If I were organising a Somáli expedition I would begin by writing to the

authorities at Aden mentioning where I wished to go, and asking whether

political conditions were favourable, whether I would be allowed to

enter the country through British ports,[62] and what escort I should be

required to provide myself with. I would, at the same time, write to one

of the Aden firms which I have named for information regarding the times

of sailing of coasting steamers. The securing of a headman, on whom so

much depends, may be seen to at the same time; the most reliable quarter

to go to for information on this point would probably be friends who

have already been a trip and can nominate a man. The name of a reliable

headman, who is available, having been obtained, he should be ordered to

meet the intending traveller at Aden on a named date.

Meanwhile all such articles as coats, cartridge belts, store-boxes, or

Arab camel-saddle, which, if wanted at all, have to be made to order, may

be prepared by the Parsi firms. On arrival at Aden the traveller, having

already prepared a list of the number of men, camels, and caravan kit he

will require, can procure them with the help of the headman. It may be

advisable, if time is limited, for the headman to be sent to Berbera (I

am assuming Berbera as the starting-point) to buy camels, camel-mats,

axes, and other caravan kit, and have them ready by the time his master

comes out to Aden, the funds being provided for the headman through the

Aden firm acting as banker.

The simplest course, and one I have generally adopted, has been to go

over to Berbera, stay in camp there four or five days, and to purchase

camels and necessaries myself, with the assistance of the headman. If,

however, more than forty camels are wanted, this may involve a delay of

perhaps ten days.

When returning from the interior I have found it saves a good deal of

worry to stay a few days in camp in the hills, and there pay off the bulk

of the caravan with cheques on the Berbera agent. The men’s characters

would be at the same time given them, and they would be told firmly that

they need expect to get nothing more by coming up in Berbera. The bulk

of the animals and kit would be sent down with the men, to be handed to

the agent for sale by auction. Only a few necessary camels and men need

be kept at the shooting camp, and during the two or three days’ halt

the trophies can be prepared in bundles ready for transport by steamer,

small delicate specimens going in the empty store-boxes; at the same

time search-parties might be out looking for koodoo. During the _Karíf_

wind it is pleasant in the hills, while at Berbera there are constant

sand-storms, and so for half the day nothing can be done.

Both for a week before and after the expedition it is advisable to keep

the headman, body servant, and cook to assist in the arrangements at

Aden and Berbera. Berbera has been named as the most convenient port,

but a start may also be made from Bulhár or Zeila; and the camels, if a

very large number be required, may perhaps with advantage be collected

simultaneously from all three places.

APPENDIX II

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

WITH NOTES ON PRONUNCIATION AND MEANING OF NATIVE NAMES

The Somáli country occupies the triangle known as the “Horn of Africa,”

whose eastern angle is Cape Guardafui. The coast line, beginning at

Gubbet Khrab, in the north-west, runs eastward for about six hundred

miles to Cape Guardafui, thence southward for eleven hundred miles to

Kismáyu, near the mouth of the Juba River (Webbe Ganána).

Starting with the north Somáli coast at our port of Berbera, the first

natural feature we come to is the sea-beach of sand and coralline

limestone, backed by the hot, semi-desert Maritime Plain, from two to

twenty miles broad, its breadth varying with the distance of the Maritime

Ranges from the coast. The plain, gradually sloping upwards from the sea,

rises to about three or four hundred feet at the base of the Maritime

mountains, and these rise about a thousand feet higher. Beyond the

Maritime mountains stony, jungle-covered, interior plains rise to the

high Gólis Range, the true plateau of the interior of Africa, which is in

places nearly six thousand nine hundred feet above sea-level. The country

from the coast line to the foot of Gólis, some thirty-five miles inland,

is called Guban. Gólis Range, with its prolongations east and west, forms

the seaward face of the high interior country, which is called Ogo.

On the north Somáli coast there are harbours at Berbera and Zeila, an

uninhabited creek at Khor Kulangárit, near Zeila, and the open roadstead

of Bulhár, partially protected by a surf-beaten spit of sand, which runs

for a few hundred yards parallel to the beach, over which at high tide

small dhows can pass, but steamers have to anchor outside.

Berbera is built in two parts, three-quarters of a mile distant from

one another. To the east is the native town, composed of a few Arab

rubble buildings, a fort, and a large number of permanent Somáli huts of

matting and poles (called _agal_). These huts are divided by streets,

the different blocks of building space being allotted to the respective

Somáli tribes, clans, and families. Three-quarters of a mile to the west

is the new or official town, originally built by the Egyptians, the

houses being of rubble masonry, in one story, with flat roofs. There is a

good pier.

Berbera harbour, which is an excellent one, and the best to be found

either on the north or east Somáli coast, is formed by a sand spit,

similar to that at Bulhár, but rising above high-water mark. It starts

from the native town and runs west for two miles till well beyond the

official town. Inside this spit large steamers are well protected. On the

shore, nearly three miles west of the new town, is a good lighthouse,

built by the Egyptians before the British Government took over the north

Somáli coast from them. Clearing the point of the sand spit it marks the

entrance to the harbour. The water-supply is obtained from a spring near

the old Egyptian fort of Dubár, eight miles inland under the Maritime

Ranges, the water being brought over the Maritime Plain in pipes.

The plain immediately round Berbera is covered with white pebbles and

devoid of bushes; a mile or two inland it becomes sandy and covered

with a flat-topped mimósa, which is called _khansa_, growing here to a

height of about three feet. There are also scattered thorn bushes about

twelve feet high. The plain round Berbera has been greatly denuded of

bush for firewood since 1885. I have watched this denudation gradually

going on year after year, and have attributed it to the increased traffic

since the British have been at Berbera, and to the fact that the town

is now well populated all the year round, giving the bush no chance of

recovering after the trade season is over. In the Maritime Ranges there

are gaps, through which can be seen the towering blue line of Gólis. At

a distance of about twenty miles east and west of Berbera the Maritime

Ranges come down to within a mile or two of the sea, receding again at

Bulhár to form a semicircle of hills with a radius of fourteen miles;

then towards Zeila the Maritime Plain widens to thirty or forty miles.

