reduced circumstances led me to leave my
native land. When wandering alone in some woods one day, I had a
visitation, which induced me to turn devotee, and wander about the
world to visit all places of pilgrimage, carrying only a bottle and a
bag, and ask charity in the name of God, who supplies the world with
everything, and takes compassion on the destitute. At first I
travelled in India, visiting its shrines and temples, and then
determined on crossing the sea to see what other countries were like.
Taking passage at Bombay, I first went to Muskat in Southern Arabia,
and thence travelled overland to Aden, begging all the way, and
receiving kind hospitality wherever I spent the night. In Aden I
remained a while, and by constant begging accumulated sufficient
property to purchase food for a considerable time, when I again set
out, in the name of Allah, to see what the Somali Land was like. At
first I went across to Kurrum, and lived there as long as my little
stock held out, but I could get no assistance from the people of the
place. The stock exhausted, I was spurned from every door. At last,
despairing of obtaining anything on the coast, I ventured to see what
the interior would produce, but I found the Somali everywhere the
same; they were mere hywans (animals), with whom no human beings could
live. A man might travel in Arabia or any other place in the world,
but in the Somali Land no one could exist. Finding myself reduced to
the last stages of life, for no one would give me food, I went to a
pool of water in a ravine amongst the hills, and for the last
fortnight have been living there on water and the gums of trees.
Seeing I was about to die, as a forlorn hope I ventured in this
direction, without knowing whither I was going, or where I should come
to; but God, you see, has brought me safely out."
20th.--This morning we weighed anchor, and in two days more arrived in
Aden.
Thus then ended my first expedition,--a signal failure from
inexperience, and with a loss of £510 worth of my own private
property, which I never recovered. I had nothing to show but eleven
artificial holes in my body. Had we gone straight from Aden, without
any nervous preliminary fuss, and joined the Ugahden caravan at
Berbera just as it was starting, I feel convinced we should have
succeeded; for that is the only way, without great force, or giving
yourself up to the protection of a powerful chief, that any one could
travel in Somali Land. Firearms are useful in the day, but the Somali
despise them at night, and consequently always take advantage of
darkness to attack. Small-shot and smooth-bore guns, on this account,
would be of far greater advantage as a means of defence than rifles
with balls; and nothing but shot well poured in would have saved us
from this last attack. We have been often condemned for not putting on
more sentries to watch; but had the whole camp been in a state of
ordinary preparation for war, with such cowardly hearts as our men all
had, we should have been as signally defeated. We now set sail from
Berbera, all highly disgusted with our defeat; and at Lieutenant
Burton's request, we said we would go with him again if the Government
would allow it.
On arriving in Aden, I was a miserable-looking cripple, dreadfully
emaciated from loss of blood, and with my arms and legs contracted
into indescribable positions, to say nothing of various angry-looking
wounds all over my body. Dansey now gave me a room in his house, and
bestowed such tender care on me as I shall never forget. Colonel
Coghlan also, full of feeling and sympathy for my misfortune, came
over and sat at the feet of my bed, with tears in his eyes, and tried
to condole with me. Fever, however, had excited my brain, so I laughed
it all off as a joke, and succeeded in making him laugh too. The
doctors next took compassion on me, formed into committee, and
prescribed, as the only remedy likely to set me right again, a three
years' leave to England, where, with the congenial effects of my
native home, they hoped I should recover. Lieutenant Burton now sent
in an estimate of all loss to the Government, and advised, as the best
plan of taking an effectual revenge upon the Somali, in whose
territories we were attacked (the Habr Owel), that a ship should be
sent to blockade their coast, with a demand that they should produce
for trial in Aden the living bodies of the two men who so cruelly
killed our lamented friend, and so wantonly endeavoured to despatch
me. Further, that a sum of money equivalent to all our aggregate
losses should be paid in full ere the blockade would be raised. This
was considered the wisest method by which, in future times, any
recurrence of such disasters might probably be avoided. It is needless
to observe, considering the importance of Berbera to the welfare of
the Habr Owel, their subsistence and their existence as a nation
depending on it, that anything might have been exacted from them that
we wished to extort, or they could afford to give. The Government,
unfortunately for our pockets, were of a different opinion; they would
have nothing to do with money exactions when human blood had to be
avenged. Moreover, they had been wishing to suppress the slave-trade,
and found in this occurrence a favourable opportunity to indulge their
hobby. They therefore established a blockade of all the coast-line
between Siyareh and Jibal Elmas, demanding, as the only alternative by
which it would be raised, the surrender of the principal instigators
of the outrage on us for trial in Aden, of whom the first in
consequence was Ou Ali, the murderer of Stroyan. When the season for
the fair arrived, the only vessel present in the Berbera harbour was a
British man-of-war, and the Habr Owel then believed we were in
earnest. Until then, it appeared, they would not believe it, thinking
our trade in Aden would suffer by this proceeding as much as their
own. They were, however, mistaken; trade found an outlet at other
places; and they, by its suppression on their grounds, were fast
sinking into insignificance. Seeing this, they showed by urgent
prayers a disposition to treat on any conditions we might like to
impose on them, and even sent in for trial to Aden a man who showed
the scar of a gun-shot wound on his back, and at the same time
declared their intention of forwarding all others to us as soon as
they could catch them.
To make the matter short, I shall give intact the articles of a treaty
which was signed at Berbera on the 7th November 1856, between the
Honourable East India Company on the one hand, and the Habr Owel tribe
of Somali on the other, as it appears in an appendix (D), in a
'History of Arabia Felix or Yemen,' by Captain R. L. Playfair,
Assistant Political Resident, Aden.[30]
During my residence in Aden, which lasted three weeks, or until the
second mail after my arrival took its departure for Suez, my wounds
healed up in such a marvellously rapid manner, I was able to walk at
large before I left there. They literally closed as wounds do in an
India-rubber ball after prickings with a penknife. It would be
difficult to account for the rapidity with which my wounds closed,
knowing, as everybody who has lived in Aden must do, that that is the
worst place in the world for effecting cures, had I not, in addition
to a strong constitution which I fortunately possess, been living for
many months previously in a very abstemious manner, principally, as
appears in the body of the journal, on dates, rice, and sour curds.
I now left Aden on "sick certificate," and arrived in England in the
early part of June 1855. The Crimean war was then at its height, and
the military authorities were beating up for recruits in every corner
of the land. This summons for war was irresistible. I was suffering a
little from blindness, brought on probably by my late losses and
impoverishment of blood.[31] Still I lost no time in volunteering my
services to take part in this great national object, thinking it was a
duty, as a soldier, I owed my country, and delighting in the prospect
of immediate and active employment, where, at any rate, I should be in
Europe and enjoying the temperature I had come home to seek. The
Turkish Contingent was then being incorporated, and I was, being an
Indian officer, competent to serve in it. With an introduction from
friends, I wrote a letter to Major Graham, an officer appointed by the
Horse Guards to engage officers for General Vivian's contingent,
giving him an account of my past services, and asking for an
appointment with the army. He at once closed with me, declaring "I was
just the sort of man he wanted," and, granting two weeks' leave to
prepare an outfit, told me to be off. In a fortnight more I arrived in
Constantinople, and was posted to a regiment of Turks, with the
commission of Captain. The Turkish Contingent was now at Buyukdere,
but was soon ordered to embark in vessels and proceed to Kertch in the
Crimea. I went with them, and remained serving until the close of the
Crimean war. My commandant, Major Greene, being otherwise employed, I,
as second in command and Kaimakan of the 16th regiment of infantry,
took its headquarters back, and disbanded them at Constantinople.
Whilst I was engaged in these parts, and thinking there would be no
further chance of my being able to return to Africa, I had made up my
mind, at the expiration of the war, to try my hand in collecting the
fauna of the very interesting regions of the Caucasian Mountains, and
had even gone so far as to purchase guns and equip myself for it.
Captain Smyth, of the Bengal Army, an old and notorious Himalayan
sportsman, had agreed to accompany me, and we wrote home to the Royal
Geographical Society to exert their influence in obtaining passports,
by which we could cross over the range into the Russian frontier; but
this scheme was put a stop to by Dr Shaw, the Secretary of that
Society, writing out to say there would be very little hope of our
being able to obtain the passports we required, and that he thought
the time ill-advised for working in those regions, adding, at the same
time, that an expedition to explore Africa was again being organised
under the command of Captain Burton, and advising me to join it. By
the same mail I received a communication from Captain Burton himself,
inviting me to join him once more in exploring Africa, saying there
would be no expense attached to it, as the Home and Indian Governments
had each promised to contribute £1000. This settled the matter.
Without a second thought I disposed of my Caucasian equipments, and,
taking a passage to England by the first mail, travelled night and day
until I again reached home, deeming, as I did on the first expedition,
that I might just as well nurse my furlough for a future
occasion,--the fact being that I was more of a sportsman and traveller
than a soldier, and I only liked my profession when I had the sport of
fighting.
[Illustration: NOTE *********************** Gondokoro, German Mission
Station: Cataracts which stopped the Expedition* discover the Sources
of the Nile by * Kirira River & Bari Kingdom heard of* the draba south
of the Equator.]
JOURNAL OF A CRUISE ON THE TANGANYIKA LAKE.
Chapter I.
