CHAPTER XI

NOTES ON THE WILD FAUNA OF SOMÁLILAND

THE LION (_Felis leo_)

Native name, _Libah_

Lion-shooting involves long halts of several days among the Somáli

karias, with crowds of natives continually standing round camp, the dust

from the countless camels and sheep filling the air and covering the

bushes. Under these circumstances it may well be understood that other

game is scarce, and that sitting unoccupied in camp waiting for news of a

lion is not always interesting. Frequently the news which is brought in

of lions having visited karias two or three miles away, taking a sheep

or a heifer, or a young camel, as the case may be, is very unreliable.

Yet the hunter must be ready to start on the instant, and after a tramp

lasting from five to ten hours, he will return as often as not to his

tent tired out, the victim of a silly hoax concocted for the purpose of

wheedling _bakshísh_ out of him.

Every few days one of these trips will probably end in a real find, and

then grand excitement will be felt in creeping among the tunnels made

by the dark _khansa_ bushes, looking for the crouching enemy, which

may spring up from any distance and from any direction; and there is

an additional danger in three or four men being huddled together with

rifles on full cock in such jungle.

As I have been nearly always travelling incessantly and generally on

duty, I have seldom had time to wait among the Somáli karias for news

of lions, and when I have been on leave, and time has permitted, I have

generally preferred to camp among the mountains and look for large

koodoo, amid fine scenery and away from the noise and dust of inhabited

country. This, to my mind, is by far the most fascinating sport to be had

in Somáliland. I have, however, had many shots at lions when marching,

and have brought home the trophies of four. To make a good bag of lions,

it is necessary to devote a trip exclusively to lion-shooting, but to my

mind the bright moments of intense excitement do not come often enough to

compensate for the long monotonous days in camp.

Lions are still numerous in Somáliland, chiefly in unexplored parts

of the Haud and Ogádén. It is probable that many of the Haud lions

never drink except when they can find pools of rain-water. They may be

encountered at all times of the year at distances up to fifty miles or

more from the nearest water. The Midgáns go after them a good deal, and

bring their skins to Berbera and Aden for sale, but they are seldom good

skins, very often being riddled with spear holes inflicted wantonly after

death. When a lion has committed so many depredations among the karias

that the men living in them are roused to the point of banding together

to kill him, Somális and Midgáns, according to their own account, go

after him on horseback till they bring him to a standstill in the open.

Then they bait him by galloping round at full speed and shouting. The

lion turns this way and that, trying to face them as they whirl round;

and getting confused with the shouting and dust, he falls a prey to the

arrows of the Midgáns, who mount and ride away to a safe distance with

the other Somális, and wait for his death. Sometimes one of the horsemen

is knocked over: an angry lion, unless too done up to make good his

charge, being easily able to catch a bad or a tired pony.

The movements of the native encampments seem chiefly to influence the

changes of quarters of the lions, the latter following the karias as they

move to fresh pastures. When a family, with its flocks and herds and its

karias, moves, its attendant lions, if there should be any, accompany it,

being sometimes man-eaters and more often cattle-eaters. Last June my own

caravan, while returning to the coast from Ogádén, was followed during

two days, over a distance of forty miles, by a pair of hungry lions. We

discovered this by chance, when some scouts of mine happened to go back

along the road.

A few years ago there used to be plenty of lions in Guban, in the

reeds bordering the Issutugan river, and about Kabri-Bahr, and along

the foot of Gólis Range. Now the best country for them is decidedly

the Haud Plateau and Ogádén, where there are still a good many. Milmil

is sometimes a good place; also the base of Bur Dab Mountain, and the

Waredad Plain, where there are patches of _durr_ grass an acre or two

in extent, with a few shady thorn-trees growing within them. They make

their lair in the high grass under the shade of a tree, and as the grass

patches are surrounded by bare red soil or sand, the pugs are easily

found, and the brutes can be driven out into the open and shot. Lions

living in the Haud, where it is elevated five thousand to six thousand

feet, have better coats and manes than those found in Guban or in Ogádén,

and the best skins I have seen have come from the elevated _ban_ or open

prairie. All the animals of the elevated country have thicker coats than

those of the corresponding varieties found in the low country, this being

necessary, no doubt, as a protection against the cold.

THE ELEPHANT (_Elephas africanus_)

Native name, _Maródi_

The Somáli elephant has within the last five years been much persecuted

by sportsmen, and I am afraid that if this destruction goes on, in the

near future there will be none left in Northern Somáliland, for they have

entirely left their old haunts. In 1884, when Egypt evacuated Somáliland,

elephants were plentiful on Wagar and Gólis, coming down to the southern

edge of the Maritime mountains. Driven in December by the cold from the

high interior, they wandered down the sand-rivers, feeding on the _armo_

creepers and aloes.

Since Sir Richard Burton’s expedition thirty-nine years ago, few, if

any, Europeans entered Somáliland until 1884, when two officers from Aden

visited Gólis in search of elephants almost simultaneously with Mr. F.

L. James’s expedition to the Webbe. From this time the disappearance of

the elephant has been very rapid, and nearly all the herds have retired

to the mountainous country in which the Tug Fáfan takes its rise; but

a few herds still come down annually into the Gadabursi country. In

1884 elephants were shot at Dalaat and Digwein, places near Mandeira

in the interior plain north of Gólis; and since that year I have never

heard of them anywhere in this plain. In 1887 I had to ascend to Wagar

before finding any, and since then they have retired from Wagar and

Gólis altogether, and are never now by any chance, I believe, found east

of Hargeisa, unless we except herds which wander eastward into the far

interior of Ogádén from the western valleys of the Harar Highlands.

The cause of elephants having been driven away to such an extent is that

sportsmen have not been satisfied with the death of a bull or two here

and there, but have slaughtered large numbers of cows. In the first

enthusiasm of elephant-shooting it is conceivable that a sportsman may

shoot two or three cows as well as bulls, as I have done; but there

is no reason, except the temptation afforded by very exciting sport,

why large numbers of elephants of both sexes should be destroyed in

Somáliland. They do no harm to the few plots of cultivation scattered at

wide intervals, and very few Somális will eat their flesh. Though the

elephants themselves are of the average size, this mountain ivory is

probably as small as any to be found in Africa, sixty pounds being a very

good pair of tusks, though greater weights have of course been recorded

in exceptional cases.

I believe the question of the desirability of training and using the

African elephants for transport is one which will become more important

every year as Africa is opened up. Provided something could be done to

stop the wholesale slaughter of elephants by English sportsmen, there

is still a probability that the whole of our Somáli Protectorate would

become restocked, for in the chaos of rugged gorges which descend

abruptly from the Harar Highlands into Ogádén there are still plenty.

I do not think that a moderate amount of elephant-shooting, properly

regulated, does much harm, but the herds are certain to leave places

where they have been hunted about without respite season after season,

and where large numbers have been slaughtered.

In the Gólis Range there are many of the old elephant paths still

existing, but the bones are very seldom found; and the Somális have a

theory to account for this. In 1886 I went to Digwein, where an officer

had shot a large bull elephant two years before, and I was shown the

exact spot where it had been killed; and rummaging among the bushes we

found the jaw-bones, with the heavy grinders still embedded in them.

The Somális said this was all that was left of it, because the Esa Músa

cattle and the koodoo antelopes had eaten all the soft parts of the bones.

THE BLACK RHINOCEROS (_Rhinoceros bicornis_)

Native name, _Wiyil_

[Illustration: SOMÁLI RHINOCEROS (_Rhinoceros bicornis_).]

For many years the black rhinoceros has been known to exist in the

interior of Somáliland; and going farther in every year, I have

constantly been expecting to come into its ground.

The first Somáli rhinoceroses were shot by my brother and myself in our

Abyssinian border trip in August 1892, and since then only a few have

been bagged by Europeans. They come far north of the range of the zebras,

sometimes wandering as far towards the coast as the open grass plains of

Toyo, a hundred miles south of Berbera, where they hide in the patches of

_durr_ grass. They are common in the southern parts of the Haud; I never

found any signs of them during many expeditions in the Habr Awal, Esa,

and Gadabursi countries. They are most common in the valleys of the Tug

Jerer and Tug Fáfan, and thence southward as far as the Webbe; and they

are also plentiful beyond the Webbe in Gállaland. Rhinoceroses are said

to exist to the south-east of Berbera, but in our trip to the Dolbahanta

country we never saw any traces of them.

We found these to be the most stupid game animals we have encountered,

and easily approached if the wind was right. They were not very prone to

charge, and in their blind, headlong rush seemed to see nothing, so that

by stepping to one side and standing perfectly still a man would probably

be safe. The transparent and thorny nature of the _billeil_ bush, which

is always their last sanctuary, renders a man rather helpless, and if

seen and charged, and unable to find elbow-room owing to the walls of

impenetrable thorns, he would probably be killed. Rhinoceros-shooting is

very exciting, but it is chiefly the fearful nature of the jungle which

makes it so. I have never seen more than three of these brutes together.

The ground they usually prefer is a network of very stony, broken hills,

covered with _galól_ or _billeil_ jungle, and having some river-bed not

too many miles distant, where they can go at night to drink and bathe.

They travel considerable distances to the river, and wander all night up

and down the channel looking for a convenient pool, and making a maze of

tracks in the soft sand. The Abbasgúl, Malingúr, and Rer Amáden tribes

eat their flesh when hungry, and I found it very good, and once lived for

a week on very little else.

We could usually cut from fifteen to thirty fighting shields from each

rhinoceros, three-quarters of an inch thick and from fifteen to eighteen

inches in diameter, worth about a dollar apiece at the coast. Everywhere

in Central Ogádén the caravan tracks are furrowed in grooves a yard or

more long and six inches deep, which look like the work of a plough. This

is done by the rhinoceros as he walks along.

A good pair of bull’s horns measures nineteen inches for the front and

five inches for the back one.

ANTELOPES[53]—THE ORYX (_Oryx beisa_)

Native name, _Beit_

The oryx is a very stoutly-built, bovine antelope, standing as high as a

donkey, and inhabits open, stony ground, or barren hills, or open grass

plains. It is fairly common and very widely distributed over the Somáli

country, and it may be found in all kinds of country except the thick

jungle with aloe undergrowth which is so much liked by the lesser koodoo,

and the cedar forests on the higher ranges. The best oryx ground is in

the Haud and in Ogádén.

[Illustration: THE ORYX (_Oryx beisa_).

Length of horns, 34½ inches.]

The oryx feeds chiefly on grass, and is often found very far from water.

It has keen sight, and probably protects itself more by this than by its

sense of hearing or scent. Oryx are found in herds of from half a dozen

to thirty or forty, chiefly composed of cows. The only antelopes which

go in very large herds in Northern Somáliland are the hartebeest and

Sœmmering’s gazelle. Bull oryx are found wandering singly all over the

country, and possibly these make up in number for the preponderance of

cows in the herds.

Sometimes two or three cows with growing calves will be found together,

making up a small herd of half a dozen. It is nearly impossible to

distinguish which are the bulls in a herd, and they are so few in

proportion to the cows that it is best, if shooting for sport alone, not

to fire at herd animals at all. The bull is slightly thicker in the neck

and higher in the withers than the cow; and the horns, though an inch or

two shorter in the bull, are more massive, especially about the base,

and more symmetrical, whilst the cow’s horns are frequently bent and of

unequal length. The oryx is often revengeful when wounded and brought to

bay; twice I have seen a wounded one make a determined charge into a mob

of Somális armed with spears.

The Midgáns, who are armed with bows and poisoned arrows, hunt the oryx

with packs of savage yellow pariah dogs; the thick skin round the withers

of a bull is made by them into a white _gáshan_ or fighting shield. The

method of hunting, as carried out by the Midgáns in the Bulhár Plain, is

as follows: Three or four of them, with about fifteen dogs, go out just

before dawn, and walk along silently through the scattered thorn-trees

till fresh tracks are found, and these are followed till the game is

sighted. By throwing stones, whistling, and other signs which the dogs

understand, they are shown the herd, and settle down to their work.

The dogs run mute, the men following at a crouching trot, which in a

Somáli is untiring; and this lasts until the dogs open in chorus, having

brought the game to bay. The oryx make repeated charges at the dogs,

which they often wound or kill. If the latter can avoid the sharp horns

of the mother, they fasten on to a calf, and sometimes the whole herd

will charge to the rescue. The Midgáns run up silently under cover of

the bushes and let off a flight of poisoned arrows into the herd, which,

seeing the human enemy, takes to flight. Frequently an animal wounded by

a poisoned arrow takes a line of its own, and is in due time carefully

followed up and found dead, or it may be pulled down in its weak state by

the dogs.

It was many years ago, while wandering with my hunter, Ali Hirsi, in

the Bulhár Plain, that I first saw the trophies of a bull oryx, and at

once resolved that I would hunt nothing else till I had brought down a

specimen of this beautiful antelope. As we were walking through a thick

part of the bush we suddenly came upon a group of four Midgáns engaged

in lighting a fire under a large _gudá_ thorn-tree. Resting against the

trunk was the head of a freshly-killed oryx bull, with a grand pair of

horns, starting in continuation with the forehead and sweeping back in a

slight curve to a length of thirty-four inches. On the branches strips

of oryx meat were hanging, and on the ground lay the rest of the carcase

and the skin, which a man was cleaning with a knife, where it lay in a

pool of frothy blood. Round the tree nine pariah dogs lay about; they

were gnawing offal, and got up lazily, as I approached, to show their

teeth and growl at me, till kicked into silence by one of the Midgáns.

The group was a very striking one, and although I have since, while

feeding my followers in the interior, shot large numbers of oryx, none

have appeared to me so fine as this first one which I had not the good

fortune to shoot. I haggled with the Midgáns for the head and got it for

two dollars, and also engaged them with their dogs to come hunting with

me on the first day on which I should be able to get away from Bulhár.

At midnight, a week later, I rode out on a camel, accompanied by Ali

Hirsi, the four Midgáns, and nine dogs. We slept for a few hours at a

Midgán karia out on the plain, and at dawn struck due south into the

heart of the bush. As it became hot, after having seen nothing but

Walleri and small gazelles all the morning, we sat down to rest, sending

a boy, one of the Midgáns, up a thorn-tree to watch. The dogs lay round

us panting, with their tongues hanging out, and all the men were soon

asleep under the shade, except my Midgán sentry, who was softly intoning

his Mahomedan prayers as he sat perched on the tree. Suddenly he stopped

them with a jerk, slipped down the trunk of the tree, and came running

to me snapping his fingers. We all got up, and the Midgáns, by whistling

and throwing pebbles, put the dogs on to the broad path of a large herd

of oryx. Off we went, and after running for five minutes as fast as our

legs could carry us, the dogs being well out of sight, we heard a clamour

in the distance; and crouching low as we ran, came into a glade where we

found the herd bunched together round a thicket, keeping the dogs back,

the oryx charging repeatedly and the dogs dodging nimbly, trying to cut

out the young calves. Directly the oryx caught sight of us they scattered

like a bursting shell. I ran hard to cut off some of them, jumping over

low mimósas and stepping on large thorns, and the Midgáns sent a flight

of poisoned arrows whizzing past me at the flying herd. The Midgáns, I

knew, wanted meat, so I dropped a large cow with the .500 Express as she

galloped past at forty yards, rolling her over in her tracks. The Midgáns

rushing up, breathed a short prayer, slashed her throat open, and then

stood clear from the quivering body, while all the dogs fastened on to

a calf, which was soon lying beside the cow with its head cut off; and

after half an hour spent in lighting a fire and roasting some oryx meat,

we loaded up the rest and made for Bulhár.