This town is one hundred and seventy miles north-west of Berbera by the

coast caravan track, and consists of one compact town of mat huts, with

about fifty substantial Arab buildings. There is, strictly speaking, no

harbour, but vessels lying off the place are protected by small islands

to the north and west. The site of Zeila is low, and at high spring-tides

it is almost an island. Water for the use of the town is carried in

goatskins from Tukusha, three miles to the west.

For a mile or two inland the Zeila Maritime Plain is a desert of smooth

sand, then there is a strip of low evergreen bush, and behind this a

great open grass plain or _ban_, intersected by many dry river-beds,

fringed with tamarisks and acacias. Travelling across this plain in 1890,

my brother described it in his Journal as follows: “Except one or two low

hills there is nothing to break the broad sheet of dull yellow, merging

into blue haze on the horizon, here and there divided into light and dark

patches by the shadows of the drifting clouds.”

This prairie rises to Eilo and Bur-ád Ranges to the south, thirty-five or

forty miles inland, and stretches away to the north-west along the foot

of the Tajurra Mountains nearly to the French settlement of Obok. Between

Obok and Zeila is another settlement created by the French, called

Jibúti, which within the last three or four years has risen into notice.

The site is a promontory of coral rock, and there is a good harbour and

a pier. The French are working hard to develop the place, in order if

possible to make it compete with Zeila as a trade port.

At Bulhár, forty-two miles west of Berbera by the coast track, the Ayyal

Yunis sub-tribe of the Habr Awal settle during the trading season, from

November to April. At this time both Berbera and Bulhár are surrounded by

the karias, or temporary kraals of the halted trading caravans, and these

karias stretch far out into the Maritime Plain; but from May to October

the town is nearly empty, a detachment of police being kept there as a

guard. The Bulhár Plain is a vast expanse of bush, surrounded by blue

mountains, and viewed from the sea, with the long line of white beach in

the foreground, is very striking. Two very notable landmarks well known

to sailors are Elmas Mountain, thirteen miles west of Bulhár, and Laba

Gumbur Mado (the “two black hills”), twenty-five miles east of Berbera.

Elmas rises to about 1500 feet, and is a cluster of bold peaks.

The Maritime mountains are composed principally of limestone, and some

of them are nearly as barren-looking as the volcano at Aden. Here and

there they are cut through by river-beds like the _wádi_ of Arabia, water

percolating slowly, hidden at various depths below a glaring expanse of

dry powdery sand. Sometimes it is so near the surface that the sand is

moist, and water can be got by scraping out a hole with the hands, though

generally it is obtained by digging the _lás_, or shallow pit, through

the surface sand.

However inviting these smooth stretches of sand may appear, a camp

should never be pitched in the main channel. On a dozen different

occasions, after heavy rain in the hills, I have seen a yellow flood,

two to four feet deep and fifty yards wide, rush foaming down the dry

channel of the Issutugan with great speed, rolling down in front of it a

mass of branches, débris, and large boulders, and undermining the high

perpendicular banks, pieces of which would drop into the river with a

loud splash. At such a time the whole of the river-bed in front of the

freshet has been absolutely dry, untouched by water perhaps for months.

These freshets dwindle to a trickling stream in about six hours, and may

cease to flow in two days. The water does not always reach the sea, as

the dry loose sand of the Maritime Plain drinks it up. After one of these

floods has run itself away a thin layer of mud remains deposited, which

dries, cracks, and curls up into small flakes, to be swept away in a few

days by the wind, leaving the surface of the sand again exposed.

At Bulhár, when there has been particularly heavy rain in the hills, the

Issutugan comes sweeping down over twenty miles of river-bed and plain,

and reaching the coast makes a clear cut through the high bank behind the

sea-beach. When the river dries the sea-bank is again in the course of

time silted up by the surf to its original height. At ordinary times the

water of the Issutugan, which is a typical _tug_ or Somáli sand-river,

loses itself in the sand at So-Midgán, twenty-three miles inland from

Bulhár, and sinking deep down below the Maritime Plain, collects behind

the sea-bank, where it can be reached by digging.

Vast numbers of shallow pits, which render riding rather dangerous at

night, are seen at intervals along the coast between Bulhár and Zeila.

They contain water which is brackish, but drinkable. After being used

for some time the well deepens, striking through the layer of fresh

water into the underlying sea-water, and a new pit has to be dug. Where

the Issutugan cuts through the Maritime hills, which it does for forty

miles of its course, there is generally a tiny rivulet of water running

along the centre of its bed, now and then sinking out of sight, to

reappear again a mile or two below, the sand saturated with water held in

suspension, forming awkward although not dangerous quicksands.

The aspect of the Maritime mountains is very forbidding. Bare precipices

rise everywhere, or the hills form great rounded shoulders, having a

surface of gravel sprinkled over with a wretched scrub of little brown

bushes a foot high, which are generally dry as tinder. Between Berbera

and Bulhár the mountains come closer to the sea, and take the form of

low, table-topped plateaux of black trap rock, with fringing precipices

about thirty feet deep, and a steep talus slope of débris dropping three

hundred feet to the level of the river-beds which cut through these

plateaux. Hegebo, near Berbera, is a typical plateau of this kind, and on

the Zeila side of the British Protectorate this sort of ground covers an

enormous area. On the top of the plateaux the surface has the appearance

of having been rained upon by showers of black stones. Here and there

tufts of feathery grass grow in the crevices, and there is light, open

jungle of flat-topped thorn bushes. Everywhere there are boulders and

jagged or rounded pieces of rock, so that where there are no paths

caravans cannot go. The sun beating down on the polished black surfaces

causes great heat, and distresses the baggage animals, and the stones

are very trying to horses’ feet, even camels going better over them. The

sand-rivers find their way through these plateaux from the high mountains

to the sea, forming deep gullies, the expanse of sand and green bush

below contrasting strangely with the black frowning heights on either

side.