The Royal Geographical Society--The Strange Lake on the Map--Set
Off--Arrive at Zanzibar--A Preliminary Excursion--A Sail along the
Coast--The Pangani River--A Jemadar's Trick--Journey up
Country--Adventures--Return to Zanzibar--Scenes there--Objects of the
Expedition--Recruiting for Followers--The Cafila Bashi--The
Start--Fevers--Discussions about the Mountains of the Moon and the
Victoria N'yanza--The Tanganyika.
On my arrival in England, the first thing I did was to visit Captain
Burton, and obtain an introduction to the Royal Geographical Society,
under whose auspices I was about to travel. I next visited the
Society, and here was revealed to me, for the first time, the great
objects designed for the expedition in question. On the walls of the
Society's rooms there hung a large diagram, comprising a section of
Eastern Africa, extending from the equator to the fourteenth degree of
south latitude, and from Zanzibar sixteen degrees inland, which had
been constructed by two reverend gentlemen, Messrs Erhardt and
Rebmann, missionaries of the Church Mission Society of London, a short
time previously, when carrying on their duties at Zanzibar. In this
section-map, swallowing up about half of the whole area of the ground
included in it, there figured a lake of such portentous size and such
unseemly shape, representing a gigantic slug, or, perhaps, even closer
still, the ugly salamander, that everybody who looked at it
incredulously laughed and shook his head. It was, indeed, phenomenon
enough in these days to excite anybody's curiosity! A single sheet of
sweet water, upwards of eight hundred miles long by three hundred
broad, quite equal in size to, if not larger than, the great salt
Caspian.
Now, to the honour of Admiral Sir George Back be it said, a Fellow of
the Royal Geographical Society, and an old explorer himself in the
Arctic regions, that he had determined in his mind that this great
mystery should be solved, and that an insight should be gained into
those interesting regions, concerning which conjectures and
speculations had been rife, and which had caused so many hot debates
for so many ages past amongst all the first geographers of the day;
debates which, hitherto, nobody had been found energetic enough to set
at rest by actual inspection of the country.
Casting about for a man fitted to carry out his plans, the Admiral hit
upon Captain Burton, who had recently returned from Constantinople,
where he had been engaged with the Bashi-Bazuks; and it was thus,
through Sir George's influence in the Royal Geographical Society, that
Captain Burton had now been appointed to the command of this
expedition.
A difference now arose about the Government £2000 in aid of the
expedition. The Foreign Office had paid their £1000, but the India
House thought Captain Burton's pay ought to be considered their share.
Finding this was the case I objected to go, as I did not wish, for one
reason, to put myself under any money obligations to Captain Burton;
and, for another reason, I thought I had paid enough for a public
cause in the Somali country, without having gained any advantage to
myself. Captain Burton, however, knew nothing of astronomical
surveying, of physical geography, or of collecting specimens of
natural history, so he pressed me again to go with him, and even
induced the President of the Royal Geographical Society to say there
need be no fear of money if we only succeeded. I then consented to go,
determining in my own mind, somehow or other, to have my old plans,
formed in India, of completing my museum, carried into effect, even
if, after all, the funds of the expedition did not suffice. Captain
Burton now gave me a cheque for my passage out of the public
funds;[32] but my incorporation with the expedition was not quite so
easy as had been expected; for the Government in India at this time
were using every endeavour in their power to increase their
Indo-European forces, and had written home to Leadenhall Street an
urgent desire that no officers should have their leave extended, or be
placed on duty out of India; and for this reason, the India House
authorities, although privately evincing a strong disposition to
permit my going, felt it necessary to withhold their sanction to it. I
was now between two fires. I had sacrificed my Caucasian expedition,
and could not speak with the authorities in India. So, to cut the
matter short, with a kind hint from my friend Sir Henry Rawlinson, as
I had still nearly three years' furlough at my disposal, I ventured
over with Captain Burton by the overland route to Bombay, and tried my
luck again.
This time, fortunately, it turned up trumps; for I need only say that
the Governor of Bombay at this time was Lord Elphinstone, a man whose
large and comprehensive mind was not only able to discern the frown of
a pending mutiny looming in the distance, but whose quick foresight,
backed by a great and natural unremitting energy of body, was
subsequently able to forestall and provide, as far as human powers
extend, against its thundering outburst. He saw at a glance of how
much importance to the improvement of the commercial objects of his
presidency this exploring expedition was likely to be. The Secretary
to Government, Mr Anderson, who was equally of this view, treated the
matter as a great national object, and, at the request of Captain
Burton, drew up an official application to incorporate me in the
expedition, and sent it to the Government at Calcutta, with the
recommendation of his lordship; whilst I, in anticipation of the
sanction of the Governor-General, Lord Canning, was permitted to
accompany Captain Burton to Zanzibar in the Hon. East India Company's
sloop-of-war Elphinstone, commanded by Captain Frushard, I.N., and
commence operations at once.
This vessel had been detached especially on this duty to meet Captain
Burton's views, that a political importance should be given to the
mission by our arriving in Government official state at the
starting-point, in order to secure the influence and respect of the
sultan reigning there.
After a residence of one week at Bombay, during which time I completed
our outfit in scientific instruments and other minor points--for this
charge was reposed in me, owing to my previous experience in those
matters--we set sail on the 3d December 1856, taking two Goanese cook
"boys," by name Valantine and Gaetano, with us as servants, and in
eighteen days landed at our destination, Zanzibar. The kindness of
Captain Frushard, who shared his cabin with us, as well as the
constant attentions of his officers, combined with pleasant weather
and a liberal fare, provided for us by the Bombay Government in the
capacity of political envoys, made the time occupied on the voyage fly
quickly and very agreeably.[33]
Immediately on arrival at the island of Zanzibar, we were warmly
received and welcomed by our consul, Colonel Hamerton, an Irish
gentleman, and one characterised by the true merry hospitality of his
race. He had been a great sufferer, by the effects of the climate
operating on him from too long a residence in these enervating
regions; but he was, nevertheless, vivacious in temperament and full
of amusing anecdotes, which kept the whole town alive. He gave us a
share of his house, and what was more, made that house our homes. His
generosity was boundless, and his influence so great, that he
virtually commanded all societies here. Our old and faithful ally, the
Imaum of Muscat, who, unfortunately for us, had but recently died, was
so completely ruled by him, that he listened to and obeyed him as a
child would his father.
The present ruler of Zanzibar--that is, of the coastline, with all the
islands which lie between the equator on the southern confines of the
Somali country and the Portuguese possessions in Mozambique--is Sultan
Majid, the second son of the old Imaum; for it must be remembered that
the Imaum, at his death, divided his territories, then comprising
Muscat in Arabia, and Zanzibar in Africa, into two separate states,
giving the former, or Muscat, to his eldest son, Sayyid (Prince)
Suwéni, whilst the latter was bequeathed to his favourite, the second
son, Sayyid Majid, now styled Sultan. Sultan Majid was born of a
Circassian woman, and in consequence is very light in complexion; and,
taking much after the inclinations of his father, is likely to become
as great a favourite as was the old Imaum. Zanzibar island is the seat
of government, and consequently the metropolis. The town contains
about sixty thousand inhabitants of all nations, but principally
coloured people, of which the Suahili, or coast people, living on the
opposite main, predominate in number, though they are the least
important. Of the merchants, there are several European houses,
comprising French, Germans, and Americans; and numerous Asiatics,
mostly from Arabia and Hindostan,--the Suahili ranking lowest of the
whole. There are also three consuls, an English, French, and American,
who look after the interests of the subjects of their respective
governments.
We found, considering it would take more than a month to organise an
expedition, that we had arrived here at the very worst season of the
year for commencing a long inland journey--the height of the dry
season in these regions, when water is so very scarce in the more
desert tracts of the interior of the continent, that travelling, from
want of that material element, is precarious; and it was just before
the commencement of the vernal monsoon, or greater rainy season, when
everything would be deluged.
Considering this, and giving due deference to the opinions of the
travelling merchants of this place against our organising at once for
the interior journey to the great lake, Captain Burton bethought
himself of gaining a little elementary training in East African
travelling, by spending the remainder of the dry season in inspecting
various places on the coast; and, if a favourable opportunity
presented itself, he felt desirous of having a peep at the snowy
Kilimandjaro Mountain, of which the Rev. Mr Rebmann, who first
discovered it, had sent home reports, and which had excited such angry
and unseemly contests amongst our usually sedate though speculative
carpet-geographers in England as rendered a further inspection highly
necessary.
Now, as the Royal Geographical Society had desired us to place
ourselves in communication with Mr Rebmann, who was then at his
mission-station, Kisuludini, at Rabbai, on a high hill at the back of
Mombas, and to try and solicit him to go with us into the interior,
where it was thought his experience in the native languages would be
useful to the expedition,--my companion hired a small beden, or
half-decked Arab vessel, by the month, to take us about wherever we
pleased; and on the 5th January 1857, having engaged a respectable
half-caste Arab Sheikh, named Said, to be our guide and interpreter,
we took leave of our host, set sail, and steered northwards, coasting
along the shores of this beautiful clove island, until we left it, and
shortly afterwards sighted the still more lovely island of Pemba, or
"The Emerald Isle" of the Arabs--named, doubtless, from the surprising
verdure of its trees and plants. Here we called in at Chak-chak, the
principal place, where there is a rude little fort and small garrison
of Beluch soldiers, and a Wali, or governor. Starting the following
morning, we put to sea again, and in three days--sailing against a
strong southerly current, aggravated by a stiff north-easterly breeze,
almost too much for our cranky little vessel, and which frightened the
crew and our little timid Sheikh so much that they all lost presence
of mind, and with the greatest difficulty were repressed from
"'bouting ship," and wrecking themselves, together with us, on the
shores of the coast--we harboured in the Mombas creek.