I have had several trips with these Bulhár Midgáns in search of oryx.

Their camping arrangements are very primitive, and many a time have I

helped them to light a fire by rubbing two sticks together. Special wood

had to be chosen, and it generally took us from ten to twenty minutes to

get a light.

The skin on the withers of a bull oryx is much thicker than the rest

of the skin, being about three-quarters of an inch thick. The average

length of horns in a good bull is thirty-two inches, in a cow thirty-four

inches. Young oryx, when caught and confined in an enclosure, will

sometimes show their stubborn, wild nature by charging the bars, head

down, and so killing themselves; a case of this kind once occurred in

Berbera. The flesh of a calf oryx is, in my opinion, more delicious than

that of any other antelope, and lions are particularly fond of it. These

calves, when young, are very like those of English cattle in appearance,

but smaller, with stumpy, straight horns a few inches long. They give out

a peculiar half-bleat, half-bellow, when attacked by dogs or wounded. We

fell in with young calves about the middle of August in two successive

years. Oryx sometimes strike sideways with their horns as we use a stick.

When very angry they lower them till nearly parallel with the ground, and

make a dash forward for a few yards with surprising swiftness. Oryx are

often seen in company with hartebeests and Plateau gazelles. Once I saw

a small herd with some of these latter, and with the mixed herd were two

ostriches.

THE KOODOO (_Strepsiceros Koodoo_)

Native name, _Gódir_ or _Goriáleh Gódir_ (male); _Adér-yu_ (female);

_Adér-yu_ (collective name for herd animals of both sexes and all ages)

Koodoos are found in mountainous or very broken ground where there is

plenty of bush and good grass and water. The best koodoo grounds in

Somáliland are Gólis Range and the Gadabursi Hills. The large koodoos

scarcely exist in the parts of Ogádén which I have visited. Either they

never existed there, or, as my followers declared, they died of the

great epidemic of cattle disease four or five years ago. Ogádén Somális

constantly offer to show koodoo to a sportsman, but they appear to mean

the lesser koodoo; and this they call _Gódir_, knowing apparently of only

the one kind. The Ishák tribes, on the other hand, have names for both.

Sometimes a solitary old bull will make his midday lair close to water,

in some quiet part of the hills. They are very retiring, and live in

small families, two bulls and seven cows being the largest number I have

noticed together. They prefer the steepest mountains, but wander about

at night in search of grass in broken ground in the neighbouring plains.

An old male with a heavy pair of horns seems to avoid thick jungle,

where they may catch in the branches, and likes to spend the heat of

the day under the shadow of some great rock on the mountain side, where

he can get a good view around. His eyes, nose, and ears appear to be

equally on the alert, and he is often very cunning. Although such a heavy

animal, he is a good climber and is hard to stalk, but, once successfully

approached, the steep nature of the ground generally yields him up an

easy victim to the rifle. The alarm-note of the female koodoo is a loud,

startling bark, which echoes far into the surrounding hills, and is

similar to that of the Indian sambar hind.[54] The bark is accompanied by

an impatient pawing of the ground with the hoofs.

The habits of the greater and lesser koodoo exactly correspond

respectively to those of the sambar and spotted deer of Southern

India. Great koodoos live in the mountains, and lesser koodoos on the

bush-covered slopes at their base. Koodoos are generally timid, but care

must be taken when coming suddenly on them, as I once saw an unwounded

bull make a very determined charge from some thirty yards’ distance at

a solitary man who had been sent to stop the mouth of a gorge. The man

jumped to one side and threw his spear, grazing the flank of the beast,

which then galloped out into the plain below and escaped. I had a good

view of this, and there could be no doubt as to the intention of the

beast.

The koodoo is the largest of all the Somáli antelopes, a large bull

standing about 13 hands 1 inch, and although an active climber, he is

not fast on level ground. A fairly good pair of horns in Somáliland will

measure 3 feet from base to tip, and 50 inches round the spiral of each

horn. The largest I have ever seen measured 56 inches round the spiral.

The koodoo is rare except in the mountains, and is found on the highest

ground of Northern Somáliland, inhabiting the top of Wagar Mountain and

Gólis Range, which rise to about six thousand eight hundred feet. It has

lately become scarce even in these parts. The head is a great prize, and

a good pair of horns should be ample reward for a fortnight’s climbing in

the hills.

THE LESSER KOODOO (_Strepsiceros imberbis_)

Native name, _Gódir_ or _Arreh Gódir_ (male); _Adér-yu_ (female);

_Adér-yu_ (collective)

This is, to my mind, quite the most beautiful of all the Somáli

antelopes, and the skin is more brilliantly marked and the body more

gracefully shaped than that of the greater koodoo. The lesser koodoo is

rather smaller than the oryx.

The lesser koodoo is found in thick jungles of the larger kind of

thorn-tree, especially where there is an undergrowth of the _hig_ or

slender pointed aloe, which is of a light green colour, and grows from

four to six feet high. This antelope may also be found hiding in dense

thickets of tamarisk in the river-beds. It is not found in the open

grass plains, and I have never seen one in the cedar forests on the top

of Gólis. Its favourite haunt used to be along the foot of this range,

and I do not think its numbers have been much diminished of late years.

By far the best lesser koodoo ground I have ever visited is the thick

forest on the Webbe banks, near Imé and Karanleh. These Webbe specimens

are different to the ones found under Gólis, as they are smaller, have

shorter horns, are still more brilliantly marked, and have hoofs nearly

twice as long. The hoofs of a Webbe lesser koodoo are, like those of a

Webbe bushbuck, of extraordinary length.

[Illustration: LESSER KOODOO

Length of horns straight, 27½ inches.]

The lesser koodoo likes to be near water, and living as it does among

the densest thickets, its ears are wonderfully well developed. It has

powerful hind-quarters, and is a strong leaper, the white bushy tail

flashing over the aloe clumps as it takes them in great bounds. They are

very cunning, and will stand quite still on the farther side of a thicket

listening to the advancing trackers, then a slight rustle is heard as

they gallop away. The best way to get a specimen is to follow the fresh

tracks of a buck, the sportsman advancing in a direction parallel with

that of the tracker, but some fifty yards to one flank and in advance; a

snap shot may then be got as the koodoo bounds out of the farther side of

a thicket, but you may be months in the country before getting a really

good buck. They go in herds of about the same number as do the greater

koodoos. Old bucks are nearly black, and the horns become smooth by

rubbing against trees; and scars of all sorts remain on the neck, being

the result of wild rushes through the jungle or fights with other bucks.

The average length of a good buck’s horns is about 25 inches from base

to tip. The longest I have shot or seen was between 27 and 28 inches in

length in a straight line. The horns are very sharp, but I have never

seen a lesser koodoo attempt to charge.

THE SOMÁLI HARTEBEEST (_Bubalis swaynei_)

Native name, _Síg_

The _Síg_ or hartebeest was described by Dr. Sclater as _Bubalis

swaynei_; his description and notes (P. Z. S., Feb. 1892) were taken

from specimens shot and sent home by me. I was not the first to shoot

the _Síg_, but mine were the first specimens submitted to scientific

investigation.

[Illustration: THE SOMÁLI HARTEBEEST (_Bubalis swaynei_).

Length of horns on curve, 20¼ inches.]

South of Gólis Range, and at a distance of about one hundred and twenty

miles from the coast, are open plains from four to six thousand feet

above sea-level, alternating with broken ground covered with thorn

jungle. These patches of _ban_ or prairie are the only kind of country

where the hartebeest is to be found. Not a bush is to be seen, and some

of these plains are thirty or forty miles in extent.

I first saw the _Síg_ when coming on to ground which had not then

been visited by Europeans, and found one of these plains covered with

hartebeests, there being perhaps a dozen herds in sight at one time, each

containing three or four hundred of these antelopes. Hundreds of bulls

were scattered singly on the outskirts and in spaces between the herds,

grazing, fighting, or lying down. The scene described was at a distance

of over a hundred and twenty miles from Berbera.

The hartebeest bulls are very pugnacious, and two or three couples may

be fighting round the same herd at once. Perhaps the easiest way to get

a specimen is to send a couple of Midgáns round above the wind to drive

them towards you, at the same time lying down in the grass. In this way

a shot may be got within a hundred yards, but no one would care to shoot

very many hartebeests, except for food. There is no chance of creeping up

to hartebeests unless the huge ant-hills, often twenty-five feet high,

are conveniently situated.

Often oryx and Sœmmering’s gazelles are seen in company with these great

troops of hartebeests, but the oryx are much wilder. The hartebeests are

rather tame, and they and the Sœmmering’s gazelles are always the last

to move away. Hartebeests have great curiosity, and will frequently rush

round a caravan, halting now and then within two hundred yards to gaze.

This sight is an extraordinary one, all the antelopes having heavy and

powerful fore-quarters, while the hind-quarters are poor and fall away;

the coat is glossy like that of a well-groomed horse. In the midday haze

of the plains they look something like troops of lions, as the powerful

head and neck are of a different shade of chestnut to the rest of the

body. The pace of the hartebeest is an ungraceful, lumbering canter, but

it is probably the fleetest and most enduring of the Somáli antelopes.

The largest herd I have seen must have contained a thousand individuals,

packed closely together, and looking like a regiment of cavalry, the

whole plain round being dotted with single bulls.

From their living so much in the open plains the hartebeests must

subsist entirely on grass, for there is nothing else to eat; and they

must be able to exist for several days without water. They are the

favourite food of lions, and once, when out with my brother, I found a

troop of three lions sitting out on the open plains, ten miles from the

nearest bush; they had evidently been out all night among the herds, and

on their becoming gorged, the rising sun had found them disinclined to

move.

The hartebeest is about as large as a donkey. The horns vary greatly in

shape and size; there are the short massive horns and the long pointed

ones, and all the variations between. Some curve forward, with the points

thrown back; others curve outwards in the same plane with the forehead,

the points turning inward. I never heard of hartebeests in the whole of

Guban or anywhere in the parts of Ogádén which I have visited; I have

seen them on open plains in the Haud and Ogo, and nowhere else.

WATERBUCK (_Cobus ellipsiprymnus_)

Native name, _Balanka_, among the Adone (Webbe negroes); corrupted to

_Balango_ by the Somális

I believe there are no waterbuck to be found in Somáliland except on the

banks of the Webbe Shabéleh, and perhaps the Lower Nogal, near the east

coast. There are none on the Tug Fáfan, at any of the points where I

have crossed it. They are said to be numerous all along the Webbe Ganána

(Juba), the course of which lies chiefly through Gállaland.

The first important collections of the waterbuck were, I think, made

by Colonel Arthur Paget and myself on two independent but simultaneous

expeditions to the Webbe last spring. I found these antelopes very

plentiful all along both banks of the river, from Imé down to Burka in

the Aulihán tribe, which was as far as I followed the stream. They lie up

in the dense forest which clothes both banks of the river for some two

hundred yards from the water’s edge; and they go out to feed in the open

grass flats outside the belts of forest. They go in small herds of about

fifteen individuals, though most of the herds I saw consisted of only

four or five, with one old buck.

The habits of the Somáli waterbuck are, I believe, similar to those of

the same species in other parts of Africa. They feed chiefly on grass,

delight in a mud-bath, and take to the water readily; a wounded buck

which I was following in thick forest tried to escape by swimming the

Webbe, some ninety yards across, and we shot him as he galloped along

the farther bank. The bucks on the Webbe vary much in colour, from

brownish gray to nearly black. The white lunate marking over the tail is

always present; some heads have the forehead bright rufous brown, and

others are nearly black in this part. The flesh is eaten by the negroes

of the Webbe, but not by Somális. The horns obtained on the Webbe are

small compared to waterbuck horns from more southern Africa; out of

some fifteen heads of old bucks collected by me at different times none

reached twenty-five inches. The females are hornless. The waterbuck is

about the size of a red-deer, and resembles the latter in the shape of

the head, though the body stands on shorter and stouter legs.

BUSHBUCK (_Tragelaphus decula_)

Native name, _Dól_

The bushbuck is somewhat larger than a fallow deer, and is common in the

dense forest on the Webbe banks; and it is the most wary and difficult

to shoot of all the game animals I have ever encountered. I never heard

of its existence till my second expedition to the Webbe last autumn. At

Karanleh I obtained from the natives several skins and horns of _Dól_

which had been caught by means of disguised pits, with a stake in the

bottom of each. These pits are made by the Adone, and are funnel-shaped,

about eight feet deep and five in diameter at the top. They are dug in

the densest jungle, in the paths most frequented by the bushbuck when

going to and returning from the water. Some of these paths are long

tunnels three feet high, bored through the masses of vegetation for fifty

yards or more, and often I could only get to the river by creeping on

all-fours through these tunnels; this may be exciting work when it is

considered that many kinds of game, including the lion and rhinoceros,

use them.

[Illustration: BUSHBUCK OR DECULA ANTELOPE (_Tragelaphus decula_).

Length of horns, 16 inches.]

On my arrival at Karanleh I sent skilled negroes to repair all the pits

within a mile or two of my camp, in the hope of getting a specimen.

During a month spent on the Webbe banks I shot only one young buck, but I

organised three or four drives, in one of which my men shot a buck with

their Sniders. On this occasion the buck was in company with one female,

which broke back through the line in spite of the firing, and in rather a

curious manner, which I have before described. The only way of crossing

the line was to jump over the head of one of my men who was standing

erect, which she did, her hoofs striking the centre of his forehead and

knocking him down. This is probably, as elsewhere in Africa, a plucky

little antelope, and its hunting in the dense bush which it inhabits is

not altogether free from danger.