Between the Maritime mountains and the great Gólis Range are elevated,

undulating, interior plains, intersected by river-beds and ravines

running generally from south to north. These slope up in continuation of

the Maritime Plain, but present greater variety of scenery; here a strip

of gravel and rocky ground scantily dotted with low mimósa bushes, and

cut up by torrent-beds choked with rough boulders and a tangle of savage

thorns, there a wide sand-river winding through a belt of thick forest

of the beautiful _gudá_ or larger thorn-tree, with a dense undergrowth

of pointed aloes, making it impossible to move about except in the sheep

and game paths. Narrow strips of thorn bushes and dark green poison

trees (_wabé_) wind down from the mountains, marking the tributary

watercourses. The river-beds themselves consist of broad, flat, sandy

reaches between alluvial banks, which have been scarped perpendicularly,

at alternate points on the right and left, where the swirling water has

undermined them with an inward sweep. Large _gudá_ trees grow closely

together at the edge of the steep or overhanging banks, their branches

being covered with long drapery of _armo_ creepers, which hang down,

often as much as thirty feet, to the level of the river-bed below. Behind

the jungle which fringes the banks is high grass, until the ground

rises, when the red soil, exposed by the action of the rains, is worked

into miniature hills and valleys. Here and there at the side or in the

centre of the channel is a clump of thorn-trees, round which the sand

has been washed up into a bank, and masses of driftwood are heaped round

the lower branches. Between the parallel sand-rivers of the interior

plains are watersheds of stony ground, very trying to travel over, the

sunbeams beating down on the stony path, glittering on the points of the

aloes, and being reflected like fire from the thousands of chipped rocks,

scattered pieces of quartz, feldspar, and mica which everywhere crop

above the surface.

Two days’ march due south of Berbera, having crossed the interior plains,

we arrive at the higher mountains, rising to nearly 6900 feet. Gólis is

the collective name, though Somális have a name for each flat-topped

bluff, as Daar-áss (Red clay), Gán-Libah (Lion hand), Ban-yéro

(Little plain), and Dig-wein (Big ears). In fact, in Somáliland every

watering-place, hill, or mound, and many a prominent tree, has some

descriptive name known to all the local tribes.

The Gólis Range forms a gigantic step rising abruptly on the northern or

coast face, and presenting to the sea, thirty-five miles distant, great

scarped precipices and bold descents, long walls of perpendicular rock,

red, yellow, or gray in colour, fringing the summit for many miles. The

whole interior of Somáliland presents the appearance of having, in some

great movement of the earth’s crust, been elevated from the level of

Guban, an abrupt break or fault occurring at Gólis Range, which seems to

have been upheaved for about six thousand feet; while at Hargeisa the

country is crumpled up into a chaos of hills, Guban rising gradually

into Ogo in several successive steps instead of in one great fault. On

the Hargeisa side the country between the levels of Guban and Ogo is

called Ogo-Gudan. At the base of the fringing precipices, which are

two or three hundred feet high, vast tumbled masses of rock which have

slipped from the crest lie heaped together half buried among the foliage

of tall cedar-trees and a profusion of forest growth, forming caves and

moss-grown recesses with great variety of wild flowers, and clumps of

maiden-hair fern growing in the damp crevices of the rocks. The soil is a

rich black vegetable mould.

There can be no greater contrast than that between this fine mountain

country and the brown sterile shores of the Gulf of Aden. Often as one

looks down from the top of Gólis the whole of Guban is hidden from

view by an immense expanse of white cloud lying below, resembling a

storm-tossed sea, the tops of Deimoleh-Wein and other detached hills

rising like islands above it. The air is so clear in the elevated

interior that from a hill in the Eilo Range, above Zeila, I have

recognised each separate bluff of Gólis at a distance of one hundred and

twenty miles. In these hills the roar of a lion or the alarm note of a

koodoo antelope can be heard echoing up the gorges for great distances.

On the northern slope, at about a thousand feet below the level of the

crest of Gólis, is a ledge of broken ground, a mile or two wide, running

parallel to the range for twenty or thirty miles. It is called Mirso,

or “The Haven,” and is a favourite pasture of the Habr Awal and Habr

Gerhajis tribes, and also good ground for koodoo. It is covered with

jungle, but the soil is shallow and stony. A gigantic blue-green cactus,

or euphorbia, called _hassádan_, grows here to a height of about forty

feet, and gives a very dense shade. The sap is a white milky liquid,

which pours from every cut in the tree, and if caught in cups and dried,

it solidifies into a kind of rubber. The top of the range is covered with

dense jungle of mountain cedar. In the gorges some of these trees, called

_dayeb_, grow tall and straight, often four feet in diameter at the foot,

and over a hundred feet high; but more frequently the _dayeb_ forest is

of comparatively stunted growth, being about forty feet high, with the

trunks and branches much bent and twisted. The best trees which I saw

were under Daar-áss Bluff, near Kulméye in Mirso, and on Wagar Mountain,

farther east.

From the crest of Gólis the country slopes towards the south-east,

falling gently towards the interior, the cedar forests ceasing at a

distance of about six miles inside the crest, and opening out into

grassy downs or thorn-covered wilderness. Soon, as we pass through Ogo,

the Haud waterless country, from one hundred to two hundred and fifty

miles across, is reached; and on its farther edge the ground again

drops slightly, as at Milmil, into Ogádén, the broad broken surface of

Ogádén finally sloping into the valley of the Webbe Shabéleh or Leopard

river, beyond which is the Juba. Where the Haud Plateau drops at Milmil

the limestone surface, which is covered with red soil, breaks up into

flat-topped hills, which continue the level of the Haud, but cease a

little farther south. They are covered with high _durr_ grass, and form

some of the most favourite retreats for lions. Thus the Gólis Range and

its prolongations east and west are the most prominent natural feature

in Northern Somáliland, forming the watershed between Ogo, the high cool

country, and Guban, the arid coast belt. Guban is drained by sand-rivers

and ravines, which, starting in Gólis, pass through the interior

plains and cut through the Maritime Ranges, the water being eventually

lost under the Maritime Plain, to reappear near the surface behind

the sea-shore. I consider the whole of the Guban country to be almost

valueless, except as a pasture for sheep and goats, as it is only upon

reaching the high country that the soil is found to be fertile.