Mombas on the north, like Kilua on the south, are the two largest
garrison towns belonging to the Sultan on the main shores. They each
have a Wali or governor, custom officers, and a Beluch guard; and have
certain attractions to the antiquarian in the shape of Portuguese
ruins. We left our traps here to be housed by a Banyan called
Lakshmidos, the collector of customs,[34] and started on the 17th
January to visit Mr Rebmann, beyond the hills overlooking this place.
It was a good day's work, and was commenced by rowing about ten miles
up the Rabbai branch of the creek we were in, until we arrived at the
foot of the hills bearing the same name, beyond which his house
stands. This inlet was fringed with such dense masses of the mangrove
shrub, on which clung countless numbers of small
tree-oysters,--adhering to their branches in clusters, and looking as
though they subsisted thereon after the manner of orchidaceous
plants,--that we could obtain no view whatever, save of the hills
towering to the height of some ten hundred or twelve hundred feet
above us. The water-journey over, we commenced the ascent of Rabbai,
and, soon crowning it by a steep slope, passed into the country of the
Wanyika, the first true negro tribe of my acquaintance, and by a
gentle decline passing through quiet little villages, we entered,
after a walk of five miles, the Kisuludini mission-house, and there
found Mr Rebmann, with his amiable English wife, living in their
peaceful retreat. They gave us a free and cordial welcome and
comfortable lodging, and supplied us with all the delicacies of a dry
Wanyika season, for there was now a drought in the land, and
consequently a famine. So hard were the times for the unfortunate
negroes, that they were forced against their wills to support the bulk
of their families by the sale of some of its junior members to keep
themselves alive.
And now, according to Mr Rebmann, to aggravate their predicament, they
were on the eve of a more dreadful enemy still than famine,--that of
the attacks of a marauding party of the barbarous pastoral Masai, a
neighbouring tribe, who were now out engaged in pillaging some of the
Wanyika villages, not far from this, of the few heads of cattle which
they keep as a "safety-valve" against the scourge of droughts. The
oddest thing to me was to see the placid equanimity with which Mr
Rebmann and his wife coolly delayed a day or two, notwithstanding the
near proximity of this savage band of thieves, to pack up their kit
comfortably before leaving the place; but we were assured by the
reverend gentleman that the Masai cared but little for anything save
beef, and they therefore did not apprehend rough usage at their hands.
The air of this high land is cool and pleasant, and the scenery from
the station overlooking the sea was very picturesque and serenely
beautiful. The Rabbai hills are an outlying range running parallel to
the coast, or more properly, I should say, an abattis, which supports
a high but slightly depressed flattish interior, gently declining
westwards.
After a good night's rest we returned to Mombas, housed ourselves in
the dwelling appointed for our use by Lakshmidos, and had many
civilities paid us by the Wali (governor) and coloured merchants of
the place, who brought us fruits and paid us other delicate little
attentions by way of showing their regard. The Wanyika having by this
time sent to the Mombas fort for aid to support them against the
attacks of their enemies, we felt some alarm at the position of Mr and
Mrs Rebmann, and again returned to Kisuludini, to see if we could be
of any use to them: but not so; they were as fearless as before, and
would not leave their house until everything had been well packed up
and sent away.[35] We now bade them adieu a second time, and returned
to our house at Mombas. Here we heard that several of the Beluch
troops had been despatched against the Masai, and that some skirmishes
had taken place, but they were nothing of any material consequence.
Seeing that there was this little excitement on the direct road to
Kadiaro and the Kilimandjaro, Captain Burton thought it unadvisable to
venture on that line, the more especially so as he judged the Mombas
people were not over-well disposed to our travelling into the
interior. Further, he had heard of fresh attractions on the coast, in
the shape of ruins, both Portuguese and Persian;--those places from
which, in former ages, the Portuguese--who had been led there by the
adventurous Vasco de Gama, and were the first European occupants of
these dark lands--were driven southwards by the Arabs. Moreover, he
heard that the mountain of Kilimandjaro was just as accessible to us
from Tanga or Pangani, a little farther down the coast, where there
would probably be no war-parties standing in our way, as the case was
here.
I, on the other hand, did not see any cause of alarm, for I thought we
could easily have walked round the Masai party; but I saw various
reasons for abandoning the projected plan of looking at the
Kilimandjaro. In the first place, it had been already discovered by Mr
Rebmann; it was, moreover, rather distant for our limited time; it
would require more money than our limited funds could admit of; and
last, though not least, as we had some time to spare, I thought it
would be much more agreeable to spend it in hippopotamus-shooting on
the coast, and on what game we might find on the hills of Usumbara, if
we perforce were to go through that kingdom on our way towards the
Kilimandjaro, an idea that had struck us; for though Usumbara had been
traversed formerly by the Church missionaries, it was still a maiden
country for the sportsman. Considering Mombas as a starting-point for
an excursion into the interior, I can conceive no direction more
interesting or advantageous for any one to embark upon. Dr Krapf has
already been as far as Kitui, in the country of Ukambani, fourteen
marches distant only from Mombas, and there he heard of a snowy
mountain called Kenia, lying probably to the northward of and on the
same hill-range as Mount Kilimandjaro, which most likely separates the
river-systems of the east from those which flow to the westward into
the Nile. In confirmation of this impression, I would mention the fact
that a merchant caravan of about two hundred men, whilst we were
stopping here, arrived from Kitui laden with elephant ivories, which
they had bartered for American sheeting, Venetian beads, and brass
wire, &c. &c., in the district of Ukambani; and they described the
country in the most glowing terms, as possessing a healthy climate,
pleasant temperature, wholesome water, and an abundance of provisions,
both flesh and grain: they had, moreover, camels and donkeys as beasts
of burden, which alone denotes a great facility for travelling in
Eastern Africa, where usually men take the place of beasts. The
Wakambani porters belonging to this caravan, as many as there were,
were boisterous, humorous savages, who, as they danced and paraded
about the town, all armed in savage fashion with bows and spears and
sharp knives, in fact anything but clothes, looked as wild as animals
just driven from a jungle. Noise and dancing seemed their principal
delight, and they indulged in it, blowing horns and firing muskets
with a boisterous glee, which showed the strangest contrast to the
tame Hindus and other merchant residents of the place.
Captain Burton now decided on quitting Mombas; and on the 24th
January, after embarking in our little beden, we set sail southwards.
Following the coastline, we touched at the villages of Gasi, Wasin,
Tanga--where I had my first flirtations with the hippopotami, of which
more hereafter--and Tangata, to inspect ruins and make inquiries about
the interior condition of the country.
The coast-line was one continuous undeviating scene of tropical
beauty, with green aquatic mangroves growing everywhere out into the
tidal waves, with the beetal, palmyra, and other palms overtopping
this fringe; and in the background a heterogeneous admixture, an
impervious jungle, of every tree, shrub, and grass, that characterise
the richest grounds on the central shores of this peculiar continent.
The little islands we passed amongst, and all the reefs that make
these shores so dangerous to the navigator, whether large or small,
were the produce of the industrious little coral insect. The lime with
which their cellular beds are composed being favourable to vegetable
growth, leaves it no wonder that the higher grounds and dryer lands
are thus so densely clothed. The few villages there are, bordering on
the coast, are poor and meagre-looking, but their inhabitants were
very hospitable, especially where there were any Banyans. Nothing
could exceed the mingled pride and yearning pleasure these exotic
Indians seemed to derive from having us as their guests. Being Indian
officers, they looked upon us as their guardians, and did everything
they could to show they felt it so. Our conversing in their own
language, and talking freely of their native land, must, as indeed
they said it did, have felt to them as if after a long banishment they
were suddenly thrown amongst their old and long-lost friends. To us
how strange did these things appear! that men so full of life,
good-breeding, intelligence, and affections--so meaning and
calculating in their conversation, so gentlemanly in their
behaviour--should live this life of utter banishment, amidst these
savages, devoid of all sympathetic affections, and knowing not even
what things constitute the commonest business of life. And why? To
make a little money for their latter days, when life's enjoyment has
passed away. Their wretched case would not be so bad, only that, from
being Hindus, they cannot marry or even bring their wives from India
with them. It is a position even worse than that of hermits. Tanga was
the most considerable of all the places we visited, being the grand
terminus of those caravans, which, passing immediately to the south of
the Kilimandjaro, traverse the Masai country to Burgenei, near the
south-east corner of the Victoria N'yanza (Lake).[36] Here Captain
Burton again commenced making inquiries about the route to
Kilimandjaro, and how, if that could not be managed, considering the
means at our disposal, we could march into Usumbara, see the capital
Fuga, and pay the king, Kimuéri, a cursory visit; but being more or
less dissuaded from this, evidently, as it afterwards appeared, by the
timorous inclinations rather than from any real difficulties which
presented themselves to the mind of our Sheikh, Captain Burton thought
it better to see first what could be done at Pangani.