The longest horns were a pair which I picked up, measuring about

seventeen inches in length. The females are hornless. The young of both

sexes are of a distinct reddish brown, getting darker as they grow older,

and the natives say the old bucks become nearly black. The hair is

generally curiously worn off along the spine. The natives have given me

conflicting theories, but I cannot satisfactorily account for it. There

are four or five transverse white stripes and white spots, sometimes as

many as thirty, on each side, more numerous in the young animals. The

necks are scantily covered with short hair, and in the two young bucks we

killed were very slender. The flesh is good eating. I am not aware that

the bushbuck exists anywhere in Somáliland but in the dense forest close

to the banks of the Webbe.

CLARKE’S GAZELLE (_Ammodorcas clarkei_)

Native name, _Dibatag_ or _Diptag_

The _Dibatag_ was first shot by Mr. T. W. H. Clarke in 1891 during his

exploring trip to the Dolbahanta and Marehán countries, far to the

south-east of Berbera. Just a week after his specimens had been sent

to England, I bought in Berbera two pairs of horns with the face skins

attached, and sent them to Dr. Sclater, of the Zoological Society,

believing them to belong to a new antelope; but by this time Mr.

Clarke’s specimens had been examined by Mr. Rowland Ward and handed to

Mr. Oldfield Thomas, who described this new species. See _Proceedings_,

Zoological Society, March 1891.

The _Dibatag_ is common enough in some parts, but is very local in its

distribution. Since Mr. Clarke first discovered it, a few have been met

with and shot by sportsmen in the eastern parts of the Haud waterless

plateau.

I have been singularly unfortunate with this antelope, never having been

in the country where it is found till I went to the Nogal Valley some

three years ago. At that time the _Jilal_, or dry season, was at its

height, and all game was scarce and shy, so I never got a _Dibatag_ till

June 1893, when on my return journey from Ogádén across the waterless

plateau I made a détour of several days to the east on purpose to shoot

one for my collection.

I searched for _Dibatag_ at Tur, a jungle due south of Toyo grass plains,

the distance being some eighty miles from Berbera, and was lucky in

getting one good buck and picking up two pairs of horns, although I saw

a good many, but all were wild and shy. This is their extreme western

limit, and they never by any chance, I believe, come so far south as the

Gólis Range. Farther east, towards Bur’o, they are more plentiful and

less shy.

[Illustration: CLARKE’S GAZELLE (_Ammodorcas clarkei_).

Length of horns on curve, 9¾ inches.]

_Dibatag_ are very difficult to see, their purplish gray colour matching

with the high _durr_ grass in the glades where they are found. The glossy

coat, shining, reflects the surrounding colours, making it sometimes

almost invisible; and at the best of times its slender body is hard to

make out. I have often mistaken female Waller’s gazelles for _Dibatag_,

and once shot one of the former in mistake for the latter. The habits and

gait are much the same, save that the _Dibatag_ trots off with head held

up, and the long tail held erect over the back nearly meeting the head,

while Waller’s gazelle trots away with its head down and its short tail

screwed round. Like Waller’s gazelle, the _Dibatag_ goes singly or in

pairs, or small families up to half a dozen.

As is the case with Waller’s gazelle, the _Dibatag_ is enabled by its

long neck and rather long upper lip to reach down branches of the mimósa

bushes from a considerable height. The shape of head and way of feeding

of both antelopes are giraffe-like, and I have seen both standing on the

hind legs, fore-feet planted against the trunk of a tree, when feeding,

an illustration of which is given. I have seen _Dibatag_ feeding both on

thorn-bushes and on the _durr_ grass. Both Walleri and Clarke’s antelopes

can live far from water. The country most suitable for _Dibatag_ is

jungle of the _khansa_ or umbrella mimósa, alternating with glades of

_durr_ grass, which grows about six feet high. The females are hornless.

The _Dibatag_ is a very graceful antelope, standing higher than an Indian

blackbuck, but weighing probably a good deal less.

[Illustration: A Dibatag Buck]

WALLER’S GAZELLE (_Lithocranius walleri_)

Native name, _Gerenúk_

The _Gerenúk_ is the commonest and most widely distributed of the Somáli

antelopes except the little _Sakáro_, which springs like a hare from

every thicket.

The long neck of the _Gerenúk_, large giraffe-like eyes, and long

muzzle, are peculiar to it and the _Dibatag_ (_Ammodorcas clarkei_).

The _Gerenúk_ is more of a browser of bushes than a grass-feeder, and

I have twice shot it in the act of standing on the hind legs, neck

extended, and fore-feet against the trunk of a tree, reaching down the

tender shoots, which could not be got in any other way. Thus not only the

appearance, but the habits of the _Gerenúk_ are giraffe-like. The skull

extends far back behind the ears like that of a camel.

[Illustration: WALLER’S GAZELLE (_Lithocranius walleri_).

Length of horns on curve, 15⅜ inches.]

It is found all over the Somáli country in small families, never in large

herds, and generally in scattered bush, ravines, and rocky ground. I

think it subsists almost entirely on bushes, as it is constantly found

in places deserted by oryx and all other antelopes because there was

no grass. Perhaps the Gadabursi country is the best ground, but the

_Gerenúk_ is almost ubiquitous and need not be specially looked for. I

have never seen it in the cedar forests which crown Gólis, nor in the

treeless plains which occur in the Haud. It is not necessarily found near

water,—in fact, generally on stony ground with a sprinkling of thorn

jungle.

The gait of this antelope is peculiar, and when first seen a buck will

generally be standing motionless, head well up, looking at the intruder

and trusting to its invisibility. Then the head dives under the bushes,

and the animal goes off at a long crouching trot, stopping now and again

behind some bush to gaze. It seldom gallops, and its pace is never

very fast. In the whole shape of the head and neck, with its extended

muzzle and slender lower jaw, there is a marked resemblance between the

_Gerenúk_ and the _Dibatag_. The texture of the coat is much alike in

both. The horns of immature buck _Gerenúk_ have almost exactly the same

shape as those of the _Dibatag_. The average length of Waller’s gazelle

horns is about thirteen inches. The females are hornless; they sometimes

lose or desert their young ones, as I have now and then come on fawns

living alone in the jungle. The _Gerenúk_ stands a good deal higher than

an Indian blackbuck, but would be about the same weight.

SŒMMERING’S GAZELLE (_Gazella sœmmeringi_)

Native name, _Aoul_

Five years ago, when I was staying in the quarters at Bulhár, the _Aoul_

could be seen from the bungalow grazing out on the plain. The Bulhár

Maritime Plain used to be full of them, but they have been so persecuted

by sportsmen that they have now retired to some distance. The bush in

the Bulhár Plain is delightful for sport when not overrun by the Somáli

flocks and herds. In the _Haga_, or summer, Bulhár is nearly empty. The

walking under-foot is very thorny, owing to a practice in vogue with

Somális of scattering thorny brushwood about the ground across certain

paths, to prevent the straying of the animals. Some of the thorns are

four inches long, and soon find out a hole in the boot.

The _Aoul_ weighs about the same as the _Gerenúk_, but has a shorter neck

and a more clumsy-looking head, and is altogether a coarser animal. It

is a grass-feeder, and lives in the open plains or in scattered bush,

and never in thick jungle, and prefers tolerably flat ground. The white

hind-quarters can be seen from a great distance, making a herd look like

a flock of sheep in the haze of the plains. I have never seen them in the

cedar forests on the top of Gólis, but in the hartebeest ground to the

south they are common, and may often be seen in very large herds along

with the hartebeests, and are very common all over the Haud and Ogádén

and near the Webbe.

They are, I think, the most stupid and easy to shoot of all the Somáli

antelopes, and their habits are identical with those of the Indian

blackbuck, but they are not equal to it in beauty and grace of movement.

_Aoul_ often make long and high jumps when going away, presumably to

look over the backs of the others; they look something like specimens of

the Cape springbuck which I have seen in England. I have never observed

them spring vertically to a great height, as the Indian blackbuck does.

They are inquisitive like the hartebeests, and will follow a caravan in

the open; and if fired at, they make off across the front, stretching

themselves out at racing speed, and drawing up in a troop now and then to

gaze.

If much meat is required, it is easy in scattered bush for a man on

foot to run into a large herd and shoot several. The bucks will often

be seen fighting or chasing each other at full speed. Solitary bucks

are sometimes found, and I once saw about fifteen young fawns gathered

together a mile away from the adult herd. The largest herd I have ever

seen in the Bulhár Plain contained about two hundred individuals, but I

have seen over a thousand together in the open plains of the Haud.

_Aoul_ can live a long way from water. Near the coast they often come

down close to the shore, possibly to lick the salt pebbles. A wounded

buck does not hide, but will lie down in the most open spot he can

find, and there will generally be a circle of jackals waiting round him.

They can sometimes be easily shot at dusk, when they are apt to blunder

close to a caravan. The horns vary in shape, and are often malformed or

wanting in symmetry, being generally lyrate, the points turning inwards

and forwards. The largest pair I have seen measured seventeen inches,

following the curve; the average is about fourteen inches.

THE GUBAN OR LOWLAND GAZELLE (_Gazella pelzelni_).

THE OGO OR PLATEAU GAZELLE (_Gazella spekei_).

Native name for either variety, _Déro_

The Plateau gazelle, which has the ridges of loose skin over the

nose well developed, inhabits the elevated country, commencing about

thirty-five miles inland. It is found south of Gólis, in Ogo and in the

Haud, as well as in Ogo-Gudan, the country near Hargeisa where Guban

rises gradually into Ogo.

I have shot large numbers of gazelles for food at various times, and have

always noticed that the Plateau variety has a much thicker and longer

coat than the other. This is possibly the result of natural selection,

as the high plains of Ogo and the Haud, where it lives, are subject to

sweeping cold winds, and the nights are very cold indeed. The altitude

of these plains inhabited by the Plateau gazelle is from three thousand

to over six thousand feet, but doubtless they go much lower towards

Ogádén. The great step of Gólis, with its prolongations east and west,

which rises some forty miles inland and separates Guban, the low coast

country, from Ogo, the high interior country, forms the natural line of

demarcation between these two gazelles.

The short-coated, light-coloured Lowland gazelle, which resembles the

former in size, is found below in Guban, to the north of Gólis. I have

generally observed that the gazelles of the low country carried rather

longer horns than those of the Plateau gazelle, which are shorter,

thicker, more curved, and better annulated. The habits of both are alike.

They go in moderate herds of from three up to about ten, and are fond

of stony or sandy undulating ground and ravines, thinly dotted over with

mimósas. Both varieties are fond of salt, and do not want water, and it

is hard to understand what they can pick up to eat in the wretched ground

frequented by them. They generally avoid thick bush, and have curiosity

which amounts to impudence, but are wonderfully on the alert and hard

to shoot, seeming to know perfectly well the range of a rifle, and

presenting a small target.

[Illustration: PELZELN’S GAZELLE ♂

(_Gazella pelzelni_).

Length of horns on curve, 12¼ inches.

♀ PELZELN’S GAZELLE (_Gazella pelzelni_).

Average length of horns on curve about 7 to 8 inches.]

THE KLIPSPRINGER (_Oreotragus saltator_)

Somáli name, _Alakud_

These small antelopes live in the most rugged mountains, poising

themselves on large boulders and leaping from rock to rock. They are

neither shy nor hard to shoot. Gólis and Assa Ranges, and the hills

near Gebili, are the best ground in which to look for them. _Alakud_ go

in twos and threes. The longest horns I saw in Somáliland were about

three and a half inches in length. The females are hornless. The coat

is very coarse, resembling that of no other Somáli antelope, the hairs

being almost like quills, and so loosely planted in the skin that it is

difficult to preserve a specimen. The hoofs are also peculiar, being

nearly cylindrical, and cup-shaped underneath, no doubt in order, by

cushioning the air, to break the fall and to give an extra firm hold on

the rocks.

[Illustration: KLIPSPRINGER (_Oreotragus saltator_).

Length of horns, 3¼ inches.]

THE “DIK-DIK” ANTELOPES

_Sakáro Guyu_ (_Madoqua swaynei_)

_Sakáro Gol Ass_ (_Madoqua phillipsi_)

_Sakáro Gussuli_ (_Madoqua guentheri_)

General native name, _Sakáro_

These little antelopes weigh less than an English hare, and I think

_Guyu_ must be among the smallest of the antelope tribe. In all three the

horns are well corrugated at the base, sharply pointed, and from one inch

to three inches long. The eyes are enormously large in proportion to the

size of the head.

The _Gol Ass_ (_i.e._ “red belly”) is the ordinary “Dik-Dik,” which is

shot all over Guban and Ogo and in parts of the Haud and Ogádén. The

_Guyu_ differs from it in being very much smaller, and having the sides

of the belly yellowish gray instead of reddish yellow. It appears to be

found in the localities frequented by the _Gol Ass_. In fact both have

been shot indiscriminately by sportsmen under the name “Dik-Dik,” which

is the term used by Europeans, who often noticed the great variation in

the size of adult specimens. My attention was first called to the two

native names only at the end of my last expedition, which led to the

discovery that they represented distinct varieties.

[Illustration: _Madoqua phillipsi._ _Madoqua swaynei._

“DIK-DIK” ANTELOPES.

Length of horns, 2½ inches.]

I came on _Gussuli_ for the first time about a day’s journey south of

Seyyid Mahomed’s village in the Malingúr tribe, and found it to exist

all over the Rer Amáden country. Its range coincides nearly with that

of the rhinoceros, and it is found, like the latter animal, in parts of

the Haud, where its ground overlaps with the range of the _Gol Ass._

The _Gussuli_ is if anything slightly larger than the _Gol Ass_, and of

a dead gray colour, with a white belly. The female appears to be much

larger than the male; and it is a pretty safe rule, when trying to shoot

the buck of a pair, to aim at the smaller one.

The _Gol Ass_ and _Guyu_ have short muzzles, while that of the _Gussuli_

is very long, resembling the snout of a tapir. The two former antelopes

are found in pairs, seldom more than three being seen together. They give

a shrill alarm whistle, uttered two or three times in quick succession,

and are often a nuisance, being apt to disturb more valuable game. The

_Gussuli_ start up three or four at a time, and sometimes the undergrowth

seems to be alive with them. These small antelopes are very easily

knocked over with a shot gun and No. 4 shot. They give good sport in the

evening, when they are liveliest, especially if followed silently and

fired at with a rook rifle, for they give plenty of chances when they

stand to look back. The female exposes herself most, and is consequently

most often shot.

[Illustration: Dik-Dik and Aloes

GOL ASS (_Madoqua phillipsi_).]

All _Sakáro_ prefer broken ground, where there is good cover of low scrub

or aloes, and they are never seen in open grass plains. They lie close

like hares, and when disturbed dart out with successive hops, at a great

pace. I have often seen about eighty _Sakáro_ in the course of a day’s

march. They nibble the young shoots of the low _khansa_ and other bushes;

and like to be near water, going to drink at midday and just after

nightfall.