The Haud is the great elevated wilderness which separates Ogádén and

Harar from Ogo, Guban, and the coast. The Somáli word _haud_ is used to

describe a peculiar kind of country, consisting of thick and sometimes

impenetrable thorn jungle, broken up by shallow watercourses, and

generally having an undergrowth of _hig_ or _dár_ aloes. The great

waterless plateau which is generally called the Haud is really a

district, and besides the variety of ground usually called _haud_, it

includes large strips of open, rolling, grass plains called _ban_, or, to

the south-east, semi-desert country called _aror_. _Ban_ is the Somáli

term for an open plain absolutely, or nearly devoid of bushes.

In the wooded parts of the Haud dense thorn jungles alternate with small

glades of _durr_ grass six feet high, luxuriating in beautiful feathery

clumps, with a level red soil; ant-hills crop up at about every hundred

yards, their pinnacles often rising to twenty-five feet. Some of the

dead thorn-trees are to be seen standing half eaten by white ants, and

the débris of fallen ones are found scattered about half-buried in the

soil, where they have been swept along by sheets of water during the last

rains. The remains of _galól_ bushes attain an almost iron hardness,

and many a wound have I and my followers received at night by stumbling

against a _gori_, or jagged stump, half hidden in the high grass. There

is excellent pasture in the glades and between the bushes, the Haud

pastures being considered better than those of Ogo or Guban. Extensive

tracts of fertile soil, of good depth, are to be found at about five

thousand feet elevation, which, although, except at one or two mullah

villages, none of them are under cultivation, owing to the nomadic life

of the people, may yet in the distant future become very valuable. The

rainfall in the higher parts of the country is ample, and the water would

only require to be stored in tanks, as is done in the drier parts of

India, to ensure a supply all the year round. Of course for three months

in the dry season the whole of the soil is baked hard by the sun, but

the same thing occurs in India. In June, when there is a hot wind at

the coast, cool breezes blow over the elevated Haud, making it possible

to march all day long; and although in the sun it is hot, yet in a tent

pitched under the shade of a flat-topped _gudá_ tree it is sometimes

quite chilly, even at midday, while it is disagreeably so in the early

mornings.

The Haud was first crossed by Mr. F. L. James and his party in the winter

of 1884-85, and a description of the journey is given in his book,

_The Horn of Africa_. Their camels were carrying loads for thirteen

days without touching a drop of water. The description of the Haud in

the above-named work, although I believe it to be an accurate portrait

of the country passed over by that expedition, does not give any idea

of the pleasant coolness and apparent fertility of the more elevated

North-eastern Haud. Mr. James’s party crossed this district at almost

its widest part, and in the _Jilál_ or driest season. The plateau is

traversed by several _warda_, or great trade routes, to the far interior

from the coast, generally running nearly north and south. In the strips

of _ban_, or open plain, often many miles wide, all caravan paths are

lost, each caravan crossing independently of landmarks, and no impression

is left on the growing grass. Once the _ban_ is passed, however, all

tracks will have converged into one well-worn path, or group of parallel

paths. One of the most important of these is the Warda Gumaréd crossing

the plateau from Hargeisa to Milmil.

The drainage from the Haud and Ogádén finds its way into the Nogal

Valley, or into the Webbe Shabéleh, eventually falling into the Indian

Ocean on the east Somáli coast, which is assigned to the Italian sphere

of influence. In reality, the Shabéleh, I believe, does not actually

reach the ocean, but falls into marshes near Mukdisha (Magadoxo). Farther

south, beyond the Webbe Shabéleh and the Webbe Ganána or Juba, is the

Tana River, rising near Mount Kenia in the Masai country and flowing

east. The Somális make annual raids as far south as the Tana, to within

a few days’ march of Lamu on the east coast, but, as far as we know at

present, the permanent Somáli country may be considered to lie well to

the north of the Juba. Most of this river lies in Gállaland, and its

sources have been scarcely touched by any European explorer, except,

perhaps, by the Italian explorer Captain Bottigo.

I have said that some of the highest ground in Somáliland is the great

upheaval of Gólis, continuations of which stretch far away to the

eastward, parallel to the sea-shore as far as Cape Guardafui, forming the

bold, almost unexplored coast line which is visible from the decks of

steamers passing along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. But there

is a still higher mountain system, that of the Harar Highlands, up to the

foot of which the Haud Plateau extends. The Haud gradually falls towards

the south-east, and rises ever higher the farther one goes westward, its

north-west angle being occupied by the high _ban_ known as the Marar

Prairie. This magnificent expanse of open grass land is fifty-six miles

long by thirty-five broad, having an area of nearly one thousand square

miles, and an elevation ranging from 4900 feet to 6300 feet. There are

a few grassy knobs like the Subbul hills which rise singly out of the

plains to nearly 7000 feet above sea-level.

In the _Jilál_ season the Marar Prairie is a sheet of yellow grass,

quite dried up, but still containing nourishment—the varieties being

chiefly _darémo_, _dihe_, and _durr_, all three having valuable fattening

qualities for horses or camels. After the first rains the young grass

begins to come up in patches of vivid green, the old, longer grass

falls, and soon the plains are entirely covered with a carpet of rich

green turf, short and crisp, inviting a gallop, and having almost the

appearance of unlimited English pasture. The soil is red and powdery.

Some of our camps on the plains were between 6000 and 7000 feet above

sea-level. The country is probably similar to the South African veldt,

the great elevation in a measure compensating for the nearness to the

equator.

There is heavy rainfall, the Marar Prairie partaking of that of Harar

and Abyssinia, but the water sinks to a great depth, so that with the

exception of temporary rain-pools the surface is waterless. There are,

however, many permanent watering-places in the jungle-covered hills and

broken ground bordering the prairie to the north and west, and in the

Harar Highlands, whose lofty summits can be seen overlooking the western

edge of the plain, some of them rising to over 10,000 feet. The Somális

say there is sometimes ice on these mountains, and that people die of

cold.