We arrived in the mouth of the Pangani river on the 3d February; and,
immediately on landing, were met by all the grandees of the place, who
welcomed us as big men, and escorted us to a large stone house in the
town overlooking the river. On the way to this domicile, a number of
black singers were formed in line to serenade us, and they danced and
sang in real negro peculiarity, with such earnest constancy that,
although a novel sight, we were glad to be rid of them long before
they were tired of performing. All inquisitive about other people's
concerns, the Panganyites at once eagerly busied themselves to find
out what our intentions were in coming there, and accordingly began to
speculate on what they could make out of us. First the Diwans
(head-men) wanted us to pay our footing in the town; but that only
provoking a sharp rebuff, they began a system of "making
difficulties." To go to the Kilimandjaro we must have a large and
expensive escort, or nobody would go with us. But this we were not
persistent in, for two reasons: in the first place, having frittered
away so much time at Mombas, and in inspecting ruins on the way from
it, we had no time left ere the kuzi, or little rains precursory to
the great monsoon, which would shortly set in on the high lands near
the Great Mountain, would fall and impede our progress; and, in the
second, we were short of cash. Next we contemplated a flying trip to
Fuga, for which alternative Sultan Majid had provided us with
introductions to the king, Kimuéri, living there; and this, of course,
being known to the people through the medium of Sheikh Said, they at
once beset our doors to meet our proposals and make fresh
difficulties.
King Kimuéri's son, who happened to be here on his way to Zanzibar,
presuming we had presents for the king, mildly begged us to give them
up to him at once, he securing us a passage to his father,--a cool
request, which, of course, was just as coolly rejected. And now
everybody, evidently actuated by him, stood in our way at every turn.
We must not go the straight road, as the Wazégura living on the right
bank of the Pangani river were "out," and in open hostilities with the
Wasumbara, and would intercept our passage; and, instead, they
proposed our going _viâ_ Tangata, a much longer route, but open to us
if we only took a sufficient number of men, and paid handsomely for
the convenience. Considering that the value attachable to the
undertaking would be magnified in our minds in proportion to the
amount of obstacles which had to be surmounted, difficulty upon
difficulty was now conjured up and produced as fast as they thought
they were working upon our inclinations. Sometimes our advisers would
go, and then the opposite. They were verily as coy in their
advancements and retractions as a woman who, in love, gives and takes
with a wavering man on whom she has set her heart at a time when he is
fearful of giving way to her little seductive artifices.
At this perplexing juncture, quite unforeseen by us, the jemadar of a
small Beluch garrison (Chogué), about seven miles up the river, came
to pay his respects, and by a clever artifice--purely an Oriental
dodge, as anybody who has lived in India will readily admit--at once
perceiving an advantage to be gained by which he might profitably fill
his own pocket at the same time that he would save ours, and give a
job to his own Beluches to the prejudice of those avaricious
Panganyites, offered us an inducement which was too good not to be at
once accepted. The plan was simply this: He was to leave at once and
return to Chogué, and make arrangements with his guard for our
reception there, whilst we, feigning abandonment of all our plans,
were to prepare for a shooting excursion up the river, with only one
servant and our sporting gear with us. This trick succeeded admirably,
without provoking the slightest suspicion on anybody's part. Leaving
our Sheikh and one "boy" behind to take care of our property, we now
set sail in a small canoe, on the 6th February, and made for Chogué.
The river was extremely tortuous and filled with hippopotami, who, as
the vessel advanced up the tidal stream, snorted and grunted as if
they felt disposed to dispute our passage; but this never happened.
Inquisitive in the extreme about the foreign intruders, they could not
resist continually popping up their heads and apparently inviting us
to take a shot, which, as may readily be imagined, I lost no
opportunity in complying with. Whether I killed any or not is
difficult to say, for as the guns were fired their heads immediately
disappeared, to rise no more, or, if not struck, to peep above again
some way distant at our stern. To shoot hippopotami properly, one must
have time to wait for the receding of the tide, when, if killed, their
bodies would be left exposed on the sandy bottom; or, if in deep
water, to wait until, being filled with gases, they would float by the
buoyancy of their bodies.
There was little to be seen in this voyage of any interest, for the
curtains of mangroves, with palms and other trees growing in almost
impenetrable denseness, veiled in our view to the limits of the
stream's breadth. As the tide was running out at sunset, we halted for
its return at Pombui, a small village on the left bank, and resumed
the journey after midnight. In two hours we reached the mooring-place
opposite the station, Chogué, fastened the canoe, and lay down to
sleep. Early after dawn, the jemadar, with his guard, advanced to meet
us, welcomed us with sundry complimentary discharges of their
matchlocks, and escorted us to their post. The jemadar's guard was
composed of twenty-five men, most of whom were here, whilst the other
few held another fort on the top of a hill called Tongué. Volunteers
were now called for to accompany us, who would carry each his arms, a
little food, and such baggage as might be necessary--just enough to
march up rapidly to Fuga, to have a little shooting in some favourable
jungles near there, and return again as soon as possible. There was no
difficulty, as the jemadar foresaw. The Beluches receive so little pay
from their sultan that any windfall like this was naturally welcome;
and out of the little garrison five men were readily enlisted; besides
these, they supplied four slave-servants, and two men as guides.
With one day's delay in preparing, we left Chogué in the evening, and
commenced a scrambling journey; all the men fully loaded, and
ourselves much the same.
On the morning of the following day, after travelling by a footpath
over undulating country, we mounted the hill of Tongué, and put up in
the fort.
Mount Tongué is itself an outlying hill, detached from the massive
clusters of Usumbara by a deep rolling valley of broken ground of
desert forest, which as we afterwards saw by their numerous tracks,
must contain, during the rainy season, vast herds of the elephant and
buffalo, as well as antelopes and lions, though but few animals of any
kind appeared to be here now. Looking south by west from this height
over the broad valley of the Pangani, I was able to take compass
bearings on some cones in the Uzégura country, belonging to the Nguru
hills. The whole country below appeared to be covered with the richest
vegetation, and in the river we could hear the murmuring sound of a
waterfall, said by the Beluches to be a barrier to the navigation of
the river any farther inland.[37]
10th February.--Early in the morning we bid Tongué Fort adieu, and,
descending by its northern slopes, threaded our way, arching round by
north to westward, through the forests below, until late in the
evening we arrived within a short distance of a hill called Khombora;
and here, as the darkness of night was closing in, the party by
accident divided: some, taking a more northerly track--the proper
one--soon came across a nullah containing water,--the thing we were
then in search of; whilst we, following on the heels of the guide,
lost the way, and, coming upon the same watercourse lower down the
stream, bivouacked for the night alongside some green, fetid, stagnant
pools, in which a host of young frogs were keeping up a merry concert.
We fired guns, but without avail, the distance we were separated by
being too great for the reports to be heard.
Next morning, after following up the nullah for some considerable
distance, we lit upon the rest of the party, sitting by a chain of
pools, where they had bivouacked like ourselves; and, mingling
together, commenced the march. At this time it was discovered that the
surveying compass had been left behind, and I wished to return at
once; but as Captain Burton was knocked up, and would not wait for me,
the instrument was abandoned. Then, with the party complete, we passed
to the northward of Khombora, by an indenture of the ground lying
between it and a much larger hill, called Sagama, which hill forms the
south-eastern buttress of the Usumbara masses; and opening into the
valley of Pangani again, we put up at a Wazégura village on its right
bank, called Kohodé, crossing the river by a ferry. Here my companion,
with all the party--save one exceptional Seedi soldier, Mabarak
Bombay[38] who knew a little Hindustani, and acted as my
interpreter--stopped a day, to recover from the fatigues of the late
harassing march, for they appeared thoroughly knocked up, and to revel
on a feast of milk and flesh which, with great cordiality, was
supplied them by Sultan Momba, a Wazégura chief. We were now fifteen
miles distant from the compass, and I called on volunteers to forsake
these festivities and follow me back to get it. It was a great trial,
and Bombay of all the party was the only man who could be induced to
go; but he, as will be seen in many subsequent parts of this book, was
ever ready to do anything for anybody, and cheerfully started off with
me. The first thing which we saw after crossing by the ferry was a
dead hippopotamus, lying on the greensward of the alluvial plain,
encircled by a number of savages (Washenzi), all armed with bow and
arrows, looking wistfully at their prostrate game. The animal was
scarcely cold, and lay on the ground like a large shapeless hog
bristling with arrows. It appeared from their statements that these
savage hunters had been waiting on the plain for several hours before
daybreak, expecting the animal on his retreat from his nocturnal
excursions under the lee of the Sagama hill, in quest of rank grasses
and forest-trees growing there, which compose his ordinary food, to
make for a certain deep place in the river, by which means he would
have to cross the plain exactly where they posted themselves: they
were not mistaken. The beast advanced at the usual time for going to
his watery abode, and the savages at once surrounded him on the plain;
by firing arrows from all sides at once in rapid succession, the huge
awkward beast knew not which man to set on first, and in its constant,
fruitless, angry endeavours to reach the last assailant, he soon
became exhausted, and was eventually overpowered.
We now passed on to the nullah, followed it down to the place of
bivouac, found the compass, and returned. In the bed of the nullah
there were numerous pools, both large and small, but all were rapidly
drying up, and destroying the numerous fish they contained; for as
this desiccation increased, and the pools became smaller, the fervid
sun heated the little remaining water to such an overpowering extent,
that the fish, half suffocated, turned on their backs and became an
easy prey to the numerous green-and-brown-striped iguanas that eagerly
thronged their brinks for food. As we approached, these horrid-looking
reptiles hurried off like frightened cats to their hiding-places, some
bearing fish away in their mouths, whilst others, less composed,
dropped what they had half devoured, to evade us all the more readily.