Every traveller going to Somáliland has brought back specimens of the

little _Sakáro_ antelope, called by Europeans indiscriminately the

“Dik-Dik,” but I had noticed that the Somális recognised three kinds—the

_Guyu_, _Gol Ass_, and _Gussuli_. After my second Webbe trip I collected

specimens which, with those already collected by Mr. Lort Phillips and

other sportsmen, enabled Mr. Oldfield Thomas to ascertain that all three

were new; and they were then described by him (P. Z. S. April 1894), and

called respectively _Madoqua swaynei_, _Madoqua phillipsi_, and _Madoqua

guentheri_.

THE “BAIRA” ANTELOPE (_Oreotragus megalotis_)

Native name, _Baira_

The _Baira_ antelope, which my brother and I believed to be new,

was described by Herr Menges (_Zool. Anz._ xvii. 1894), and called

_Oreotragus megalotis_. Specimens had been submitted by me to Mr.

Oldfield Thomas, and he had pronounced it to be new a few days before

Herr Menges brought his specimens forward in Germany for the purposes of

description.

I first heard of it near Ali-Maan, in the Gadabursi country, among very

rugged hills, in the autumn of 1891, when my brother saw two of them,

but failed to get a shot. He described them as reddish antelopes, rather

larger than the klipspringer, with small straight horns, bounding away

among the rocks in exactly the same manner as the klipspringer.

On my last trip the Somális assured me that I should find them on Wagar

Mountain and on Negegr, which is its eastern continuation, lying about

forty miles south-south-east of Berbera, and rising to between six and

seven thousand feet. They said it was nearly as large as an ordinary

Plateau gazelle, but reddish; also that it inhabited ground similar to

the klipspringer, but was shy and difficult to shoot. This no doubt

accounts for no Englishman having shot one, though my brother heard of

them so far back as 1891. I could not shoot one, as I had no time to go

again to Wagar myself. On leaving the coast on my last trip I sent men in

to look for _Baira_, offering a reward for a good head and skin of a male

and female, and gave instructions to my agents in Berbera and Aden to pay

the reward and to send me the specimens. Lately I received the two skins

and pairs of horns from Aden, and when I submitted them for scientific

investigation in London, it transpired that the antelope was new and had

just been described.

GRÉVY’S ZEBRA (_Equus grévyi_)

Somáli name, _Fer’o_

Grévy’s zebra was, I believe, described by the French from a zoological

garden specimen, but first shot in Somáliland by Colonel Paget and myself

on our simultaneous expeditions early in 1893. I found them at Durhi,

in Central Ogádén, between the Tug Fáfan and the Webbe, and about three

hundred miles inland from Berbera, and shot seven specimens, all of which

were eaten by myself and my thirty followers; in fact, for many days we

had no other food, although this was no hardship, for the meat is better

than that of most of the antelopes, and is highly prized by the Rer

Amáden and Malingúr tribes.

The zebra was very common in the territory of these two tribes. The

country there is covered with scattered bush over its entire surface,

and is stony and much broken up by ravines; the general elevation is

about two thousand five hundred feet above sea-level. Those which I saw

(probably not more than two hundred in all) were met with in small droves

of about half a dozen, on low plateaux covered with scattered thorn bush

and glades of _durr_ grass, the soil being powdery, and red in colour,

with an occasional outcrop of rocks. In this sort of country they are

very easy to stalk, and I should never have fired at them for sport

alone. I saw none in the open flats of the Webbe Valley, and they never

come nearly so far north as the open grass plains of the Haud, Durhi

south of the Fáfan being, I think, their northern limit. The young have

longer coats and the stripes are rather lighter brown, turning later on

to a deep chocolate, which is nearly black in adult animals.

On one occasion, after firing at one of a drove of zebras, I was sorry

to find, on going up to it, that it was a female, and that its foal was

standing by the body, refusing to run away, though the rest had all gone.

We crept up to within ten yards of it, and made an unsuccessful attempt

to noose it with a rope weighted by bullets, but it made off after the

first try. We must have been quite five minutes standing within ten yards

of it in the thick bush, while preparing the noose.

Zebras are very inquisitive; when we were encamped for some days at

Eil-Fúd, in the Rer Amáden country, the zebras used to come at night and

bray and stamp round our camp, and were answered by my Abyssinian mule.

The sounds made by the two animals are somewhat similar.

WILD ASS (_Equus nubianus somálicus_)

Native name, _Gumburi_

The wild ass is common in sterile parts of Guban, especially to the east

of Berbera. In Ogádén its place is taken by the zebra. It is a fine

animal and has striped legs. It can scarcely be considered as fair game

to the sportsman.

Leopards (_Shabél_) are very abundant in Somáliland, and are the great

scourge of the shepherds. They spring into karias at night without the

slightest fear, and nearly all the losses among sheep and goats are

caused either by leopards or hyænas. On Gólis Range, round Mandeira,

they are especially common, and it is not an unusual thing to hear

them coughing by day from the shelter of some cave high up among the

mountains. The sound is most like that of a saw being drawn to and fro

through a plank, only much deeper, and can be heard at a great distance.

Leopards are so stealthy that they are seldom seen by day. The best

way to kill one is to wait about among the tribes near the foot of the

mountains, and having found a karia that is particularly favoured by

them, to construct a shelter and tie up a goat, preferably a half-grown

one which will bleat; if the leopard charges the goat, it is best to wait

till he is quietly lying over the victim drinking its blood, offering

a certain shot. Another way is to find out the cave where the leopard

lives, and to tie up a goat just before dusk and sit over it for half an

hour.

Leopards are found in all kinds of ground, and not necessarily in hilly

country. I have had them spring into my camp more than a dozen times, and

once one which could not get over our high zeríba in any other way, ran

along the branch of a tree under which our camp had been pitched, and

dropped perpendicularly down among us, close to the goats; luckily he was

driven off in time by the sentry. Many goats have been killed inside my

camp by leopards.

[Illustration: WART-HOG (_Phacochœrus æthiopicus_). Native name, _Dófar_.

Outside width in a straight line across tusks, 12¼ inches.]

Wart-hogs (_Phacochœrus æthiopicus_) called _Dófar_ by the Somális, are

common, especially along the base of Gólis. Most of the ground which they

inhabit is not suitable for hard riding, so when they have exceptionally

fine tusks they are shot. The Somáli, being a good Mussulman, will

neither touch a dead wart-hog nor the knife which has been used in

cutting off the head; and if tempted by a fine pair of tusks to kill a

wart-hog, the traveller must be ready to tackle this job himself. It is

tough work skinning the head, and it is annoying to have to hang the tin

box or bucket, in which the skull has been packed, daily on a camel, to

say nothing of preserving the head and cleaning the skull. I have always

done this work myself with as pleasant a face as possible, in spite

of strong looks of disapproval from the natives; and the few curious

wart-hog skulls which I have brought home well repaid me for my labour.

It is worth knowing that a Midgán or a starving Somáli may sometimes be

bribed to do this unclean work, provided no one is looking on and the

matter is kept a secret.

Ostriches (_Goreiyu_) are occasionally seen in level plains all over

the country, especially where the bush is not very thick. They are only

numerous in the open prairies. They are terribly shy, and the best rifle

to take in hand on seeing an ostrich is the Lee-Metford. As a rule they

are seen running along at a great pace at a distance of between eight

hundred yards and a mile away, having seen the human beings first. Or

they stand perfectly still, with their bodies under cover and their small

heads looking over the top of a bush if there is one to be found. In all

our journeys my brother and I only succeeded in shooting one cock ostrich

each.

[Illustration: SPEKE’S GAZELLE ♂ (_Gazella spekei_).

Length of horns on curve, 11¾ inches.]

In 1891, on the plain south of the Miríya Pass, my brother and I

witnessed an instance of the manner in which Midgáns hunt the ostrich.

We saw an ostrich and its half-grown chick walking over the bare plain,

followed by an unladen camel, behind which were stalking the Midgáns.

They said that they had been after the birds since the morning of the

day before, and having already killed the female, hoped to get the male

bird then or on the following day, and if successful they would catch and

rear up the young one. Ostriches are said to be often shot by following

them on horseback, the riders being placed in relays along the probable

line of flight. They are kept moving by day to prevent their feeding,

for they cannot see to move or feed by night, so that in a few days they

become weak and are thus easily ridden down. Midgáns often keep a few of

them tame, no doubt mostly caught when very young, but I have never seen

ostrich farming on a large scale in Somáliland.

The spotted hyæna (_Warába_) is very common, and the striped hyæna

(_Didar_) rather rare. There is a wild dog called _Yei_, which the

natives say hunts in packs, but I have never seen one. Spotted hyænas

prowl round the zeríba of the traveller every night, looking for scraps

of meat. I have had goats carried off by them when tethered to the

zeríba. Among the karias they sometimes carry off children and kill

women, and men found asleep by them alone in the bush are often attacked,

the face being nearly always seized and a large piece torn away. So

voracious is the hyæna that it often pulls off the tail of a camel or the

udder of a cow.

Crocodiles (_Jaház_) swarm in the Webbe Shabéleh river. There are a few

schools of hippopotami (_Jér_) one of which had its usual abode near Sen

Morettu, but I failed to find it, only coming upon the fresh tracks.

There are giraffes (_Giri_ or _Halgiri_) in the Aulihán country, three

days from Burka on the Webbe, but I gave them up for the chance of going

to the Arussi Gállas.[55] This differs from the South African giraffe in

its markings. The South African form is more spotted; the Somáli form

has lighter markings, and the patches of colour are divided into more

hexagonal and sexagonal shapes, as pointed out in a letter to the _Field_

by Mr. Rowland Ward in February 1894, who there gave a description of the

first one shot in Somáliland by Major C. E. W. Wood.

While on the Webbe I was informed that four buffalo (_Jámus_), all

bulls, had strayed from the Geriré Gálla country through eighty miles

of bush, and had taken up their abode in the forest on the Webbe banks

at Sen Morettu, four years before my visit to that spot. My informant,

a Gilimiss Somáli, told me that his father had killed two of them two

years before with poisoned arrows, and that two remained. I found their

fresh tracks, the first I had ever seen, and tried very hard for a whole

day to get a sight of them. We put them up eight times at a few yards’

distance in the fearfully dense forest without once seeing them, and when

we organised a drive next day they broke through the line of beaters

and got away, making for the distant Gálla hills. These are the only

buffalo I ever heard of in Somáliland. They are said by the Gállas to be

plentiful on the Webbe Wéb, a tributary of the Juba, four days distant

from Karanleh.

Baboons (_Dáyer_) are occasionally seen in the rocks round the

river-beds, especially in different parts of Guban. My first meeting with

these animals was an interesting experience. It was when on my first

surveying expedition, and while encamped at Aleyaláleh on the Issutugan

river, with an escort of Indian cavalry and mounted police, that I first

saw baboons. At this spot the river cuts deeply into a plateau, forming a

gully two or three hundred feet deep. A troop of some two hundred baboons

came down towards evening from the cliffs, on their way to drink at the

stream. Several of the old males were nearly as large as retriever dogs,

and had handsome gray manes, which at dusk gave them the appearance of

lions. There were several females carrying young ones on their backs, and

as the long strings of baboons climbed along the narrow ledges, they kept

up a hoarse barking which sounded very like language, and could be heard

from a great distance echoing among the hills. They are savage brutes,

and take up positions as if to dispute the passage of any one climbing

the cliffs; and I have no doubt, with his long teeth and great strength,

one of the old males could kill an unarmed man if so disposed.

I had given the troopers some spare cartridges to amuse themselves

with, by taking shots at marks, and the native officer, who had been

strolling about below the cliffs, fired a shot at an old male baboon

and brought him down. I was in camp, and on hearing a hot fire going

on, ran out, thinking we were attacked by raiders. It transpired that

an Arab camelman had been sent up to the base of the cliffs to get the

body of the baboon, and had been attacked by the whole troop from above,

having to beat a hasty retreat under cover of the fire from several

Sniders, and on my joining the men, another male fell to my Express,

tumbling perpendicularly nearly fifty feet down the cliffs. When at last

we secured the carcases, I was struck by their wonderfully human-like

appearance, and I have never again brought myself to shoot a monkey. I

have seen baboons scores of times since, and have never molested them,

and as they soon get over their shyness and fear of man, I have been able

to watch their habits closely.

[Illustration: SPEKE’S GAZELLE ♀ (_Gazella spekei_).

Length of horns on curve, average 9 inches.]

Besides these maned baboons, we found in the belt of forest on the Webbe

banks a maneless baboon and a small tree monkey. In parts of this forest

the monkeys and baboons simply swarm. They spring about everywhere above

and around the traveller, and the stench is nearly unbearable.

Among game birds the most noticeable are three varieties of the bustard

tribe (_Salalmadli_), three varieties of guinea-fowl (_Digirin_),

partridges, sand grouse, and a wild goose in Ogádén. Birds of prey are

very conspicuous, there being at least two kinds of vultures (_Gur-Gur_)

and a small black and white eagle, kites, ravens, and the great black

and white carrion storks, which stand about four feet high and have very

large orange-coloured beaks.

Jackals (_Dowáo_), with black and silver backs, are very common; also

foxes, a small variety of hare (_Bokheila_), a badger very like the

English kind, two kinds of squirrel, gray and brown (_Dabergáli_), and

the curious little rock-rabbits (_Bauna_). There is a mouse-coloured

animal of the ferret kind (_Shók-Shók_), which lives under the roots of

trees and hunts in packs. Snakes are numerous, three kinds most often met

with being an adder (_abeso_), a variegated rock snake (_abguri_), and

a black snake called _muss_, all of which are said to be very deadly.

There is also a lizard nearly four feet long. Among the insects may be

mentioned mosquitoes (_Kan-ád_)—they are only troublesome, however, on

the Webbe and in the Esa and Gadabursi countries; two kinds of gadfly; a

large spider (_Hangeyu_), which produces a web almost exactly like golden

silk, which can be found in any old zeríba in the Haud; scorpions, and

two kinds of centipede (_Hangagári_).

APPENDIX I

ON FITTING OUT SOMÁLI EXPEDITIONS

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

EXAMPLE I.—Calculation of six weeks’ trip to Guban and

Ogo—Composition of caravan, and expenses.

EXAMPLE II.—Eight weeks’ trip to the Haud and the more

accessible parts of Ogádén.

EXAMPLE III.—Sixteen weeks’ trip to distant Ogádén and the

Webbe—General notes on trips to the Webbe and Gállaland—Notes

on caravan defence—Notes on preliminary steps, and how to

engage and pay off a caravan.

For an English sportsman, Somáliland is probably the best hunting-ground

in Africa. The climate is healthy, and not too hot in the higher

districts; the English are universally popular, and the natives

appreciate sport. The caravan, when once properly provisioned at the

coast, renders one entirely independent in a country practically without

villages or supplies. The game is shy and not too easy to get, which

is an advantage from a sporting point of view. There is room for many

simultaneous expeditions if they are only pushed into unexplored ground,

and a great variety of game is found within a limited area. Above all,

there is easy access to the Somáli coast from civilised parts.