The Marar Prairie supports enormous masses of game, and I have had many

a good day’s sport upon it, which will never be forgotten. Although this

is the largest _ban_ which we have actually circumscribed and measured,

it may not be larger than many others in unexplored parts of Somáliland,

but is probably the best in quality. Some of the low-lying _ban_—as,

for instance, that of the Zeila Maritime Plain—is of very poor quality,

and this is partly why the Esa is not a mounted tribe. I am told by

Dolbahanta tribesmen whom I have taken to Marar, that there are similar

elevated plains at the back of the unexplored Warsingali country. There

are many other fine patches of _ban_ in the Haud which have been explored

by us, as at Aror and Toyo.

My brother, while passing through the Esa country, wrote in his Journal:

“After leaving Doleimalleh we came across a strip of plain which seemed

to afford an example of the manner in which the _ban_ is formed. There

were miles upon miles of dead and bleached thorn-trees, about twenty feet

high, evidently vigorous some ten years ago. These had either been killed

by very heavy floods, as the ground is flat and water does not drain

off easily, or they had been destroyed by extensive fires. Among these

trees were scores of red ant-hills, eight or ten feet high, and many of

the dead trees were overwhelmed by them, just a branch or the part of a

trunk projecting here and there. When the trees have all been eaten the

termites no doubt leave, and their mounds are washed away by rain and

wind, leaving behind only a vast grassy plain.”

The extreme north-western angle of the Marar Prairie is marked by a

hill called Sarir Gerád, and from its base the ground falls abruptly to

the north into the Harrawa Valley in the Gadabursi country, and to the

west into deep gorges which lead towards Gildessa. The bushes cling in

a sharply-defined line to the rugged hills of denudation into which the

high prairie breaks up. The general formation of these hills is mountain

limestone, much eroded in the ravines by the chemical action of water,

and weathered into holes and caves, lined with deposits of stalactite.

Some of the torrents which descend to the east of Sarir cut through

deep alluvial deposits, leaving overhanging earth banks eighty to one

hundred feet deep. The whole of this wild and mountainous region is very

remarkable and picturesque, and the more interesting to a sportsman

because, together with the Harrawa Valley, it is still visited at the

right season by two or three herds of elephants. The average elevation of

this valley is about 5000 feet above sea-level, and it has deep alluvial

soil cut up by ravines with perpendicular banks. The vegetation is very

luxuriant, the predominating kind being the _hassádan_ or euphorbia,

which here grows to a height of from thirty to sixty feet. There is a

great variety of flowers, and the grass is excellent in this valley,

which stretches away several days’ journey into the Esa country.

It can be well understood in a country of such an extended area, and

varying so much in elevation, that a large variety of plants and trees

exists; and in addition to the vegetation already noticed there are

many bushes and trees which one learns to recognise in the course of

a journey. It is of course impossible to mention them all, but the

following are a few of the most conspicuous:—

The most thorny of all the bushes I consider to be the _billeil_. This

horrible bush grows to a height of about ten feet, and is covered with

small curved hooks of great strength which cannot be disregarded. The

_sockso_, _adad_, _galól_, _khansa_ are other more or less thorny

bushes which are met with everywhere. The _adad_ produces the best

gum-arabic (_hábag_), large transparent knobs the size of a pigeon’s egg

being visible in the joints of the branches. The _galól_ is a twisted,

straggling, and untidy-looking thorn-tree, growing to a height of fifteen

to twenty-five feet, the root being used for hardening and making

watertight the bark _háns_ or water-vessels used by Somáli caravans.

The branches have very little strength, and are useless for building

platforms in when watching for game. There are thorns over an inch long,

each springing from a white bulb.

The jungles in Ogádén chiefly consist of the _galól_ and the _khansa_.

The giant euphorbia called _hassádan_ grows in the hills and in the Haud,

seldom much above or below five thousand feet. The _derkein_ is a tree

allied to the _hassádan_, but it is found at a lower elevation, and is

very common in the Dolbahanta country, growing in thick compact groves,

and within these groves it is the custom of the natives to bury their

dead. Two large thorn-trees of great beauty are the _gudá_ and the

_wádi_. The _gudá_ has a dark stem and grows to a height of from thirty

to fifty feet, spreading out to an umbrella top and giving excellent

shade. The _wádi_ has a whitish stem and spreads out like the _gudá_, but

more symmetrically, and is ornamented with white thorns about five inches

long. The _kedi_ and the _mégag_ are conspicuous trees. The _kedi_ grows

without a branch for about eight feet, and then breaks out into a compact

rounded mass of long, green, soft thorns, growing one out of the other,

in the same way as a prickly pear. The _mégag_ is much the same in shape,

but there are no thorns, and it breaks out into small twisted branches,

matted together, with tiny blue-gray leaves. Another tree is the _garas_,

having leaves like a laurel, while the roots and bifurcations of the

stems contain deep recesses which often hold drinking water after rain.

The _wabé_, or dark green poison-tree, is very common in the mountains,

a concoction of arrow-poison being made from the roots. The _athei_

is a small bush with gray leaves, the twigs of which form the native

substitute for a toothbrush in Somáliland. _Ergin_ is a slender, green,

grass-like bush of the cactus kind, with a milky sap, which forms dense

cover and is often the resort of leopards. _Dár_ and _hig_, the latter of

which produces excellent rope-fibre, are varieties of the aloe, and cover

enormous areas. There is no ground more favoured by the lesser koodoo.

Of the largest trees the most conspicuous are the _darei_, a fig-tree,

and the _gób_, a very large thorny tree growing on the banks of

river-beds, with edible berries of an orange colour, the size of a

cherry, and containing a large stone. In taste they resemble apples,

and are delicious eating. The _tomaiyo_ is a root like a knotted swede,

growing three inches below the surface in the soft red soil of the Haud

and Ogádén. It is green and purple outside, and inside consists of a

white watery pulp which will allay thirst. This plant is difficult

to find, and has to be burrowed for. _Armo_, a vividly green creeper

with large, fleshy, heart-shaped leaves, covers all the trees by the

river-beds, hanging festooned like a curtain, and turning the _gudá_

thorn-trees into natural shady bowers. Of the three best grasses already

mentioned as growing in the Haud, the _durr_ grows to about six feet, the

_darémo_ to about fifteen inches, and _dihe_ to about four inches. All

these grasses curl and twist about very much, the _durr_ spreading out

into branches like a bush. The favourite cover chosen by a lion is in

nine cases out of ten either _durr_ grass, _khansa_ forest, or the reeds

(_alálo_) growing at the margin of a river-bed.