This intense fear of man is caused by their being the negro's game,
who eat them with the same kind of pleasure and relish which a
Frenchman has for frogs. Cheerily did we trip along, for
Bombay--astonished at my oddities or peculiarities, as he thought
them, when I picked up a river shell, or dilated much on the antelopes
and birds we sometimes saw--broke into a series of yarns about his
former life, and of the wild animals with which he was familiar in his
fatherland. He seemed to me a surprisingly indefatigable walker, for
he joked and talked and walked as briskly at the end of thirty miles
as he did at starting. As the sun was setting we repassed the place
where the hippopotamus had been slain, but not a vestige of his flesh
or a bone remained to mark the place--every morsel had been carried
off for food. Ferrying across the river, we were heartily met by the
boisterous, mirthful Sultan Momba, who instantly on our landing shook
us heartily by the hand, commented on our walking powers with
enthusiastic pride, invited us to his palace (grass hut), and gave us
a royal repast.
13th February.--We started early in the morning, and after crossing
the Pangani, took to the beaten track and followed up the valley.
Nearly at the outset we passed over the Luangéra river, close to its
junction with the Pangani, by a tree thrown across it. The stream,
though not broad, is deep and sullen, and, by native report, is
infested with crocodiles. This may easily be imagined, for the
Pangani, a much rougher, and therefore a less favourable river for
them, undoubtedly is so. Here, near the junction of these two rivers,
their united valleys cause a much greater expanse of alluvial ground;
and had we turned northwards, we might have reached Fuga in two short
marches, by crossing over a mountain spur called Vugiri; but in
consideration of our men, who had to carry unusually heavy burdens, we
determined to follow on our course up the valley by a lower and more
easy road, passing round instead of over this spur. With the Vugiri
hills overhanging us on the right, like a bluff high wall, prettily
decked with bush and tree, and the boisterous Pangani murmuring on the
left hand, which now in many places was divided by little inhabited
islands, we tracked along the valley until we reached Pasunga, when we
left the river still coming from the north-west, and then, turning
sharply round the extreme western point of the Vugiri spur, we entered
on a cultivated plain in a direct line facing Fuga. Here, on the
second day, being overtaken by a fierce storm, we put up in some sheds
outside a village. There were three small cones, called Mbara, close
to us west by north; but besides these, to the northward, there was
nothing save an uninterrupted plain of the densest jungle leading up
to the Makumbara mountains, about ten miles distant. The village
itself was enshrouded in a dense thicket, which was entered by the
narrowest of passages, cut through branches for security's sake, and
was further protected by piles and stakes against the attacks of
enemies. Everybody here feels an insecurity to life and property,
which makes people wonder how they ever can be happy. Prosperous they
are not, and never will be, until such time as enlightened men may
happen to come amongst them to teach their chiefs the art of
governing. Of all villages the most secure from attack seem those that
are situated on the river islands, where the division of the stream
affords a natural moat, which no African art can overcome.
15th February.--After waiting for a few hours this morning for the
rain to subside, we got under way and made straight for Fuga. The
first half of the journey led us by well-beaten footpaths through flat
cultivated fields of sugar-cane and bananas, tamarind-trees, papaws,
and various jungle shrubs, filling up the non-arable surface; and then
began a steep ascent by rudely-beaten zigzags, to ease the abruptness
of the hill, on which the capital is situated. The whole face of this
hill was clothed with large timber trees, around which, here and
there, entwining their trunks, clung the delicate sarsaparilla vine;
and beneath them flourished, as by spontaneous growth, the universal
plantain, a vegetable grown in this country as we do corn, and, like
it also, regarded as the staff of life. At length, after a little hard
toiling, we emerged from this prodigious wooding, and found ourselves
on a naked, bold, prominent point overlooking the whole plain we had
left behind, and from which we could clearly see its entire
dimensions. To the northward, as already said, was the Makumbara
range, a dense compact mass of solid-looking hills, much higher than
the spur we stood upon, but joining it to the north-eastward; whilst
its other extremity shot out to the north-westward, until it seemed as
though it were suddenly cut off by the Pangani river.
Beyond the river, again, looking across the western extremity, but
farther back than it, other large hills, bedimmed by distance, could
be seen tending in a south-westerly direction, which in all
probability are a link of the longitudinal chain, which, as our maps
will show, fringe the whole of the southern continent of Africa.[39]
The country directly beyond the river valley rose into gentle
undulations, but on this side all was flat and densely wooded, save in
one little spot to the north-west of the Mbara cones, where a sheet of
water or small lake made a bald conspicuous place--and here it was, by
native report, that elephants and other large game abounded.
Having now completed the survey, we proceeded along the shoulder of
the hill just ascended, and passing by a ferruginous spring, soon
arrived unexpectedly to its inhabitants at Fuga, the capital of
Usumbara, and presented ourselves to the astonished Fugaites, who
naturally began to question what could possibly be the meaning of this
stolen march on them; for, contrary to the laws of the land, no
permission to enter their _citadel_ had been asked, and consequently
no one was prepared to see or receive us. Access to the village was
strictly forbidden to us strangers, until at least the king, whose
palace is situated some distance from it, had been consulted with in a
certain form of ridiculous ceremony, which, for politeness' sake, we
felt ourselves bound to assent to, but in the meanwhile we took
possession of some huts close to it, where Mr Krapf, our Church
missionary, had some years previously, when visiting this place, taken
up his abode.
A deputation was now sent with our compliments to the king, Kimuéri,
soliciting an audience; and just before sunset they returned to say we
must remain where we were for the present, as the king was in doubt
about our intentions, regarding us with suspicion, as we had come
through the territories of his enemies, the Wazégura, which was
tantamount to a hostile declaration; and, moreover, he required
leisure for his mganga or magic-man to divine what time would be
propitious for an interview. The old man was in the wane of life,
being upwards, it was said, of one hundred years of age, and his
people thought he must die. Hearing this, Captain Burton, playing with
his superstitious credulity, devised a plan by which he at once gained
access to him. The king was lying on a cartel in a small round hut,
encompassed on his near side by swarthy-looking counsellors, who
smoked small pipes and sat on low three-legged stools. Sultan Majid's
introductory letter was now read, and all seemed satisfied as to who
we were. We then returned to our lodgings, and found a bullock and
some meal of Indian corn and plantains sent as a honorarium after us.
Next morning, agreeably to promise, at the king's direction, a guide
came to show us about the place, in order that Captain Burton might be
able to pick some leaves or herbs to make a certain decoction which
would insure longevity; but as none such could be found, and the old
king had seen through the trick, entrance to the "town" was still
forbidden.
Whilst wandering about, however, we chanced to see a number of negroes
turn out and chase down an antelope. It was a very small rufous-brown
animal, much about the size and shape of the Kakur deer of the
Himalayas; but what struck me most was, the peculiarity of its having,
unlike all hitherto known African species, four points of horns. In
consequence of this great novelty, I tried to purchase its head, but
the greedy savages who caught it, coveting the flesh, would not, for
any consideration, let me have it, and I never saw another killed.
Rain poured down in torrents at night, and the days remained so
cloudy, that we felt the kuzi or little monsoon had now fairly set in,
and the sooner we could get away from the high lands so much the
better for us. In the evening (15th February), therefore, we sent our
return presents to the king, and asked permission to be allowed to go.
A very civil reply was given, with certain additions, for which I
could not help admiring him; but he would not accept the present, and
we might go whenever we pleased.
Thinking to obviate to the best of my ability any differences with
these benighted but cunning people, and to leave as favourable an
impression of our visit as I could, I advised Captain Burton to
distribute amongst the ministers those things which had been brought
for the king, and this accordingly was done, but not without
considerable debate, and the finally reluctant sanction of the
king.[40] The next morning (16th February) saw us descending the
heights of Fuga, and in a few hours' walk we left the cool congenial
air incidental to 4000 or 5000 feet, for the hot, damp, morbid, close
atmosphere of the jungle plains below, in which, as Miss Nightingale
would say, you could palpably smell a fever. Then following the old
route, we came down to the Pangani; and in three days' travelling
along it, as Captain Burton, being no sportsman, would not stop for
shooting, we put up once more at Kohodé, with Sultan Momba.
19th February.--To vary the way and gain a better knowledge of the
river, we now determined to follow it all the way down to Chogué,
which we made on the third day, spending the two intervening nights at
the Wazégura villages of Kiranga and Kizungu. The valley, though much
varied, was generally contracted by the closing in of the rolling
terminal abutments of the Tongué hill, on the one side--with rising
land, and little conical hills almost joining, which overhung the
river on the right bank in Uzégura, on the other side. We seldom met
any people on the line of march; and the land being totally
uncultivated, excepting in the immediate vicinity of these villages,
we felt as though we were travelling through a desert wild of dreary
jungle--which, indeed, it was. No animals, and scarcely any birds,
moved about to cheer and keep the road alive; and all was silent, save
the constant gurgling, rumbling sound of the river's waters as they
rushed rapidly over boulders and often plunged down many little falls
in the bed of the stream. On passing the point opposite to Tongué
Fort, we saw the cause which produced the sound like a cataract, which
formerly we had heard when standing on its summit. It was, indeed, a
cascade of considerable dimensions, and would, doubtless, be a sight
of pleasing grandeur when the river is full.