I have been asked so often to give information to intending travellers to

Somáliland that, for the guidance of those who contemplate visiting that

country, I venture to publish the following suggestions.

It is, of course, not to be expected that every traveller can share the

same views on subjects connected with the fitting out of an expedition;

but by way of illustration I shall calculate a few examples of the

caravans which I would myself organise for certain definite objects.

Whether the intending traveller agree with me or not, he will at least

gain an insight into some of the more necessary details connected with

the needs and precautions attendant upon the fitting out and conducting

of caravans into the interior of Somáliland.

To begin with, if there are two or more Europeans in an expedition, in

my opinion each should have his own caravan complete. There are several

reasons for this. Where there are two or three Europeans with a combined

caravan of mixed servants, it is difficult to ensure that equal loyalty

shall be extended by the Somális to each member of the party. Interests

clash, and the result has, according to all I have heard, too often been

a spoilt trip. In my journeys with my brother the value of distinctly

organised caravans was recognised at once, and we held to this system

throughout, the result being that even our servants and camelmen pulled

well together, and we had no caravan difficulties.

It is convenient in safe country, when an increase of sport can be

obtained thereby, for the different Europeans to separate. Thus A hears

of a lion two days’ march away; B goes three days’ march in the opposite

direction to search a valley believed to contain elephants; C forms a

camp in the hills twenty miles away for a week’s koodoo shooting. In

unsafe country, or where there is sport for all at one spot, the camps

may be reunited, the dinners clubbed together, the tents pitched side by

side, and the camels joined into one herd. But the distinct organisation

of each caravan should be preserved, under the command of its own white

leader, assisted by his Somáli headman. In this way only, with the

maximum of supervision, aided by a feeling of _esprit de corps_ between

the different caravans, can the maximum of work be got out of Somális.

I am against taking servants from India. They require a great deal of

water, and are at enmity with their surroundings in a country where

there are practically no villages nor bazaars, and where they are almost

“put to Coventry” by the natives. Somális think them effeminate, saying

they may be men in the town, but that they become women in the bush,

especially in the waterless Haud! In our Dolbahanta journey the women

ran after my Madras cook, who was dressed in flowing white with a large

turban, and asked him whose wife he was! Sometimes when my brother was

out of camp, the Somáli members of the expedition used to throw stones

at his Punjabi “bearer,” and although a fine fellow in his own country,

among the strange surroundings he used to break down, and with many

tears ask to be sent to the coast. One day, when aggravated beyond all

endurance by the Somális, he shouldered his bundle of brass cooking-pots

and started, without food or water, to walk across a hundred miles of

pathless Haud. Luckily he was tracked up and brought back into camp. It

is not necessary to take Indians; for Somális, though often rather rough

as servants in a civilised household, pick up their duties quickly, and

are good enough for the jungle.

In fitting out a caravan, the chief factors governing the calculation

are:—

(1) What is the minimum number of armed men that should be taken into the

district to be visited.

(2) Whether or not the district is waterless.

(3) The duration of the trip.

As regards the first consideration, I will mention different

districts, and state what escort I should take into each, assuming

political conditions to be as favourable as they were in 1893. Local

disturbances of course arise, but on the whole the country is becoming

safer every year for Europeans. My estimate may soon be out of date;

and the political authorities in Aden, who are in touch with events

in Somáliland, must be consulted as to the strength of the escort.

Permission must be obtained from the same authorities to enter Northern

Somáliland at all.

At ordinary times I would ride about alone, though of course armed,

within the area contained by lines joining Berbera, Wagar, Hargeisa, and

Elmas Mountain; and in this area the natives may often be seen unarmed.

As a matter of fact a sportsman would always have a few Somális in

attendance, either armed with his spare sporting rifles or with their

own spears. An European who went unarmed about the country would excite

the universal derision of the natives, for it is their own fashion to go

armed.

Outside this area, in the explored parts of the British Protectorate,

I think from eight to fifteen rifles should be distributed among the

followers; and on the Abyssinian border, or in the Gadabursi and

Dolbahanta countries, fifteen to twenty rifles. In distant Ogádén, on

the Webbe Shabéleh, and on the western Gálla border, I recommend from

twenty to thirty rifles, and the same in the unexplored country along

the coast east of Karam. For the nearer Gálla tribes south of the Webbe,

and for the Aulihán Somális, I should take from thirty to fifty rifles.

For a distant exploration into the far interior of Gállaland, likely to

be inhabited by hostile natives, were I going on such an expedition, I

would not take less than from fifty to one hundred and fifty rifles.

These estimates are necessarily very rough, for so much depends on the

number of camels to be protected and the number of white men; and in the

last case I have given my opinion on evidence obtained from the Somális,

and not with any personal experience of the Gálla country itself. The

strongest escort I have had at any time in my Somáli trips has been about

thirty rifles.

The object of these escorts in all but the last case is to guard against

a possible raid by some robber band. Once, to my knowledge, in the Jibril

Abokr country, an English sportsman’s camp was, during his absence,

sacked by some of these rascals. At night, too, the caravan of an

European might easily be mistaken for that of Somáli traders, and in case

of an attack it would be awkward, not to say undignified, for the caravan

to be incapable of defence. It is very unlikely that the authorities at

Aden would allow any traveller to go into the interior without his having

made some provision of this sort.

Hostility from any Somáli tribes, as a whole, has not entered into my

calculations, because only a large escort, such as I have advised for

distant Gálla explorations, could stay in the country in the face of a

combined movement of the natives. Even with a large escort the country

would soon be rendered uninhabitable by tampering with wells and other

expedients which Somális thoroughly understand, and the traveller would

be forced to retreat, or advance so rapidly to a more friendly tribe

that enemies would have no time to collect. It is with the consent of

the natives that we travel, because the English are popular, and no

hostility need be feared except the very unlikely chance of an attack

by robbers, made probably by mistake. No robbers armed only with spears

would, as a general rule, knowingly attack the well-armed caravan of an

European. There have, however, been one or two exceptions. The country is

only really dangerous to a native traveller, and that it is so the daily

police records at Berbera will show.

EXAMPLE I

We will first suppose that a single European proposes to spend six weeks

travelling, purely for sport, in the explored parts of the British

Protectorate, political conditions being favourable. We will assume that

he does not wish to extend his wanderings far into the Haud waterless

plateau. The above trip would be suitable for a sportsman from Aden

having very limited leave, as those from London or Bombay would probably

go farther and try unexplored ground.

The minimum number of personal servants will be as follows:—

One body servant to look after the tent and bedding, and lay out the

meals. He should also be able to interpret.

One cook.

Two hunters (called, in Hindustáni, _shikáris_) to track, collect news of

game, carry spare rifles, clean them, and skin and prepare specimens.

One personal camelman to lead, saddle, unsaddle, and tend the Somáli

camel which will be ridden, at a walking pace, by the European traveller;

this camel would be led by the camelman. Somáli camels do not trot. I

have found this method of progression, though slow, irksome, and rather

uncomfortable, to be very practical. Whenever game is sighted it is

possible to jump off for a shot, or to fire from the camel’s back. Spare

rifles, ammunition, blankets, and food can be carried, which would be

impossible where a pony is ridden. A pony requires water in the Haud,

whereas a Somáli camel does not. In long expeditions, where expensive

arrangements are made on a large scale, it may answer to take a good Arab

trotting camel from Aden. These camels, though excellent in every way,

require daily grain, and water at least every second day; while Somáli

camels, though incapable of trotting, have the advantage of picking up

their own food by the wayside, and can, at a pinch, march without water

for nearly a fortnight. If it is, however, decided to take ponies, they

can be obtained nearly anywhere in Somáliland.

For this led camel mats will not do. An Arab pad saddle must be bought

in Aden, and as it is sometimes difficult to procure, it might with

advantage be ordered beforehand.

The following articles may be carried on the led camel which is ridden by

the European:—

A pair of saddle-bags.

Haversacks containing food and spare ammunition.

Small hand camera.

A couple of spare sporting rifles.

Two or three blankets.

Large water-bottle.

Prismatic compass (if used).

It is the duty of the attendant, whom I have called the personal

camelman, to see that these things are correctly packed on the camel at

the beginning of a march, and safely housed in the tent on camp being

pitched.

Thus, as above shown, we have five personal servants. The remaining

servants will be camelmen for the baggage camels, and temporary servants

who may be engaged for short periods in the interior, such as guides.

Some of the camelmen should know something of the line of proposed

travel, and be able to act as guides if local guides fail.

Over all, whether personal servants or camelmen, should be placed

a headman or caravan commander, who will also be interpreter and

confidential adviser to his European master. He should know whichever

of the three languages—Arabic, Hindustáni, or English—his master wishes

to make the medium between himself and the natives. His business is

to superintend the loading of the camels, select the site for the

halting-place, and superintend the pitching of the new camp; to interview

chiefs and natives who visit the camp, to have military command of

the caravan in the absence of his master, to arrange for the relief

of sentries at night, and choose the place for the zeríba and the

watch-fires.

Assisted by one of the camelmen, who will have extra pay for the purpose,

he should weigh out the daily rations, and be responsible for all native

food, and for any game meat handed over to him by the hunters. In fact he

is responsible to his master for everything that goes on in the caravan.

On this man the success of the expedition, of course, chiefly depends.

Having once chosen my headman, I allow him to suit himself as regards

engaging camelmen, insisting that they shall not all belong to one tribe.

I always choose my personal servants myself.

In order to calculate roughly the number of baggage camels and

camelmen required, it will be necessary to first estimate the number

of camel-loads that would have to be carried if the rations and spare

ammunition of the camelmen were left out. That is, we must first

ascertain the number of camel-loads which would be a constant quantity in

the calculation.

Whatever the number of baggage camels and camelmen may be, the European,

the headman, and the five personal servants are a constant quantity.

Three natives engaged locally in the interior may be added to this

number, so without counting the baggage camelmen we have one European and

nine Somális to provide rations for.

Thus we have the following camel-loads, namely,—

(_a_) 42 days’ rations for 1 European.

(_b_) 42 days’ rations for 9 Somális (with percentage for guests).

(_c_) Baggage of the European.

(_d_) Sporting ammunition, spare ammunition for 9 Somális, and extras.

We will add up these items. Let A be the resulting number of camel-loads.

By a simple calculation we can now tell how many baggage camels and

camelmen we shall want.

The custom is for one camelman to look after two camels.

A camelman’s rations (with percentage for guests) for 42 days will be—

Rice 49 lbs.

Dates 26 ”

Ghee 8 ”

His spare ammunition, say 6 ”

---------

Total 89 lbs.,

or a third of a camel-load.

Thus, as one camelman looks after two camels, the weight due to his

rations and ammunition will put one-sixth of a camel-load upon each of

them; and so to carry five of the loads A we shall want six camels. Hence

divide the number A by five and multiply by six, and we shall have the

number of camels we must purchase for the caravan, and the number of

camelmen we must engage to look after them will be half this.

I consider 275 lbs. a fair load of European baggage for a Somáli camel,

not counting the weight of the camel-mats. All compact weights, such as

dates, are difficult to carry, and 260 lbs. is a full load; while loads

distributed over plenty of surface, such as rice _loghs_ or water in

several _háns_, are easily carried, and so in such cases the loads may go

up to 340 lbs.

If we allow 1½ camel-loads for 42 days’ rations for one European, and

2½ for his baggage (including tent, cooking-pots, spare rifles and

ammunition, and so forth), 1 camel for cloth and extras, and 3 for Somáli

rations, then A stands for 8, and our caravan will require by our rough

calculation ten baggage camels and five camelmen.

One of these camelmen will be given a slight increase of pay, and be made

_makadam_ in charge of the camels and camelmen, under the headman of the

caravan.

The duties of the camelmen will be to load and unload the camels, lead

them when on the march, keep guard over them when grazing, and water them

when necessary.

In addition to the special duties of camelmen, servants, and hunters,

every Somáli member of the expedition, including the headman, should take

his share of the following duties which are necessary for the common

comfort, namely,—

To carry a rifle or spear and aid in defence if necessary.

Sentry duties in camp.

Collecting firewood for the watch-fires.

Water-supply for camp use.

Forming the zeríba round the camp.

If every Somáli, without exception, is made to take his share in these

duties there will be no jealousy or trouble connected with them. The

European, to whom the climate is strange, should be the only man

exempt from such duty; but when away from camp, with only two or three

attendants, I was accustomed to take my share.

There being such a small force, it will pay to arm the eleven men with

good weapons, such as Martini or Snider carbines, or Remingtons. I have

also generally given or lent my men the following equipment, namely, one

“kháki” drill coat, with pockets; one cartridge belt and pouch to contain

an oiled rag, one brown blanket, and one cheap butcher’s knife in leather

sheath. This equipment is not absolutely necessary, but it is desirable

if the escort is to be smart and efficient. The cartridge belt would be

made to contain thirty cartridges, of which a few would be loaded with

buckshot for sentry-duty at night. It is necessary to be careful that men

who may accompany their master when shooting have no white about their

clothing, as it drives away game.

The headman, five personal servants, and five camelmen, eleven in all,

will be the permanent party engaged beforehand, who will serve throughout

the trip and return with the caravan to the coast. In addition, enough

food should be carried for the following temporary servants, to be

engaged locally in the interior and dismissed again as required, namely,—

Two guides, one being for the white man, to accompany him and the two

hunters when out shooting; the other, who may with advantage be an

influential _Akil_,[56] to guide the camel caravan.

One small boy, to look after milk goats, sheep, or donkeys, which it may

be necessary to buy in the interior and drive along with the caravan.

Donkeys are useful as baits for lions.

We shall require to buy twelve camels, ten being for baggage, one being

for the European to ride, one being a spare camel without mats or load.

About 10 per cent is a good proportion of spare camels. They are not

absolutely necessary, but desirable.

We will now accurately calculate what will be the loads, and whether the

ten baggage camels will be able to carry them.

The loads will come under the following heads:—

(_a_) Rations, 42 days, for 14 Somális (with percentage for guests).

(_b_) Rations, 42 days, for one European.

(_c_) Private baggage, tent, and instruments of European.

(_d_) Spare ammunition for escort, and spare sporting ammunition.

(_e_) Cloth for payments in the interior, a large cooking-pot for the

men, and miscellaneous extras.

Although it is advisable to allow for a day’s water being carried on

any Somáli expedition, we will neglect water-supply in the present

calculation. It is fully gone into in Example II.

The rations for a caravan follower are 1 lb. rice, ½ lb. dates, and 2 oz.

ghee (clarified butter) per man per diem.