The Somáli climate is on the whole very dry and bracing, and there is no

malarial fever to speak of except on the Webbe Shabéleh river.

In the Maritime hills the highest shade temperature I have registered

is 118° Fahr. at midday, and on the cool elevated Haud country the

temperature just before sunrise has often been as low as 56° in June. The

lowest temperature I ever registered was 49°.

During the months of July, August, and September 1892, my brother took

daily five or six observations with barometer and thermometer. The

following shade temperatures, taken at random from his tables, may be of

interest:—

+------------+-----------------+----------+------------+------------+

| | | Elevation| |Thermometer.|

| Date. | Place. | in feet | Time. | |

| | | above | | °Fahr. |

| | |sea-level.| | |

+------------+-----------------+----------+------------+------------+

|July 4-8 | Berbera | 35 | 8 A.M. | 94½ |

| | | | 12.15 P.M. | 99 |

| | | | 6 P.M. | 99½ |

| | | | 9.30 P.M. | 95 |

| ” 17-20 | Hargeisa Wells | 3938 | 6.30 A.M. | 67 |

| | | | 8 A.M. | 67 |

| | | | Noon. | 82 |

| | | | 5.25 P.M. | 80 |

| | | | 9.5 P.M. | 74½ |

| ” 23 | Kheidub-Ayéyu | 3841 | 1.30 A.M. | 56 |

| | (Haud) | | 5 A.M. | 61 |

| | | | Noon. | 83 |

| | | | 9 P.M. | 75 |

| ” 25-28 | Gagáb (Milmil) | 3429 | 5 A.M. | 63 |

| | | | Noon. | 85 |

| | | | 2.30 P.M. | 82 |

| | | | 9 P.M. | 68 |

|August 8-10 |Waror (Jerer | 4161 | 4 A.M. | 59 |

| | Valley) | | 6.30 A.M. | 63 |

| | | | 9.30 A.M. | 69½ |

| | | | 1 P.M. | 84 |

| | | | 3 P.M. | 85 |

| ” 31 | Harrhé | 5761 | 1 P.M. | 80 |

| | | | 2 P.M. | 75 |

|Sept. 3-5 | Makanis (Marar | 6209 | 6 A.M. | 56 |

| | Prairie) | | 7 P.M. | 65 |

| ” 9 | Kalerug | 6310 | 3.30 P.M. | 72½ |

| ” 10 | Sarir Gerád | 6330 | 6 A.M. | 56 |

| ” 24 | Biyo Kabóba | 3353 | Noon. | 103½ |

| ” 25-26 | Hassein Gedíchi | 2252 | 5 A.M. | 67 |

| ” 30 | Lehellu | 10 | 2 P.M. | 93 |

|October 4 | Zeila | 45 | 3 A.M. | 84 |

| | | | 10 P.M. | 85 |

+------------+-----------------+----------+------------+------------+

GLOSSARY OF GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

The names have been spelt in accordance with the Royal Geographical

Society’s system, vowels having an Italian pronunciation, _ei_ being

pronounced as in the English word “weight,” and so forth.

The following will occur often in geographical names, some being modern

terms, others having fallen into disuse in ordinary conversation:—

_Ad_, _Ado_, white.

_Ass_, red.

_Ban_, an open plain; as _Ban-yéro_, little plain.

_Biyo_, _Biya_, water; as _Biyo-foga_, distant water;

_Biya-ha-gódleh_, water of the place of caves.

_Bur_, a mountain or hill; as _Bur-mádo_, the black hill.

_Daba_, foothills; as _Daba-ádo_, the white hills.

_Dagah_, a rock; as _Dagaha-dáyer_, the monkey rock.

_Dih_, a valley; as _Dih-wiyileh_, the valley of rhinoceroses.

_Dur-dur_, a perennial spring.

_Eil_, a deep well; as _Eil Sheikh_, the Sheikh’s well.

_Gad_, a headland or bluff; as _Gadki-góbleh_, the bluff of the

place of the _gób_ tree.

_Ged_, a tree; as _Ged-wein_, big tree.

_Gola_, _Gol_, a peak; as _Gola-dagah_, the rocky peak;

_Gol-adéryu_, the peak of koodoos.

_Gumbur_, a hillock; as _Gumbur-ta-jifto_, the sloping hillock.

_Habr_, _Rer_, and the Arabic _Ayyal_, are tribal prefixes.

_Hassádan_, an euphorbia tree; _Hassadinleh_, the place of the

euphorbia.

_Hedd_, or _Dúd_, a forest; as _Dúd-libah_, the lion forest.

_Kabr_, graves; as _Kabr Ogádén_, the Ogádén graves.

_Karin_ or _Duss_, a pass; as _Karin-dagah_, the rocky pass.

_Lás_, a shallow well or sand-pit; as _Lás Ánod_, milk well.

_Mádo_, _Mádu_, or _Madóba_, black.

_Magala_, a town; thus Berbera is called _Magala-sahil_, the

“coast town.”

_Nás_, a pointed breast or hillock; as _Nás-gódki_, the hillock

of the cave; _Náso hablod_, the maiden’s breasts.

_Sarar_, a plateau; as _Sarar-ki-adáda_, the white plateau.

_Tug_, a sand-river; as _Tug-dér_, the long river.

_Webbe_, a large running river; as _Webbe Shabéleh_, the

leopard river.

_Wein_, great; _yer_, small.

The plural is often formed by doubling the last consonant and adding _o_;

as _Dubbur_, plural _Duburro_.

_Leh_ is a termination constantly occurring in geographical names, and

meaning locality; thus:—

_Armáleh_, the place of armo creepers.

_Libah_, a lion; _Libableh_, the place of lions.

_Shabél_, a leopard; _Shabéleh_, place of leopards.

_Warába_, a hyæna; _Warábileh_, the place of hyænas.

Besides those given above, the following meanings of names which are to

be found in the map will be interesting:—

_Adadleh_, the place of _adad_ trees.