In the afternoon of the 22d, as we approached Chogué, the little
Beluch jemadar, with the rest of the guard, turned out to welcome us,
and gloat over the successful termination of an artful trick he felt
himself the father of. He spread mats for us to sit upon, and brought
the universal coffee-pot and some sweetmeats as a relish to refresh us
and increase the triumph; for the little man, no doubt, thought he had
gained his prize.
The next three days were spent in making different excursions,
shooting hippopotami in the vicinity of the outpost; and on the 26th
February we returned to Pangani, Captain Burton dropping down the
river in a canoe, whilst I, to complete the survey of the country and
to check my former work on the river, walked with Bombay to Pombui,
ferried across the stream there, and came by the right bank down to
Buéni, on the shore of the Pangani Bay. Here I recrossed the river
again, and found Sheikh Said and my "boy" Gaetano, with all the traps
arranged, ready at the old house for our reception. Our vessel had
been discharged at the expiration of the first month's engagement, and
we were now expecting a second one from Zanzibar, to continue the
cruise southward along the shore, and gain a fuller knowledge of the
various entrepôts of caravans. I had by this time become much attached
to Bombay, for I must say I never saw any black man so thoroughly
honest and conscientious as he was, added to which, his generosity was
unbounded; and I thought (as we shall see afterwards proved to be the
case) he would turn out a most valuable servant for the future
journey--a regular "Friday." The only difficulty now was how to obtain
his discharge from the service he was in; but this the jemadar, who
followed us down to Pangani to receive the wages for the men who
accompanied us to Fuga, said he would arrange, if Bombay felt willing,
and would leave a substitute to act for him whilst he was away. A
compact was accordingly concluded, by which Bombay became my servant
for the time being, at five dollars per mensem, with board and lodging
on the journey found him. The jemadar now left us, with a present for
himself and the hire of his men, and we were all alone.
On the 1st March a violent bilious fever attacked me, and also floored
Captain Burton and Valantine. It appeared in the form of the yellow
jack of Jamaica, and made us all as yellow as guineas; and had we been
able to perspire, I have no doubt we should have sweated out a sort of
yellow ochre which a painter might have coveted. In this state we lay
physicking ourselves until the 5th, when a vessel chartered by the
Consul, and stored with delicacies of all kinds by our generous,
thoughtful old host for the journey southwards, arrived, and took us
off. Captain Burton being still under the influences of this terrible
scourge, and very ill, even to absolute prostration, and occasionally
wandering in his mind, he gave up his projected plans, and we returned
at once to Zanzibar, reaching it on the 6th March.
The Masika, or great vernal rainy season which follows up the sun as
it passes to the north, broke over the island of Zanzibar this year
early in April, and was expected to last for its normal period of
forty days. For this to subside we had now to wait here as patiently
as we could, occupying the spare time so forced on us in purchasing an
outfit and in preparing for the journey. It was highly interesting to
see here at this season of the year, as we well could do, so near the
equator, the regular systematic procession of the wind and rain
following up the sun in its northward passage. The atmosphere, at this
time and place, was heated and rarefied by the vertical rays of the
sun; that produced a vacuum, which the cold airs of the south taking
advantage of, rush up to fill, and with their coldness condense the
heated vapours drawn up daily from the ocean and precipitate them back
again on the earth below. This occurring and continually repeating day
by day, for a certain time, nearly in the same place, fills the air
with electric excitement, which causes thunder and lightning to
accompany nearly every storm. The atmospheric air's being so
surcharged with electricity was palpably felt by the nervous system;
at any rate, judging from myself, I can only say I experienced a
nervous sensibility I never knew before, of being startled at any
sudden accident. A pen dropping from the table even would make me
jump. Whilst stopping here, the Colonel's house was one continuous
scene of pleasure and festivities. The British Consulate was the
common rendezvous of all men: Arab, Hindi, German, French, or
American, were all alike received without distinction or any forced
restraint. Indeed, the old Consul literally studied the mode of making
people happy; and Zanzibar, instead of being an outlandish place, such
as to make one wonder how men could exile themselves by coming here,
was really a place of great enjoyment. The merchants, on the other
hand, were not less hospitably inclined, and constantly entertained
and gave very handsome dinners.
Besides our Consulate, there is a French and an American one, and the
European merchants were composed of French, Germans, and
Americans,--the dark-coloured ones being principally confined to
Arabs, Hindis, and the Wasuahili, or coast people. Taking advantage of
the time, especially the evenings, I spent most of them in rating the
chronometers and getting all the surveying instruments into working
order; whilst Captain Burton, besides book-making, busied himself in
making all the other arrangements for the journey, such as purchasing
Venetian beads, brass wire, and American sheetings, &c., which come
here in shiploads round the Cape of Good Hope, or in buying donkeys
for our riding and their transport. Then in the cool of the mornings
we took social walks or rides through the clove plantations, or
amongst the palms, mango-trees, and orange gardens, treating
pine-apples, which grew like common weeds on the roadsides, as if they
were nothing better than ordinary turnips, though when placed upon the
table they are certainly as delicious as any living fruit. The only
fine houses are those occupied by the Europeans and the Sultan, and
they front the harbour, which is considered a very good one, and is
very constantly filled with shipping, the Sultan's men-of-war, foreign
square-rigged vessels, and a host of buggaloes from Aden, Muscat,
Catch, and Bombay. The back of the town is very much like a common
Indian bazaar, but there is a hollow square in its centre, which
nowadays is peculiar to this place--it is the slave-market.
Immediately after every fresh importation, you can see in the early
morning unhappy-looking men and women, all hideously black and ugly,
tethered to one another like horses in a fair, and calculating men,
knowing judges of flesh and limb, walking up and down, feeling their
joints and looking out to make a bargain. Women, of course, sell
better than the men, being fitted to more general purposes. For a good
wife any sum might be given. But the saddest sight which came under my
observation was the way in which some licentious-looking men began a
cool, deliberate inspection of a certain divorced culprit who had been
sent back to the market for inconstancy to her husband. She had learnt
a sense of decency during her conjugal life, and the blushes on her
face now clearly showed how her heart was mortified at this unseemly
exposure, made worse because she could not help it.
The amount of information gathered by the expedition concerning the
interior of Africa at Zanzibar, I may say was _nil_, to use Captain
Burton's own words, in a letter written at the British Consulate, 22d
April 1857, and published in the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical
Society, page 52 of No. 1, vol. ii., where these remarkable words may
be found:--"We could obtain no useful information from the European
merchants of Zanzibar, who are mostly ignorant of everything beyond
the island. The Arabs and Sawahilis, who were averse to, and fearful
of, white travellers, _did_ give us information, but it was worse than
none."
The orders of the Royal Geographical Society to Captain Burton were
these, in short:--"The great object of the expedition is to penetrate
inland from Kilwa, or some other place on the east coast of Africa,
and make the best of your way to the reputed Lake of Nyassa; to
determine the position and limits of that lake; to ascertain the depth
and nature of its waters and tributaries; to explore the country
around it, &c. Having obtained all the information you require in that
quarter, you are to proceed northwards towards the range of mountains
marked upon our maps as containing the probable sources of the Bahr el
Abiad, which it will be your next great object to discover."
Bearing these instructions in mind, Captain Burton naturally felt
desirous of penetrating from Kilwa to attack the missionaries' great
slug-shaped lake in the tail. The reason why Captain Burton was
prevented from doing so, I shall show again by a reference to the same
letter. He writes thus:--"The accounts formerly made in Europe about
the facility of penetrating inland from Kilwa (Quiloa), and the
economy of travel in that region, are fabulous. The southern Sawahili
are more hostile to explorers than the inhabitants of the northern
maritime towns, and their distance from the seat of government renders
them daring by impunity. But last year they persuaded the Waginda
tribe of the interior to murder a peaceful Arab merchant, in order
that strangers might be deterred from interfering with their commerce.
Messrs Krapf and Erhardt, of the Mombas mission, spent a few hours at
Kilwa, where they were civilly received by the governor and citizens,
but they were sadly deceived in being led to imagine that they could
make that port their starting-point." "We shall probably land at
Bagamoyo."
Now we did land at Kaolé, close to Bagamoyo, but the route from Kilwa
to Nyassa was afterwards safely traversed by Dr Boscher, though, after
that, Boscher was murdered by some thieves in Whiyow.[41] Having said
this much, which shows that Captain Burton was bent on going by the
great caravan road to Ujiji, I shall first of all dwell on the nature
of the men we took with us, what agreements they made, and what pays
they received. I feel bound to state this, as I was called on by the
Consul to witness the agreements, and much of the journey was
performed by myself alone; added to which, the funds of the expedition
fell short, and as soon as it did so, I made a compact with Captain
Burton that, in the event of the Government not paying our excess of
expenditure, I would pay him the half of all those expenses; and I did
so to the extent of £600 after the journey was over.