The dates are sold at Aden and Berbera, compressed into a solid mass.

They are very good eating even for an European, when they are fairly

fresh, and they keep in good condition for a few months.

The ghee is required for mixing with the daily allowance of boiled

rice. In the early days of our Protectorate the ghee ration was fixed

for Government followers at 1 oz., but as nearly all the complaints and

caravan troubles were traced to insufficiency of ghee, my brother and

I always gave 2 oz. in our later expeditions, and then everything went

smoothly. We found that the extra ounce made all the difference between a

set of intriguing rascals and a cheerful, contented caravan.

It will be found in practice that the ghee disappears most quickly, being

the most popular part of the ration; the dates come next, and the rice

last. Dates often come in very handy when a native has to be sent on a

two or three days’ errand through the bush. Half a dozen pounds of dates

tied up in the free end of his tobe, with a well here and there and the

shelter of a bush, will be all the board and lodging he will require for

nearly a week’s outing.

It has been my custom to take into the interior a spring-balance or

steelyard reading to about 90 lbs., and every fortnight to check the

consumption of rice, dates, and ghee in bulk. A gallon measure and a pair

of small scales should not be forgotten.

Daily at the camps several natives will appear at about meal-time as

self-constituted guests. To such it should be explained politely, but

firmly, that there is water in the well and grass upon the plain, but no

food in camp for loafers. No work, no food, should be the rule. A present

of a pinch of tobacco will then turn the applicant into a friend for life.

It is desirable to set aside a proportion, however, for necessary guests,

and after calculating the rations for the members of the expedition I

usually add the following:—

Rice, ⅙

Dates, ¼

Ghee, ½

The rice ration for 14 Somális for 42 days will be 588 lbs.; add ⅙ for

guests, and we have 686 lbs. Rice is sold in bags containing each about

170 lbs.; and before starting on a trip each bag should, for convenience

of loading, be broken up into three long sausage-shaped bags, called

_loghs_. Two bags of rice, or six _loghs_, make a camel-load.

Thus we have, rice, 2 camel-loads. The dates ration for 14 Somális for 42

days will be 294 lbs.; add ¼ for guests, and we have 368 lbs.

Dates are sold by the _gosra_, weighing about 130 lbs., enclosed in a

rough reed basket or bag. For convenience of transport this is divided

into two parts, and two _gosras_, or four half _gosras_, go upon one

camel.

Thus we have, dates, 1½ camel-loads.

The ghee ration for 14 Somalis for 42 days will be 1176 oz.; add for

guests, and we have 1764 oz., or 110 lbs. The ghee is sold by the

_gumba_, a goatskin bag closed at the mouth by a framework of sticks

and a lump of clay. Each _gumba_ contains 25 lbs. ghee or less. We will

suppose the 110 lbs. ghee is carried in five _gumbas_, weighing with

their contents 145 lbs. Thus we have, ghee, ½ camel-load.

It tends to cheerfulness if a small supply of native coffee, tobacco,

and salt be carried for the men. The tobacco is chewed, and the coffee

is drunk before early marches on cold mornings. These extras weigh very

little.

Next we have to calculate for the stores of one European for 42 days. I

recommend that several wooden boxes be made, measuring about 1 foot 6

inches by 2 feet 3 inches, and 1 foot 3 inches deep, capable of being

padlocked, with the cover on hinges, and two rope handles for convenience

of handling. All the liquids which have to be kept in bottles may go

in one box, and all the tinned and other stores in another, the pair

containing a fortnight’s supply, and each loading up to about 65 lbs.

The liquids will be something like the following (a fortnight’s supply):—

Whisky 2 bottles

Carbolic oil (for sores of men or perhaps camels) 1 bottle

Carbolic acid, strong 1 small bottle

Cocoanut oil for lamps a supply

Turpentine for preparing skins about 6 bottles

Oil for cleaning rifles a supply

Two or three bottles of tart fruits.

A bottle of pickles.

Other articles, which could be stored in bottles, would suggest

themselves—

The stores will be something like the following (for one fortnight):—

Tea

Coffee

Cocoa

Sardines

Candles

Matches

Tinned potato

Soap

Pepper[57]

Mustard[57]

Salt[57]

Potted meats

Biscuits

Rice

Jams

Swiss milk

Sugar[57]

Tinned butter

Tinned soups

Oatmeal

Flour[57]

Powdered alum[57] (for preparing skins)

Tinned fruits

Of Swiss milk very little need be taken, as milk goats can be bought and

driven along with the caravan.

Soups are most useful, and I usually take about ten tins for a fortnight.

Fresh potatoes can be bought in Aden, and will last for the first three

weeks of the trip. They would go in a separate sack. Onions may be taken

in the same way.

Biscuits and small tins of potted meats, provided salt kinds such as

anchovy and bloaters are omitted, are useful to carry in the pocket when

out for a day’s hunting. The salt kinds are of course objectionable, as

they induce thirst. I seldom carried any large tins of meat. Dried game

meat can always be saved, to be used in case of emergency.

I only used lamp oil for two bull’s-eye lanterns which I kept for

theodolite work. They make good night referring points if fixed half a

mile away. I had candle lanterns for camp use, and spring candlesticks

with glass globes for the tent.

Four of these boxes, containing stores or liquors, will go on one camel.

Thus we have, European rations and stores for 42 days, 1½ camel-loads.

For private baggage, tent, instruments, cooking-pots, and bedding, allow

2 camel-loads. For cloth, large cooking-pot for the men, bags of spare

ammunition for sporting rifles, and extras, we will allow 1 camel-load.

The men will carry thirty rounds each in their cartridge belts or

pouches, and for such a short trip it will not be necessary to have more

than fifty rounds per man carried in one box. A little buckshot and

blank ammunition would also be carried, the latter being useful for drill

and firing salutes.

Sporting ammunition should be carried in haversacks or magazines

distributed about the loads, each rifle having its own bag of ammunition;

and a little should be carried in a couple of haversacks on the riding

camel, ready to hand. The sporting cartridges for the day’s use would be

carried in the pockets of the sportsman and his two hunters. If one large

box of spare sporting ammunition and one box of Snider ball ammunition be

also carried, we must allow—spare ammunition, ½ camel-load.

The camel-loads for the ten baggage camels will be as follows:—

Camel-loads.

(_a_) Native rations 4

(_b_) European rations 1½

(_c_) Private European baggage 3

(_d_) Ammunition ½

(_e_) Cloth and other extras 1

----

Total 10

====

The expenses of such a trip may be conveniently grouped as follows:—

(_1_) Purchase of tent, rifles, and kit of all sorts in London or Bombay.

(_2_) Passages to and from Aden.

(_3_) Hotel expenses in Aden.

(_4_) Purchase of necessaries at Aden.

(_5_) Passages from Aden to the Somáli coast and back.

(_6_) Purchase and sale of necessaries at the coast.

(_7_) Purchase and sale of camels at the coast.

(_8_) Petty expenses in the interior.

(_9_) Pay of men of the caravan.

Only in the case of the last four items—that is, the sums which will be

actually spent in Somáliland itself—can I give estimates; but it is just

in these items the local knowledge is so valuable.

The currency used at Aden and the Somáli coast ports is silver, usually

rupees, or dollars (worth 2⅛ rupees); and the rupee is constant as

regards purchasing power. The value of a rupee in English money can be

found daily in the newspapers. When I was last at Aden a sovereign was

worth about 16 rupees.

PURCHASE OF TENT, RIFLES, AND OTHER KIT

I recommend a double fly 80 lb. “Cabul” tent. Somális, who take shelter

from rain under camel-mats, do not require a tent. I consider that in a

comparatively dry country like Somáliland camp furniture is superfluous.

My tent arrangements are very simple. Between the two tent poles five

of the wooden store-boxes are placed side by side. One set of soft

camel-mats (the Somáli substitute for a packsaddle) is spread over the

boxes, and my blankets and pillow go over all. When marching fast I

never pitch the tent at all, and in this case all the boxes are piled to

windward, to form a rampart about five feet high. Camel-mats are thrown

over for a roof, and the bed is spread out on the ground beneath. The

mats may be thrown off when it is not raining, as in fine weather I

prefer to have nothing to shut out the sky. This arrangement gives less

trouble to the men, who may be tired after a long march, than pitching

the tent; and it is much easier to load up for the early morning march.

By day, when marching fast, I halt for three hours about noon, without

pitching the tent, if two good trees are to be found.

When the tent is pitched the bed is arranged on the store-boxes, taking

care that those which contain “expense stores” are not so used, as it is

annoying if the cook is constantly disturbing the bedding to open boxes.

Against one pole rests a jar of water, which is constantly kept cool by

the wind blowing upon the porous earthenware. This jar is carried on the

camels in a framework of sticks. It can be bought in Berbera for half a

rupee, and the butler can be rewarded with two rupees if it is brought

back to the coast unbroken. The iron tent-pegs[58] should similarly be

handed to the same official, and, say, two annas given for every peg

which finds its way back to the coast. The Somális, though not naturally

petty thieves, cannot resist iron tent-pegs; they are easily secreted,

and disposed of to jungle natives, who make spears with the iron. All

cutlery if not looked after is apt to disappear in the same way. At the

back of my tent I usually stood a large bucket of water and waterproof

sheet, or an india-rubber bath. Table and chairs I seldom took. In

case of meeting Europeans, a very fine substitute for a dining-table

and chairs can be arranged by the help of the store-boxes, draped with

different coloured blankets.

The first thing after the tent has been pitched, two _auss_, or smooth

grass camel-mats, are laid down as a substitute for floorcloth. To the

right of the bed, on the ground, are laid all small articles which may

be required at a moment’s notice, including the favourite rifle and

cartridge belt. At night this rifle is kept loaded, and a strip of

white paper is gummed along the central rib from the back-sight to the

muzzle. When a leopard jumps into the middle of the camp, or there is a

“war-scare,” one or other of which incidents occurs on an average once

a week in Somáliland, it is convenient not to have to waste valuable

seconds in fumbling for these things in the dark. On the ground, to

the left of the bed, are arranged haversacks, small camera, spare

rifles, medicine bag, instruments, a pair of saddle-bags, and other

such articles; and to the right of the pillow is placed one store-box,

and on it a candle lantern, matches, and the favourite book, which is

an absolute necessity for camp life. For the spare clothing, books,

spare instruments, stationery, and other articles, I recommend strong

tin uniform cases, or steel trunks, instead of leather trunks, because

they can be left out in the rain without damage. Leather trunks are soon

pulled out of shape by the loading ropes, and are liable to be utterly

ruined by white ants in a single night. The tin cases may be painted

white with ship’s paint; when painted black they absorb the sun’s rays

and bake everything inside. Photograph plates and other very perishable

articles should be carefully packed to avoid damage from excessive heat,

the sun’s rays being so powerful; for instance, at noon in Guban a rifle

barrel, if left lying exposed, very soon becomes too hot to touch.

The sporting battery which I should take were I now fitting out an

expedition, would be—

One double .577 Express rifle (with 250 cartridges for six weeks).

One double 8-bore Paradox ball gun (with 150 ball cartridges and a few

buckshot).

One double 12-bore Paradox ball gun (with 100 ball, 200 shot).

One single Lee-Metford .303 rifle (with 300 rounds).

The cartridges would be filled and soldered up in tin in convenient

quantities by the gunmaker who sold the rifles. I have never taken the

trouble to load rifle cartridges; a good maker will load them well, and

if soldered up they will keep for years. I believe most of the letting

off and wounding of game is due more to the inability to get close enough

than to defects in rifle or cartridges. For the open plains, when the

game is shy, the Lee-Metford will be very useful. The grass is often so

short that shots may be taken on the back position. Every shot knocks

up a puff of dust, enabling one to correct one’s aim. In the case of an

antelope the neck should be aimed at, so that the animal will be missed

or killed; and a very deadly shot is obtained when the animal is standing

head on, so as to present the length of the body to a raking bullet. If

the distance be very great, the animal will, if unwounded, stand for

several shots. In this way, managed with science, long shots are not

unsportsmanlike, and I must confess to a feeling of pleasure when an

almost black bull hartebeest, whose horns have been admired at leisure

through the telescope, and who has been standing four hundred yards away

thinking himself out of range, drops stone dead as if struck by lightning

after a few unsuccessful shots. To fire at random into a herd, unless

meat is urgently required, of course is utterly indefensible.

In buying rifles there is a great choice of good makers. Personally I

have nearly always gone to Messrs. Holland and Holland for my rifles and

ammunition, and have been perfectly satisfied with the way in which I

have been treated. Their eight-bore Paradox ball gun I consider the best

weapon in the market for heavy game such as elephant or rhino. I had a

four-bore rifle with fourteen drs. and hard spherical ball, but found

that the conical steel-core projectile of the eight-bore gave greater

shock and penetration.

Snider carbines are useful weapons for the escort, and it may be noted

that the ammunition makes excellent practice at short ranges when fired

out of a .577 Express. This can be done if the chamber happens to be of

the right shape, and the knowledge has been useful to me more than once,

although whether such a proceeding is good for the rifle is questionable.

A revolver or pistol is a useful weapon to carry, especially if one

wanders about in the bush alone. I recommend, if a double _shikár_ pistol

be taken, that one of about .577 or twelve-bore be chosen, with one

trigger for both barrels on the Lancaster principle. When after lion or

leopard, and not well backed up by the gunbearer, a situation may arise

where such a pistol would be handy. In a home charge the rifle would be

knocked out of the hands, but the pistol, being on the belt, would always

be ready. I have known two cases of a native trying to beat off a lion

with his bare hands. One man was successful and the other lost his life.

I feel sure that in the latter case a good pistol would have made all the

difference. It is worth remembering that when buying a Lee-Metford rifle

of military pattern, the bayonet should be supplied with it, as it is a

perfect _shikár_ knife for the belt.

In disturbed country, where an attack by robbers may be apprehended, the

eight-bore Paradox gun loaded with S.S.G. slugs would be a good night

weapon to rely upon. I therefore recommend that a few cartridges be so

loaded for this and the twelve-bore. Among the .577 Express bullets

should be about 10 per cent of hardened solid bullets. They may be very

useful in finishing off heavy game.

When after thick-skinned game, such as elephant or rhino, I think the

Lee-Metford would be a useful rifle, provided a quiet head shot could

be obtained with the animal standing still, both barrels of the double

eight-bore being kept in reserve for use if it should get into motion.

Although I have always believed in large-bore rifles, I think there is a

great future in store for the very small bores of the Lee-Metford class,

having a long bullet and plenty of powder. Although the section is so

small, the great remaining velocity of the Lee-Metford bullet causes

a considerable shock to the animal, especially if the latter has been

standing end on, and the bullet has raked forward for some distance.