_Alóla-Jifen_, sloping plateau.

_Badwein_, large tank.

_Biyo-ado_, white water.

_Biyo Frinji_, the Franks’ watering-place.

_Bur Ád_, white hill.

_Bur Ánod_, hill of milk.

_Bur Dab_, rocky hill.

_Burka_, the hill.

_Daar-Áss_, red clay.

_Dabada Jiáleh_, hill of the _jia_ tree.

_Dagaha Madóba_, the black rock.

_Dagahbur_, rocky hill.

_Deimoleh_, place of _deima_ trees.

_Dere-gódleh_, the ravine of the cave place.

_Derin-galólo_, the ravine of _galól_ trees.

_Digirin-leh_, place of guinea-fowl.

_Dig-wein_, big ears.

_Dih-bauna_, valley of rock rabbits.

_Eil Anod_, milky well.

_Eil Armo_, well of the _armo_ creeper.

_Eil Birdáleh_, well of the _birda_ tree.

_Eil Midgán_, bushman’s well.

_Eil Sheikh_, the Sheikh’s well.

_Gal Hedigáleh_, gully of the stars.

_Gán-Libah_, lion’s paw.

_Garasleh_, the place of _garas_ trees.

_Gol Adér-yu_, the peak of koodoo.

_Goriáleh_, place of tree-stumps.

_Gudáweina_, the large _gudá_ tree.

_Gumbur Dúg_, the hillock of gadflies.

_Hedd-Gódir_, koodoo forest.

_Hegebo_, many hills.

_Issutugan_, straight river.

_Laba-Gumbur-mádo_, the two black hillocks.

_Magala-yer_, little town.

_Marodíleh_, the place of elephants.

_Nasíya_, resting-place.

_Sarar-awr_, the camel plateau.

_Shimbiráleh_, the place of birds.

APPENDIX III

NOTES ON SOMÁLI TRADE

The manufactured goods which the African wants, and the raw material

which he can export, are much the same all over the countries of

tropical Africa. But Somáliland has one great advantage as a trading

country over many other African regions. Trade caravans depend for their

transport upon camels, not upon human beings; and these camels, although

comparatively weak, are vastly superior to those of many other camel

countries, in that they cost only about £2 each and pick up all their

food by the wayside. A comparison of the cost of camel transport in

Somáliland with the human transport on the Zanzibar coast will show the

former to great advantage.

The calculation which follows is based on my own experience of both

countries. It is some years since I was at Mombasa, so I am open to

correction if the prices there have been recently reduced.

The Zanzibar coast porter carries a 60 lb. load of merchandise and a few

days’ rations, and costs about £1 per month in pay and food. Thus six

porters would carry 360 lbs. of merchandise for a three months’ journey

at a cost of £18.

Two camels would be bought at Berbera for £4, and after a long journey,

and allowing for a percentage of loss by death, they would fetch, if

sold by the Somáli owners, about £3. With the two camels would be one

attendant, and his pay and rations for three months would involve an

outlay of about £3:15s. The camels, if lightly laden, would carry 275

lbs. each; and the merchandise they would carry, if the liberal allowance

of 63 lbs. be deducted for the weight per month of the attendant’s

rations, would be 360 lbs., or the same as that carried by the six

porters.

The cost of the two camels and their attendant for the three months

would, however, amount to only £4:15s. as against the £18 for the porters.

During one of my last journeys we carried rations of rice, dates, and

ghee at 1¾ lb. per man for a period of four and a half months. This could

never be done by a caravan of Swahili porters, who can only carry a few

days’ rations in addition to the load. Serious hardships from want of

food are practically impossible when travelling with camels. In comparing

porters and camels it must be borne in mind that the Somáli caravans go

from Berbera to Imé, four hundred miles, in sixteen days, which is faster

travelling than could be accomplished by Swahili porters for the same

length of road.

Of all the Somáli coast ports by far the most promising is Berbera.

Without counting the great capacity of Somáliland itself as a consumer of

our fabrics, which I shall touch upon later, Berbera has many advantages

which will, I feel sure, cause it to become very valuable as _entrepôt_

and distributer to countries and tribes outside the existing sphere of

British influence. If the resources of Central Africa are destined ever

to be fully developed, I believe Berbera will be one of the chief outlets

for Central African exports.

The position of Berbera is unique. The meat supplies for Aden come almost

entirely from there, and freight is always obtainable. Already two,

and sometimes three, coasting steamers call weekly at Berbera, to say

nothing of the freights carried by dhows. Berbera is close to one of the

greatest lines of shipping in the world, and when trade develops into

direct communication, the proximity of Europe and India cannot fail to

attract capital. Another advantage which Berbera has over the ports of

the East African coast is that the long sea-voyage, with its dangerous

Cape Guardafui and its uncertain currents, is avoided; and although the

land distance to Uganda and the Equatorial Province is greater than

from Mombasa, Somáliland has, in Aden, a base secure from all attack,

and is a week closer than Mombasa to England and India. I have already

shown the advantage of camel transport in the Hinterland of the Somáli

coast. The route to Central Africa, at any rate as far as Imé, four

hundred miles inland, is an excellent one, presenting no difficulties to

caravans, either owing to physical causes or the temper of the natives;

and, moreover, the whole of the country through which it passes is

exceptionally healthy.

The Gállas beyond Imé are camel-owners like the Somális, and live much

in the same way. The route is so good, for the first four hundred miles

at least from the coast, that at any time, should the trade of Central

Africa ever in the far distant future be sufficient to justify it, the

construction of a railway following it would be perfectly easy.

The following statistics I find published in a Calcutta paper, having

been taken from Lieutenant-Colonel Stace’s Official Report on Somáli

Coast Commerce, 1891-92: “The total value of the trade of Zeila last year

was over a quarter of a million sterling, exports figuring for £151,721

of this sum. The exports consist almost exclusively of coffee from Harar

(valued last year at over £100,000), skins, and hides; while their

imports are piece goods (£12,508), rice (£31,827), American shirtings

(£17,941), Indian shirtings (£10,057), and _jowári_ (£10,000). The total

value of the trade of Berbera and Bulhár last year was £280,664, of which

imports are responsible for £161,112. Berbera is supposed to contain

about 30,000 people during the principal trading season, Bulhár perhaps

5000, and Zeila 6000.”