Our cafila bashi (head of caravan) was Sheikh Said, who went with us
to Mombas. He said he would go with us if we only went to Ujiji on the
Tanganyika Lake, but he would not go on any other line, as his
relatives feared some accident might befall him. For this he received
from Colonel Hamerton 500 dollars; and he was promised, if he
succeeded in pleasing us, 1000 dollars more, and a gold watch, on his
return. There was a little more difficulty in getting a Beluch escort,
for the Consul cautioned us that we could not expect the Sultan to
give one gratis. He asked the Sultan, however, for men, and we were
told we might have them out of his army if they would volunteer. The
head jemadar then came to make a bargain, and we said we would give to
each man five dollars a-month, besides rations and clothing the same
as Bombay got. This bait would not take, and we could not get one man
until the Consul again spoke to the Sultan about it. A party then were
marched up to the Consulate, when, in addition to the pay already
offered, they demanded flesh as often as we killed a goat, bullock, or
sheep, but they would not serve more than six months. To this last
stipulation, arguing on my Somali experiences, I stoutly objected, but
was overruled both by Colonel Hamerton and Captain Burton. The Colonel
then gave the jemadar of our party a present of 25 dollars, and to
each of the privates 20 dollars, to set themselves up for the journey.
Further, he promised them a handsome reward on their return if they
served us well, to be paid out of some public fund in the same way as
he paid Sheikh Said.
The rest of our escort consisted of some slaves, who were furnished us
by a Banyan named Ramji. They were armed with muskets, and enlisted
not to carry loads, but to guard us and treat with the native chiefs
on the line of march, as they were familiar with the road to Ujiji,
and were friends with the chiefs we should find there. Their pay was
fixed at 5 dollars a-month, half of which they were to keep
themselves, and the other half to be given to their master in
compensation for the loss of their services. Further, six months'
wages at this rate was to be paid in advance, and the remainder when
the journey was over; but leaving a clause to the effect that they
might be discharged at any time, supposing we did not require their
services further.
Everybody at Zanzibar did his best to assist us, from the Sultan
downwards. The European merchants gave us most hospitable
entertainments on a very grand scale, and Mr Oswald, in particular,
transported our spare boxes to England. Ladha, the customs master, was
our banker, and found our outfit of beads, brass wire, and cloths,
which is the circulating medium in inner Africa instead of money.
Colonel Hamerton was so anxious for the success of the expedition,
that he obtained a man-of-war--the corvette Artemise--from the Sultan
on the 16th June 1857, and accompanied us over to Kaolé on the
mainland, notwithstanding at the time he was dangerously ill. For some
time we were detained here collecting baggage animals to carry our
property. All we wanted could not be procured, as the bulk of the
pagazis (porters) had been previously hired by the ivory merchant
traders. However, thirty-six men were sent forward to Zungoméro by
Ladha, and we bought thirty donkeys. When all was done that could be
done in a hurry, we bade the generous old Colonel adieu, as well as
his medical attendant, Mr Frost, and commenced the journey inland on
the 27th June--Ladha promising to send the rest of our property after
us as soon as he could find carriage for it.
I have already published, in my 'Journal of the Discovery of the
Source of the Nile,' a description of the countries we had to pass
through to reach Kazé, so I shall not trouble the reader with the
details on that point, contained in my previous publication. Suffice
it to say that Kazé is a place in the centre of Unyamuézi, the Land of
the Moon, situated in S. lat. 5°, and E. long. 33°. It is occupied by
Arab merchants as a central trading depôt, and is fast expanding into
a colony. At the time of our starting we did not know that, but
imagined we should find a depôt of that sort at Ujiji. Travelling
through the country of Uzaramo, both Captain Burton and I contracted
fevers. Mine occasionally recurred at various intervals, but his stuck
to him throughout the journey, and even lasted till some time after he
came home.
At Zungoméro we overtook the porters that Ladha had sent forward. I
calculated our rate of expenditure, found we had not enough for the
necessities of the journey, and prevailed on Captain Burton to write
back for more, notwithstanding our Government subsidy was out; for I
could not brook the idea of failure, even though we might have to pay
our future travelling expenses out of our own pockets.
I was also shocked here to hear that our good stanch friend, Colonel
Hamerton, had died shortly after we left him. It struck a blow also on
the minds of Sheikh Said and the Beluches, for they naturally thought
their security was gone. Sheikh Said, however, I must say, very much
to his credit, soon shook off his fears, and even told the Beluches to
do the same, for another consul would come who would see justice done
to them.
We then left Zungoméro and crossed the East Coast Range. During this
stage the Beluches one day struck for food, as they were disappointed
at our not killing goats, the fact being that I had supplied our table
with guinea-fowls. An altercation took place which I had to settle, as
was invariably the case when any difficulties arose in the camp. I
managed the matter by ordering a march. This brought them to reason,
for hitherto they thought we should be afraid to go without them. The
consequence was that, finding themselves left behind, they forgot
their wrath and followed us. On the way they found Captain Burton
lying by the roadside prostrate with fever, and, taking compassion on
him, brought him into camp. They were forgiven; but another difficulty
arose in consequence of our donkeys dying faster than their loads were
consumed, so that we could not have proceeded had not some of Ramji's
slaves carried some loads for us. Our supplies were already too short
for our journey; nevertheless, Captain Burton said he would pay them
if they carried our loads.
They did so; but Captain Burton, on my saying we should find it
difficult to keep faith with them, mildly replied, "Arabs made
promises in that way, but never kept them; and, moreover, slaves of
this sort never expected to be paid." I grew angry at this
declaration--for I had seen Tibet ruined by officers not keeping faith
with their porters--and argued the matter, but without effect. On
arrival at Ugogi, on the west flank of the East Coast Range, our
cattle were so completely done up that we could not have proceeded,
had it not happened, by the greatest luck in the world, we found some
pagazis here desirous of going to their homes in Unyamuézi. They had
been left there by a caravan in consequence of a quarrel which
originated in seduction. This lift took us over the interior plateau
across Ugogo and Mgunda Mkhali to Kazé, where we arrived on the 7th
November 1857. The Arabs we found collected here were extremely
obliging, especially one Sheikh Snay, who furnished us with a house,
looked after our wants, and supplied us with much useful information.
On my opening Messrs Rebmann and Erhardt's map, and asking him where
Nyassa was, he said it was a distinct lake from Ujiji, lying to the
southward. This opened our eyes to a most interesting fact, for the
first time discovered. I then asked what the word Ukéréwé meant, and
was answered in the same way, that it was a lake to the northward,
much larger than Ujiji, and this solved the mystery. The missionaries
had run three lakes into one. In great glee at this I asked Snay,
through Captain Burton, whether or not a river ran out of that lake?
to which he replied, he thought the lake was the source of the Jub
river; and he strongly advised us, if our only motive in coming here
was to look at a large piece of water, to go to it instead of on to
Ujiji. Captain Burton and I argued that we thought the lake in
question, which was the Victoria N'yanza, would more likely prove to
be the source of the Nile, from the simple fact of our knowing the Jub
to be separated from the interior plateau by the East Coast Range.
Time wore on. Our pagazis all left us, as is usual, on their arriving
at their homes, and we had to procure more to carry our traps on to
Ujiji.
Captain Burton attempted to get porters by giving presents to the best
two men we had for that purpose, but without the least effect. They
promised and kept us waiting, but never performed. In the mean time
Captain Burton got desperately ill, whilst I picked up all the
information I could gather from the Arabs, with Bombay as an
interpreter.[42] I heard that the Babisa, who live on the west of
Nyassa, came to the southeast corner of Tanganyika in quest of ivory
for the Kilua merchants. That caravans sometimes reached the Cazembé
country by land, crossing the Manungu river, and also went to Katata
for copper, which is of a dark rich red colour, and more prized than
the imported copper. Some Arabs also went down the Tanganyika,
disembarked at Manungu, and reached Cazembé. Further, I heard from
Snay and his associates that the Kitangulé and Katonga rivers ran out
of the Ukéréwé Lake (Victoria N'yanza), and that another river, which
is the Nile, but supposed by them to be the upper portions of the Jub
river, ran into the N'yanza. Further conversation explained this away,
and I made them confess that all these rivers ran exactly contrary to
the way they first stated; as it was obvious, if the N'yanza was the
source of the Jub, the last river alluded to must flow out of the lake
instead of into it, as they had said. Still more extraordinary than
this, I heard from Snay that vessels frequented some waters to the
northward of the equator, which confirmed some statement I had heard
of the same nature in 1855 when travelling in the Somali country. I
could not fix in my own mind exactly what this alluded to; but I felt
so curious to find out, and so sure in my own mind that the Victoria
N'yanza would prove to be the source of the Nile, I proposed going to
see it at once, instead of going on to Ujiji. The route, however, to
the northward was said to be dangerous--Usui alone would seize all our
property--and Captain Burton preferred going west. How this even was
to be managed then seemed very dubious, for not one of Ramji's slaves
would come near us, and the Beluches were so tired of the journey they
begged for their discharge, crying it was their due, as they had
served their turn of service. They wanted no pay if we would only give
them certificates of satisfaction. We would not do this; and then they
said, as they saw we wanted them, they would not desert us.
We had now been at Kazé rather more than a month, and I thought
Captain Burton would die if we did not make a move, so I begged him to
allow me to assume the command _pro tem._, and I would see what I
could do to effect a move. Accordingly, as he agreed, I made
arrangements with Snay, and transported half our property to Zimbili,
where I prepared a house for Captain Burton's reception on the 5th
December. Three days after he was carried over, and he begged me to
take account of his effects, as he thought he would die. I cheered him
up, and found the change of air had the effect I desired. Still
Ramji's men would not come out to camp, so I tried with Bombay to see
what they had at heart, and then it transpired they had not been paid
for carrying loads on from the East Coast Range to Kazé. In a minute I
recollected Captain Burton's promise to them, brought them into the
camp, and paid them their dues.