I consider the Lee-Metford about the best rifle for oryx-shooting in

uninhabited country, and have in my latter trips had great success with

it. I used the ordinary military cartridge.

With each of the sporting rifles there should be a good strong magazine

bag, which can be slung over any of the laden camels. Half the spare

ammunition would be carried in this way, while the rest of the spare

ammunition for all the sporting battery would be packed in one box,

weighing about 50 lbs. Several leather or canvas haversacks should be

made to carry food and small articles.

For the Snider carbines I recommend that for a six weeks’ trip thirty

rounds per man be carried in the belts, with a few rounds of buckshot for

the use of sentries; besides this belt ammunition, about fifty rounds per

man would be in a box, and some blank ammunition for skirmishing drill

and complimentary displays. If it is proposed to give the men much ball

practice while in the interior, more ball ammunition should of course be

taken. I strongly recommend an hour of target practice once a week, in

some deep river-bed with precipitous banks, if the men are to be of any

use as an escort. A pair of compasses, a bundle of thin lathes, a dozen

screws and a screwdriver, half a quire of cartridge paper, packet of

drawing pins, and some ink pellets, are all that is required to be taken

to make very good targets. When the men have been well grounded in ball

practice it will be interesting to pile up stones to the height of a man

and bring them down with a crashing volley at a hundred yards. The men

take a lively interest in the shooting and drill, and a list should be

kept of good, bad, or indifferent shots, so that the fact may be endorsed

on their written characters when they are dismissed at the coast.

Some form of hand camera is invaluable, I suggest that no large camera be

used, nor chemicals, but that small photographs be taken with the hand

camera and developed and enlarged on return to England.

When ordering clothes it should be remembered that Somáliland can be

extremely hot and also very cold. I recommend that thin “kháki” drill

be the usual costume, and that a good thick ulster be taken for cold

night-marches or for sitting up over a “kill.” A few pairs of red rubber

or cotton-soled shoes are useful for stalking koodoo and other game

inhabiting stony ground. Above all, a really good sun hat is a necessity.

Information regarding the cost of passages to and from Aden can be

obtained at any shipping offices, so I will merely remark that it takes

about three weeks to get to Aden from London by sea, or about thirteen

days if advantage be taken of the overland train to Brindisi. But in

the latter case only a small hand-bag could be taken, baggage having

previously been sent round by sea. There is generally great trouble about

the shipping of loaded cartridges, and they should be sent on ahead.

When staying at an hotel in Aden I usually went to the Hotel de L’Europe,

in the Crescent, Steamer Point. The accommodation at all the hotels in

Aden is very primitive. So far as I can remember, board and lodging in

Aden would come to between 7 and 14 rupees per diem.

At Aden the following articles, if considered necessary, may be purchased

or made to order:—

Coats for the men, of “kháki” or drab-coloured drill (3 rupees),

cartridge belts to contain thirty rounds (1 rupee), also pouches (½

rupee), brown blankets for followers (3 rupees). Six wooden boxes to

contain stores or liquors, as before described, can be made in the bazaar

for between 1 and 2 rupees each, or they may be obtained in London with

a fortnight’s supplies in each box. If a camel-pad is required it can be

got in Aden for 10 rupees.[59]

The two Parsi firms with which I have had most dealings are Messrs.

Pallonjee Dinshaw and Messrs. Cowasjee Dinshaw Bros., both of the

Crescent, Aden. The latter is probably the larger firm, and does a great

deal of business with the shipping passing through Aden. But when I

have not had time to get what I wanted from one I have tried the other.

Cowasjee is in correspondence with Mr. Mahomed Hindi, a Hindustáni

merchant permanently living in Berbera; and Pallonjee is also accustomed

to do business with the Somáli coast.

All information concerning passages to and from the Somáli coast can be

obtained by applying to either of the two Parsi firms named. Two coasting

steamers visit the coast ports of Berbera, Bulhár, and Zeila once a week

each. The usual charge was 20 rupees for one European and his baggage,

and 5 rupees for each native.

Under the heading of purchase and sale of necessaries at the coast will

come the following:—

Purchase before Sale on

leaving coast. return.

Rupees. Rupees.

11 sets of _hério_, or camel-mats 35 12

11 leather loading ropes 11 3

9 native axes 5 2

6 _hangol_, or wooden crooks 2 1

4 knives for cutting camel-rope 2 ..

Several bundles of common loading rope 10 2

20 iron tent-pegs 5 ..

Cloth for payment in interior 150 ..

Cash for payment on journey (in small silver) 100 ..

Rations for Somális:—

Rice, 4 bags 36 ..

Dates, 3 _gosra_ 22 ..

Ghee, 5 gumba 50 ..

Extras 10 ..

--- ---

Total 438 20

=== ===

Thus we have 418 rupees expenditure after deducting the proceeds of

the selling-off auction, so that 450 rupees should well cover expenses

under this head; the _hério_ are the sets of camel-mats which are the

Somáli substitute for a packsaddle. Three _auss_, or grass mats, and one

_kibit_, or soft bark mat, make a complete set.

The axes are for cutting brushwood for the zeríba, and some of them may

be made specially heavy for cutting out ivory. Good axes from England

might be useful for this purpose.

The _hangol_ are crooked sticks used for pulling about thorny brushwood.

The cloth required might be made up of:—

3 _Khaili_, or coloured tobes at 7 rupees 21 rupees

8 _Bafta_ tobes ” 2⅛ rupees 17 ”

56 _Merikáni_ tobes ” 2 rupees 112 ”

-----------

150 rupees

===========

The purchase of twelve camels will cost about 480 rupees, and their sale

at the end of the trip (allowing for one death) will produce about 330

rupees.

The petty expenses in the interior have been provided for by 150 rupees

worth of cloth and 100 rupees in cash, already included under the heading

of expenses in Berbera. A common native engaged for a day’s work will

usually get 8 annas or the equivalent in cloth. Presents for game bagged

may be given according to taste, from 30 rupees for a good bull elephant

to 20 rupees for a lion, or 4 rupees for a bull oryx. The present for one

animal should be distributed among those who aided in bringing it to bag,

however slight their services; in fact, for a good trophy it has been my

custom to reward slightly every member of my caravan. A sheep costs from

3 to 4 rupees; a heifer about 15 rupees; a camel, 20 to 40 rupees (either

for the butcher or transport); a pony, 60 rupees and upwards; a goat for

the butcher, 1½ to 2 rupees; a milk goat, 5 to 8 rupees; a donkey, 12

rupees. The latter animal is a long way the best for tying up at night as

a bait for lions, as the lion likes no flesh better, and the loud bray

attracts any that may be near. A white goat, which is young enough to

bleat, is the best bait for a leopard.

The pay for the men of the caravan for six weeks will be approximately as

follows:[60]—

Rate per

month.

Rupees. Rupees.

35 1 caravan leader or headman 52½

25 1 butler 37½

25 1 cook 37½

30 1 hunter 45

20 1 assistant hunter 30

17 1 groom, or personal camelman 25½

15 4 baggage camelmen 90

18 1 _makadam_, or head camelman 27

15 2 guides (engaged temporarily) 45

12 1 sheep-boy (engaged temporarily) 18

Shooting presents may be paid for from the

cash and cloth taken to the interior.

At the close of the trip a parting present will

be expected by each man. Add 15 per cent 62

Add pay of headman, butler, and cook, for a

week before and a week after the trip, to help

in organising and breaking up the expedition 43

----

Total 513

====

Thus, the money spent in Somáliland itself for a six weeks’ trip should

be in round numbers as follows:—

Rupees.

Purchase and sale of necessaries at coast, and

expenses on trip 450

Purchase and sale of camels 330

Pay of men of the caravan 520

----

Total 1300

====

Of this expenditure, part will occur when starting and part when breaking

up the caravan at the close of the trip. The whole of this money should

be placed in the charge of a native merchant or banker at Berbera, and

any Somáli follower may then be paid off either at the coast or in the

interior by an order for the necessary sum, written on a scrap of paper.

EXAMPLE II

We will assume that one European is going to travel for two months,

purely for sport, in the Haud and the most accessible parts of Ogádén.

The distance across the Haud by the usual road from Hargeisa to Milmil

is covered in five and a half days, going two marches a day, and for all

journeys going far into the Haud, or crossing to Ogádén, arrangements

should be made for carrying at least seven days’ water. To the east

of Milmil the Haud becomes much wider. From the experience of eight

journeys across the Haud, I have found that a gallon per man per diem

for all purposes is the proper allowance for a Somáli who is on ordinary

rations, a gallon and a half for a native of India, and two gallons for

an European. Half of the water is used by the Somáli for boiling with

his rice, the other half for drinking; and it is a thing worth knowing

that if his ration is of camel meat instead of rice, he will be perfectly

satisfied with half a gallon per diem for all purposes. For the purposes

of our calculation, however, we will allow a gallon per diem, because an

eating camel is not always to be had, and a full day’s halt is necessary

to enable the men to cut up and sun-dry the meat, causing vexatious

delay. The Somáli, although he bathes at every pool where water is to be

had, does not try to wash in the Haud. It is comforting, however, for an

European or native of India to keep up the appearance of cleanliness so

far as a damp sponge and a little water in a saucer will permit.

Somáli camels require no water for any march under ten days, and can do

longer at a pinch. If water is plentiful they would be watered every

five days or so. Donkeys, sheep, and goats should have a few pints every

second day, and Somáli ponies should have about two gallons per diem, or

four gallons every second day, though at a pinch they can go, according

to the natives, from three to four days without water. Of course with an

ordinary caravan this cruelty is unnecessary.

On one trip I took an Arab pony from India for three and a half months.

He did excellently, and was faster and up to more weight than Somáli

ponies. But he, of course, required grain and a much larger allowance

of water than a Somáli pony. I think we carried for him five gallons

per diem. If an Arab riding camel be imported from Aden, it must be

remembered that it is ordinarily accustomed to drink at least once a day,

and in the Haud must be given four gallons every second day.

As regards transport of water, a full load for a camel is two 12-gallon

casks; a gallon of water weighs 10 lbs., and there is the weight of the

casks to take into account.

In order to calculate the number of baggage camels and camelmen required,

we shall have to add up the number of camel-loads coming under the

following headings:—

Camel-loads.

Rations for 9 natives for 56 days (with percentage

added) 4½

Rations, 56 days, 1 European 2

Private baggage of European 3

Spare ammunition for European and for 9 of

the escort 1

Cloth and extras 1

Water for 1 European and 9 natives for 7 days

(assuming no animals but Somáli camels

are taken across the Haud) 3½

---

Total 15

===

The rations for 56 days for one camelman (with percentage added) will be

66 lbs. rice, 38 lbs. dates, 10 lbs. ghee; add his spare ammunition 5

lbs., and water for 7 days 70 lbs., and we get a total of 189 lbs., or

about ⁸/₁₁ of a camel-load.

By a calculation similar to that employed in Example I., we shall find

that the number of camels required will be 24, and the number of baggage

camelmen, 12.

The composition of our caravan will therefore be as follows:—

1 European. 1 headman. 5 personal servants.

(3 temporary jungle servants engaged from day to day will be

allowed for in the pay, ration, and water estimate, though they

will not start with the caravan.)

12 camelmen.

24 baggage camels; 1 Somáli camel to ride; 2 spare camels.

Total, 27 camels.

This is what the preliminary calculation has given us; and when the loads

have all been accurately worked out in detail it will probably be found

that the 24 baggage camels can carry them.

In calculating the ammunition I am assuming that every permanent member

of the caravan can shoot and will be provided with a rifle. It is a

good rule to go by, although not always absolutely necessary, provided

suitable escorts for different districts are taken.

To those whom I know to be unused to firearms I issue no ball ammunition

till they have had several lessons in skirmishing drill with blank

ammunition, and a certain amount of target practice. The laws of

blood-feuds are too serious to be disregarded, and therefore a Somáli has

a wholesome fear of letting off his rifle by accident. I have found that

when once they have been properly taught they can be trusted with ball

ammunition.

EXAMPLE III

A trip of four months to distant parts of Ogádén, and to the Webbe

Shabéleh river. In this case we will add a pony or mule and two fast Arab

camels, luxuries which it may be worth while taking on a long trip.[61]

Unlike the Somáli ones, the Arab camels each require about 7 lbs.

_jowári_ grain per diem. It can be bought in Aden or Berbera, and costs

rather less than rice. There will in this case be six personal servants

instead of five, as the two Arab camels will require one man, and the

pony will require a groom (_syce_ in Hindustáni). I have also slightly

increased the European baggage on account of ammunition and trade goods.

As a basis for our rough calculation we shall have:—

Camel-loads.

Rations, 10 natives, 12 days 10

Rations 1 European 2

Private European baggage 4

Spare ammunition for 10 natives and 1 European 1½

Cloth and trade goods and extras 2

Water for 1 European and 10 natives; and

for 2 Arab camels, 1 pony, 1 donkey, 2

milk goats (19 gallons, 7 days) 5½

4 months’ grain for 2 Arab camels 4

---

29

===

A man’s rations for 112 days (with percentage added) will be:—

130 lbs. rice

70 ” dates

20 ” ghee

add ammunition 10 ”

water 7 days 70 ”

----

300 lbs.

====

Say 1⅟₁₁ camel-loads.

By another calculation similar to those previously employed, we shall

find that we would want 64 camels and 32 baggage camelmen.

Thus we have our caravan composed as follows:—

1 European.

1 headman.

1 personal camelman.

1 _syce_.

1 cook.

1 butler.

2 hunters.

32 baggage camelmen.

3 temporary jungle servants.

--

Total 42 Somális, 1 European.

2 Arab trotting camels.

1 pony for European.

64 baggage camels.

6 spare camels.

In my last trip to the Webbe, occupying three months, I had 55 camels and

30 men. The trip cost me about £300 altogether.

The expenses can be calculated on the lines of Example I. There will,

however, be certain modifications.

Somális have a prejudice against going to the Webbe. They have great

fear of fever and mosquitoes; and they have a great dread of Gállaland.

They will, therefore, expect higher pay to go to these countries. On my

last trip my ordinary camelmen, who would take 15 rupees per month for

trips in Guban, Ogo, Haud, and Ogádén, would take nothing less than 18

rupees throughout the journey if we reached the Webbe, and 20 rupees if

we reached the Gálla tribes. Circumstances have combined to place all

Somáli wages at a very high figure. The pay of an Indian body servant is

in India about 10 rupees per month, but if taken to Aden, the same man

requires double pay, or 20 rupees per month. The Somáli, who is trained

to domestic service in Aden, naturally says he will not take less than

the Indian who does the same work. The Somáli at Berbera requires the

same wages which he has been accustomed to get at Aden, and similar

causes, together with intense laziness, independence, and avarice

combined, tend to raise the price of labour in Somáliland.

If Somális are really starving, they have only to make their way somehow

to the karias of their own tribe, and they will be kept in board and

lodging, for up country every fighting man is worth his keep.

The Arab trotting camels, which I have recommended, could be bought in

Aden, including light coolie saddles (without stirrups), for about 170

rupees each. Great care should be taken in choosing these animals, an

Arab expert who can be trusted being employed. The attendant for these

camels should be a Somáli accustomed to them. There are many Somális who

have served in the Berbera camel police who have this qualification, but

an ordinary Somáli knows nothing about them. Besides _jowári_ and water

at regular intervals, about a quart of sweet or other suitable oil per

month should be carried for each trotting camel. It is a peculiarity of

these camels that a large maggot is often found filling up the nostril,

and when it becomes so large as to impede breathing the nostril is

drenched with oil, and the maggot, sometimes half an inch thick and over

an inch long, tumbles out.

In a long trip, such as is given in Example III., a rapid survey of the

route would probably be made. I recommend the following instruments:—

Boiling-point thermometer and aneroid barometer.

Common thermometer.

Note-books.

6-inch transit theodolite.

Prismatic compass and stand.

First-class astronomical watch.

Two common watches.

I found the theodolite infinitely more handy than the sextant, and think

the traverse, often at the rate of twenty-five miles a day, too rapid

for comfortable plain table work. The tribesmen, too, would probably

object to the imposing plain table and strained square of paper. The

theodolite is also an imposing instrument, but it would be most used

for star observations at night, when natives would be away from camp.

Of the smaller instruments, duplicates should be taken. Instructions

on surveying are to be found in the Royal Geographical Society’s

publication, _Hints to Travellers_, and practical lessons in this and

other special subjects are given under the auspices of the same Society.

When arranging for an expedition in which water has to be carried,

12-gallon casks should be taken out to Aden, or bought beforehand in

Aden by letter. It will be advantageous to be able to padlock them, and

for the bunghole to be large enough for a man’s arm to be passed in when

cleaning the cask. I recommend common casks, for I have taken different

shapes of specially-designed water-vessels suited (in theory) for camel

transport; but Somális, who are good judges, say camels do well with

a pair of large common casks. It is worth remembering that wooden or

plaited bark water _háns_, carrying on an average seven gallons, are

always to be had at Berbera (costing about 4 rupees). They go four to six

on a camel, and being light, twenty-eight gallons can easily be carried

in one load. But owing to incessant leakage, and to breaking, through

the falling of camels and knocking against trees, there is a very great

loss of water. On the other hand, if the casks are good, one is sure of

the twenty-four gallon load, and the supply can be accurately controlled.

Casks should be filled with water over-night and allowed to stand by the

well side before a long waterless journey, so that the wood of the casks

may have time to swell. Casks which have lost no water by morning may be

trusted, and those which have leaked should be filled again and marked,

so that they may be the first to be drawn upon on the march.

In one of my long trips I took forty-four water _háns_, but they caused

so much vexation through leakage and so much expense for repairs, that

I resolved never to use them again when I could get casks. They are,

however, always to be had at Berbera, if casks have been forgotten. In

buying _háns_ it should be noted that drinking water for Europeans should

be carried in wooden _háns_, as they taint the water much less than the

bark ones. I recommend, for water-bottles, common quart whisky-bottles,

which can be slipped into a leather case provided with a sling, so that

it can be carried by one of the hunters. It is very convenient to have in

addition half a dozen flat water-bottles made to contain a gallon each,

of tin covered with thick leather; one of these could be carried on the

camel which is ridden. These would, of course, most easily be made in a

civilised country.

On the Webbe Shabéleh a little _jowári_ grain can generally be purchased

at the villages, though the natives, I believe, only grow it for home

consumption and not for export. I would never count on getting either

_jowári_ or ghee in the interior, as every purchase of this kind means a

vexatious delay, and exorbitant prices are demanded. Milk is obtainable

in abundance at every karia; and, as a special favour, if it is asked

for, the natives will produce fresh butter as good as that sold in

England when not tainted by the wooden cup of the natives. It soon

becomes sour, and it should not be counted on as a supply. I always

keep two milk goats to supply milk for my own use. Somáli cow’s milk is

generally allowed to get sour and much tainted by the bark vessels. Good

milk may be got by sending a clean bucket for it, and having the cow

milked into it.

Besides the tobes mentioned in the estimates for Example I., the

following are useful minor presents in Somáliland:—

Looking-glasses.

Beads. (These should be chosen by a Somáli and bought in Aden or Berbera.)

Clasp knives.

Red shawls. (These are very much in request, and are picked to pieces and

made into tassels for saddlery ornaments. They can be bought in Aden for

¼ rupee each.)

Korans or Mahomedan Bibles, which cost from 1 rupee to 3 rupees in Aden,

are good presents for mullahs.

_Tusbas_, or praying chaplets, of ebony or sandalwood, ½ rupee to 1

rupee, procurable in Aden.

Files for sharpening spears.

Coloured handkerchiefs.

Red blankets or coloured plaids. (These and common brown blankets make

good presents for important natives, and are always useful to have about

the tent.)

In choosing presents it must be remembered that Somális, being very

sensible people, will not be burdened in their nomad life with

unnecessary articles, and will not be satisfied with glittering but

useless things which might pass among negroes. Each present must be

really good and useful. A Somáli will examine a gift blanket very

critically.

Presents and trade articles for Gállaland can be got in Aden, and should

be chosen by a Somáli or Gálla expert, who knows something of the

districts to be visited. _Wiláyati_ (European) cotton cloth, something

similar to _Merikáni_ (American), but narrower and half the price, is

there the most useful kind.

If it is intended to cross the Webbe, a rope (say 2 to 3 inches in

circumference and 60 fathoms long) should be taken to be stretched

across the river. At Karanleh the river is some 90 yards wide, except

in flood time. When this rope has been stretched across the river, the

native rafts can be attached to it by running loops made of bruised

creeper, and the rafts pulled to and fro hand over hand. The rope enables

a caravan to cross in one day, whereas without it the passage might

occupy seven days. Such a rope is easily obtainable in Aden, and weighs

40 to 60 lbs.

On very important and distant expeditions it may be worth while to take a

folding boat, in order to be independent of the avaricious river negroes,

who will strike for higher wages if they think you depend on their help.

When fitting out an expedition which may in the course of the journey

have to change to mule or human transport, as would occur at Harar or in

parts of Gállaland, it may be worth considering whether the loads should

not be capable of subdivision. Thus the boxes I have recommended for

holding European stores, if not very full and made a little lower, would

weigh about 55 lbs. Four of these would conveniently go on a camel, two

on a mule, one on a man.

I have said that “no work, no pay” should be the rule for jungle

tribesmen, but in the wilder parts of Somáliland it has hitherto been

the custom for passing caravans to make small presents to the heads of

clans for the privilege of going through the country. This payment is

something similar to the Masai _hongo_. The usual etiquette is for a

dozen horsemen or so to arrive from a distance and perform equestrian

games (_dibáltig_); afterwards the performers and one or two elders are

given presents, and then the caravan is free to go on its way. In the

territory of tribes which I know I make the present very small, say one

red shawl and half a tobe to each horseman, and I give a display with

blank cartridge with the men formed up in skirmishing order, as a return

compliment, which is always highly appreciated.

In expeditions to Ogádén and Gállaland I recommend that Sheikh Mattar of

Hargeisa, if met with on the way, be asked to write Arabic letters of

introduction to Mahomedan sheikhs and mullahs. He is widely known, and

has often helped me in this way. He has also assisted me by taking care

of loads which I have had, on occasions, to leave temporarily at Hargeisa.

Sometimes it may be worth while to hire extra camels (at 1 rupee per diem

for a camel and ½ rupee for a man) for the first few days of a journey.

In my calculation I make no allowance for trophies, because of course as

a trip goes on the food-loads lighten.

As regards arrangements for the security of a caravan, I consider that

unless the escort is well in hand and thoroughly up to its duties it

will be worse than useless when an emergency arises. I do not believe

in engaging a certain proportion of the men for the special purpose of

forming the escort. If so engaged they will refuse to do all other

work, and will give themselves airs over the camelmen and servants. I

have tried the system, and found it lead to jealousy and the shirking of

duties.

In most of my expeditions I have engaged my men as headman, camelmen,

servants, and guides, having first explained that every Somáli of the

caravan will take his share in the common defence. When I have been

making up my caravans I have first calculated the number of servants

I require, and have engaged them myself satisfying myself on the spot

that each either understands the use of a rifle or is capable of soon

learning it. The headman has been present, so that if he has any personal

objection to any of the men he may state it. I have then told the headman

to bring up for engagement the number of camelmen I require, allowing him

to choose his own friends; and if I find that any of these are unfit to

be trusted with firearms I discard them, and tell the headman to bring

others in their place. To each man I explain the special duties he is

engaged for, and the duties which he will share with all the members

of the caravan, and ask if he is satisfied. When the men have all been

engaged at the coast I appoint a time of parade and a convenient spot on

the shore, and each man fires two or three rounds of ball ammunition at a

mark, under my superintendence. The ball ammunition should be brought to

the spot in a bag, not served out to the men. In fact I seldom serve out

any ball ammunition till the caravan has made about two marches from the

coast. If it is a large amount it may be taken out for this distance on a

hired camel.

After these first few shots at a mark I hold two or three parades,

serving out ten rounds of blank ammunition per man at each, and practise

the men in skirmishing.

The rough drill which I have always used is as follows:—

The men form up in line about half a pace apart, with carbines held

perpendicularly in the right hand and close to the side (the carbine

“shoulder”).

On the word “Advance” all run forward steadily, keeping a fairly good

line.

On the word “Halt” they drop to a sitting position (squatting naturally,

as natives do, on both heels).

“Ready”—the men load with blank cartridge.

“Present”—the aim is taken.

“Fire”—the trigger is pressed.

“Advance”—the men run forward again, taking care to take out any

unexploded cartridge or to open the breech.

“Halt”—they sit as before, and wait for the word “Ready” or “Advance.”

It might be advisable, if actually attacked when on the march, to

retire upon the camels the better to protect them; so the men should

be practised in retiring steadily and sitting down facing the enemy to

fire, on the words “Retire” and “Halt.” The Somáli should in all these

practices be told the supposed direction of the enemy, and also that

whenever he is given the word “Halt” he is to squat down facing the

enemy. I always carry a good whistle; and when the men are advancing,

retiring, or halted ready for firing volleys, I sound an alarm on the

whistle, and train the men to run to me and form a rough double circle

round me, outer circle squatting on their heels, inner circle standing.

We then fire volleys, the idea being that the enemy is trying to

overwhelm the escort by a rush to close quarters.

On the word “Advance” the men run out in a rough line facing the enemy.

It is wonderful how quickly Somalis get to understand the few English

words of command which are necessary, and how well they grasp the idea in

each movement. This is because they are brought up from childhood among

raids and skirmishes.

The headman, if he is any good, will soon learn to command the men

at drill, and he should be often practised in this. The men take the

greatest delight in these drills, especially if plenty of blank cartridge

is given them, and when it is desirable to gain the firm friendship of a

tribe and at the same time to impress the tribesmen with the efficiency

of the escort, there is nothing like giving a display of this kind.

During the first few days’ march from the coast, when in uninhabited

country, I accustom the men to run out quickly to defend the line of

camels. Moving out to the front, flank, or rear, I blow the alarm

whistle, and the men run out and sit down in line, facing the supposed

enemy. A few of the worst shots should be told off permanently, their

duty being to stay among the camels and guard and look after them, so

that the bulk of the men will be free to attack the enemy. This duty

of holding camels in an emergency is not popular, and this will be an

incentive to the men to try and shine at the target practices.

The natural habit of Somális when marching with a caravan is for the

two or three camelmen who are required to lead the strings of camels

to be with them, while the bulk of the men either lead the way or lag

behind with the last camel. The camel _makadam_ should be among these,

and whenever a camel falls or shifts its load it is Somáli etiquette

for every man near to run up to its assistance. It is not generally

necessary, therefore, except in very disturbed country, to tell off a

rear-guard, and I do not believe in constantly worrying tired men with

theories when things are practically going on well.

In very disturbed country it is advisable to make only one long march

in the morning, and to devote the afternoon to fortifying the camp with

a good zeríba. While it is still daylight every man should be shown his

place in case of a night alarm, and at dusk, having first given notice

to the men, the alarm whistle should be blown, and they should jump to

their places and then be dispersed. When night falls it is the duty of

the headman to see the watch-fires lit and to post the sentry or sentries

required. The fires should be outside the zeríba, and screened by it, or

by a bush, from the eyes of the sentry. If the glare of the fire is in

his face he will not be able to see out into the darkness.

The relief of sentries, and all arrangements connected with them, are

best left to the headman. I found that Somális, once posted, as a rule

make very faithful and reliable sentries. The usual challenge is, “_War

kumá?_” (Who’s there?)

By day it is not usually necessary to keep a sentry, but there are two

occasions when Somális are particularly off their guard. First, at about

8 P.M., if they are grouped together eating camel meat and shouting to

one another, so that nothing else can be heard; secondly, between 1 and

2 P.M., when they are generally all asleep, scattered under the shade of

different trees outside the camp. If I had the conduct of an attack on

Somális, I would choose one of these occasions for effecting a surprise.

The zeríba can be arranged in many ways, the principle being that it

should be low enough to fire over and wide enough to prevent a rush.

The zeríba of the Somáli nomads, which is often twelve feet high, shuts

out all view of the outside ground, and is only a trap for men armed

with rifles. From four to five feet high and twelve feet wide is a good

zeríba. The great difficulty is where to place the camels, and Somális

are prejudiced in favour of a circular zeríba with the camels occupying

the centre, which would not, I should say, be the European way. When the

camels are out grazing, or a few are sent with empty casks to a distant

well, enough men with firearms should be with them to defend them, if

necessary, and one man should be placed in command.

It often occurs in bush country that men lose themselves, and guiding

shots are required, especially at night. The men should have blank

ammunition for this purpose, and should be fined for every ball cartridge

wasted in this way or fired indiscriminately at game. Firing at game

by men of the caravan, except under special circumstances, should

be strictly prohibited, as it causes danger to any natives or live

stock that may be about in the bush, and may land the traveller in a

troublesome blood-feud. Men who are paid off and sent to the coast

towards the end of a trip, or who are sent down in charge of camels,

should, if they are trustworthy, be allowed to take their rifles with

them, and they should be given cheques for their back pay, arrangements

having been made so that the cheques will not be honoured till the rifles

have been safely given up. It is not fair to expect a man to go through

the territory of strange tribes without his rifle, or, at any rate, a

spear and something to show that he is the servant of an Englishman.