Bit by bit we pushed on to Mséné, another small colony occupied
chiefly by Wasuahili, and here we ate our Christmas dinner. The
country was rich in the extreme, and well under rice cultivation.
Ramji's men were quite in their element here, and even Bombay became
so _love-sick_ we could hardly tear him away. We broke ground on the
10th January 1858, but not until three days after did the whole of our
men join us. I saw now we had too many mouths to feed; and as Ramji's
men had been hired more for show than work, their term of service had
just expired, and I did not think we should require their guns any
more, I begged Captain Burton to give them a present each, with leave
to go to their homes--for it must be remembered they possess homes in
Unyamuézi as well as at Zanzibar. The men craved to be allowed to go
on with us, but I, more than any one else, insisted we ought to get
rid of them, for the reasons stated above; and so they were
discharged. I found we were on a great decline of the country draining
to the westward; the soil was deeper and richer, and the vegetation
proportionately richer as we went on with the journey. Shortly we
crossed the Malagarazi river in a bark canoe at the Mpété ferry, and
found that, after having travelled along this decline from Kazé about
one hundred and fifty miles, we began to ascend at the eastern horn of
a large crescent-shaped mass of mountains overhanging the northern
half of the Tanganyika Lake, which I am now about to describe.
This mountain mass I consider to be THE TRUE MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON,
regarding which so many erroneous speculations have been ventured. I
infer this because they lie beyond Unyamuézi (country of the Moon),
and must have been first mentioned to geographical inquirers by the
Wanyamuézi (people of the Moon), who have from time out of mind
visited the coast, and must have been the first who gave information
of them. I am the more satisfied of the correctness of this view from
observing the missionaries' map; for what could have induced them to
call their great lake, in general terms, the Sea of the Moon, except
that it lay beyond the country of the Moon?[43] The mountains form a
crescent overhanging the north end of the lake, large and deep in the
body to the north, and tapering to horns as they stretch southwards
down the east and west sides of the lake. Our line of march, about six
hundred rectilinear geographical miles, had been nearly due west from
Zanzibar. Here you may picture to yourself my bitter disappointment
when, after toiling through so many miles of savage life, all the time
emaciated by divers sicknesses and weakened by great privations of
food and rest, I found, on approaching the zenith of my ambition, the
Great Lake in question nothing but mist and glare before my eyes. From
the summit of the eastern horn the lovely Tanganyika Lake could be
seen in all its glory by everybody but myself. The fact was, that
fevers and the influence of a vertical sun had reduced my system so,
that inflammation, caught by sleeping on the ground during this rainy
season, attacked my eyes, brought on an almost total blindness, and
rendered every object before me enclouded as by a misty veil.
Proceeding onwards down the western slopes of the hill, we soon
arrived at the margin of the lake, and hired a canoe at Ukaranga to
take us to Ujiji, the chief place on the lake which Arabs frequent.
This is a name we had long been familiar with, and is the term by
which the Arabs in general call this lake. This mode of nomenclature
is quite in accordance with the usual custom of semi-civilised people,
as we see in Arabia, where the Arabs call the Red Sea by the names of
the different ports which they frequent. Thus, for instance, at
Jeddah, it is called by them the Sea of Jeddah, whilst at Suez it is
the Sea of Suez, &c. &c. The Tanganyika Lake, lying between 3° and 8°
south latitude, and in 29° east longitude, has a length of three
hundred miles, and is from thirty to forty broad in its centre. The
surface-level, as I ascertained by the temperature of boiling water,
is only eighteen hundred feet, and it appears quite sunk into the lap
of these mountains. Its waters are very sweet, and abound with
delicious fish in great variety. The fertility of the northern end of
the lake surpassed anything we had hitherto seen; but this was not
surprising when duly considered. The hills, instead of being, as on
the great plateau we had recently left, outcrops of granite, were
composed of argillaceous sandstone. Rains there lasted all the year
round, and the temperature was very considerable. In consequence of
this the sides of the lake are thickly inhabited by numerous tribes of
the true negro breed, amongst which the most conspicuous are the
Wabembé cannibals, into whose territory no Arabs durst ever venture.
Bombay, my interpreter, describes them as being very dreadful
creatures, who are "always looking out for some of our sort." The port
we finally arrived at is called Kawélé, a small village in the Ujiji
district. Here we landed all our property, and took up our abode in a
deserted house, which had been left to decay by some Arab merchants.
The Beluch guard received a present of cloth; they seemed very glad
the land march was at an end. In that respect we felt the same as our
men; but we found ourselves in the hands of a very ill-disposed chief,
called Kannina--tyrannical, and, as such savages invariably are,
utterly unreasonable. A heavy tribute was paid for the advantages of
this savage monster's _protection_, and we were too short of beads and
cloth to search out for and pay another chief of more moderate
inclinations. This was a serious misfortune; for, having once entered
his dominions and established our headquarters there, we could not
very well leave them. This was the more distressing, as comfort,
pleasure, and everything is at the mercy of these headsmen's wills,
and we were destined for a long sojourn here. To war with these chiefs
is like "cutting off the nose to spite the face." Nobody, let his
desire be what it may, dares assist you without the chief's full
approbation; and Kannina's austere government we had occasion to feel
from first to last. Our first object on arrival was to get boats for
the survey of the lake; but here arose a difficulty. Hostilities were
rife with nearly all the border tribes; and the little cockle-shell
canoes, made from the hollowed trunks of trees, are not only liable to
be driven ashore by the slightest storm, but are so small that there
is but little stowage-room in them for carrying supplies. The sailors,
aware of this defect, fear to venture anywhere except on certain
friendly beats, and therefore their boats were quite unfitted for our
work.
This dilemma made us try to hire a dhow or sailing-vessel, belonging
to Sheikh Hamed bin Suléyim, living at Kasengé Island, on the opposite
or western shore, as it was the only boat afloat on these waters
fitted for carrying provisions and moving about independent of the
border clans. On arriving here, we were so disabled by
sickness--Captain Burton utterly, and I suffering from ophthalmia, and
a weakness in the lower extremities resembling paralysis--that my
companion proposed sending our Ras-cafila, Sheikh Said, across the
lake to bargain for the dhow, and applied to Kannina for the means of
transport. At first he seemed inclined to treat, though at an
exorbitant rate; but when we came direct to terms, he backed entirely
out. Fortunately we obtained a boat and crew from another chief, at
the extortionate charge of four kitindis and four dhotis merikani,
besides the usual sailors' fee. The dhoti is a piece of American
sheeting measuring eight cubits. The cubit is still the negro's yard,
the same as was adopted at the time of the Flood; they have no other
measure than that with which nature has provided them--viz., the first
joint of the arm, or from the elbow to the top of the middle finger.
These kitindis are a sort of brass-wire bracelet worn on the lower arm
by the negro females, coiled up from the wrist to the elbow, like a
wax taper circling up a stick or stem. Sometimes this wire is reformed
and coiled flat out round the neck to a breadth of about eight inches,
and gives the wearer's head much the appearance of John the Baptist's
standing in the middle of a charger. These necklaces are never taken
off, so at night, or resting-time, the wearer on lying down places a
block of wood or stone beneath his head, to prevent the wire from
galling. This concession of the chief was given under the proviso that
Kannina would not object, which, strange to say, he promised not to
do; and hopes were entertained of an early departure. However, this,
like every other earthly expectation in these black regions, was
destined to be disappointed. In the first place, an African must do
everything by easy stages, nor can he entertain two ideas in his head
at the same moment. First a crew had to be collected, and when
collected to be paid, and when paid the boat was found to be
unseaworthy, and must be plugged; and so much time elapsed, and plans
were changed. But after all, things, it happened, were wisely
ordained; for the time thus wasted served to recruit my health, as I
employed it in bathing and strolling gently about during the cool of
the mornings and evenings, and so gained considerable benefit. There
is a curious idea here with regard to the bathing-place, in fancying
the dreaded crocodile will obey the mandates of a charm. They plant
the bough of a particular tree in the water about fifty yards from the
shore, which marks the line of safe bathing, for within it they say
the animal dares not venture. At noon, protected by an umbrella, and
fortified with stained-glass spectacles, I usually visited the
market-place, with beads in hand, to purchase daily supplies. The
market is held between the hours of 10 A.M. and 4 P.M., near the port,
and consists of a few temporary huts, composed of grass and branches
hastily tied together. Most of these are thrown up day by day. The
commodities brought for sale are fish, flesh, tobacco, palm oil, and
spirits, different kinds of potatoes, artichokes, several sorts of
beans, plantains, melons, cotton, sugar-cane, a variety of pulse and
vegetables, ivories, and sometimes slaves. Between these
perambulations, I spent the day reclining with my eyes shut. At
length, after eighteen days' negotiations, improved by these
constitutional diversions and rest, and longing for a change,
especially one that led across the sea, and afforded the means of
surveying it, I proposed to go myself, and treat directly with Sheikh
Hamed. Captain Burton threw obstacles in my way at first, saying
canoes were not safe on such a large lake, but he finally gave in when
I pressed the advisability of my doing so. This intention soon reached
the ears of Kannina, who, fearing that he might thus lose much cloth,
threw obstacles in the way, and most unjustly demanded as large a
passport-fee for my crossing as had been given to the other chief;
which demand we were obliged to comply with, or the men would not take
up an oar.