There are many minor imports which do not compare in importance with

those named. Among the possible imports in the distant future may figure

common brown blankets. They are most popular as presents, and might

eventually, I should think, develop into an article of trade.

Other chief exports at present, besides those already named, are—

Gum,

Ostrich feathers,

Cattle and sheep (for the Aden market).

The hides, the trade in which seems to me to be capable of great

development, go to America, whence most of the cotton goods are imported.

Considering the capacity of Somáliland as a consumer of our fabrics,

our countrymen’s lack of enterprise in having allowed American goods to

gain the ascendancy in this market seems astonishing. Among the future

possible exports of value are the fibre of the _hig_ or pointed aloe,

certain barks for tanning leather, and other natural products. Ivory at

present mostly goes to ports west of Zeila, and does not figure largely

in the exports from the British Protectorate. Now that the Eastern Soudan

is closed, the gum of Somáliland should be important.

There are many kinds of resin and of gum, the best gum being that of the

_adad_, a low-spreading thorn-tree, exuding from the branches of which

can be seen transparent knobs of the gum of a golden hue, the size of

a lemon, and pleasant to taste. It is much eaten by the natives and by

gazelles. Gum-pickers take it to their squalid-looking encampments, and

loading camels with the sacks, they take them to the coast for sale.

FOOTNOTES

[1] The Habr Awal, Habr Gerhajis, and Habr Toljaala.

[2] When a man commits murder or manslaughter the relatives of the

deceased can claim blood money. The tribe to which the slayer belongs

must either pay this, give up the murderer, or fight. Which of these

three courses will be taken depends on the nature of the act, and whether

the man is considered to be worth fighting for.

[3] The _Gerád_ (Arabic _Sultán_) is the paramount chief of a tribe.

[4] Most Somális who pray a great deal do it, I am convinced, for their

reputation’s sake; and most of the religious observances are to “show

off,”—a thing the Somáli loves to do.

An instance of this is the horror of dogs. I have seen a Somáli, when

thinking himself unobserved, playing with a pariah dog; but if a Somáli

servant, in a house at Aden, when waiting at table, should be brushed

against by a perfectly clean English fox-terrier, he will as likely as

not drop the dish which he is carrying, and say that he has been bitten.

All this horror is acted for the benefit of the other servants.

[5] My usual plan on losing a camel is to offer a reward to the finder,

deducting the amount from the pay of the loser.

[6] When a Somáli is speaking to a foreigner, he generally uses instead

of _rer_, the Arabic _karia_ (village) to designate his kraal. He also

uses the Arabic _ayyal_ instead of the tribal prefix _rer_. Thus he calls

the Rer Yunis, who live at Bulhár, the Ayyal Yunis.

[7] I have merely guessed at this origin for the Somális. The traditions

of the Gállas themselves should, if obtainable, throw light on this

subject. Captain Abud says, “The aboriginal inhabitants of Somáliland

cannot be clearly traced. The Somális say they were Gállas, but in the

Somáli language every one not a Mussulman is called Gál, or infidel.”

[8] Quite recently (Christmas, 1894) another Somáli raid against the

Gállas of the Tana has resulted in the total defeat of the Somális at

Kulessa by a handful of white men and natives.

[9] I noticed that though the Gállas at Karanleh and on the Tana were a

tolerably thin-featured race, those at Harar were quite different, being

very much more coarse-featured than the Somáli type. Mr. W. B. Harris, in

a very interesting account in _Blackwood’s Magazine_ (Sept. 1894) of his

visit to Harar, has noticed this.

[10] The rhinoceros bird, called _Shimbir Loh_, or the “cow bird,” by

Somális.

[11] If camels have to make a start before dawn, it is a great mistake to

arrive at the evening camp after dark, and to throw off the loads and let

the camels rest at night on an empty stomach. A continued course of such

treatment will kill the best camels. When camels “flop” down on arriving

in camp, or “swear” very much on being loaded, it is a sure sign they are

being overworked. With good pasturage and proper working hours, I have

often seen fifty camels loaded up almost in silence.

[12] _Biladiers_, _i.e._ country police (derived from the Arabic).

[13] _Sircal_, _i.e._ Government or Government official—a corruption from

Hindustáni or Arabic.

[14] This was a mistake, as I could have bought all the camels for £8 the

lot and sold them for £6 at the end of the trip, and on all later trips I

have bought instead of hiring.

[15] Guban and Gudan are names quite distinct from one another.

[16] Some time afterwards, in Berbera, two natives came down and reported

that they had seen the dead elephant near Hargeisa, and that a passing

caravan had appropriated the tusks on its way to Harar. Through the

proper channels I applied to the Emir of Harar for their recovery, and

that is the last I ever heard of them.

[17] The first treaty between the British Government and the Somális

was signed in 1827 after the plundering of an English ship by the Habr

Awal. In 1840 another was signed with the chiefs of Zeila and Tajurra.

In 1865 Sir Richard Burton’s expedition was attacked at Berbera, and the

blockade which followed was raised on the signing of another treaty.

In 1866 treaties were made with the Habr Gerhajis, Habr Toljaala, and

Midjerten; and since 1884, when the Egyptians handed over the coast to

Great Britain, treaties have been made with all the northern tribes. By

an agreement signed in 1888, the boundary separating the British and

French Protectorates begins near Loyi-ada, on the coast between Jibúti

and Zeila, and runs by Abbaswein, Biyo-Kabóba, Gildessa, towards Harar.

On 5th May 1894 a protocol was signed, fixing the boundaries of the

Italian and British spheres of influence. The boundary-line starts from

Gildessa, and, following the eighth parallel of north latitude, skirts

the north-eastern border of the territories inhabited by the Géri,

Bertiri, and Rer Ali tribes, leaving Gildessa, Jig-Jiga, and Milmil

within the Italian sphere of influence. The line then follows latitude

8° north as far as its intersection with the forty-eighth meridian of

east longitude, and thence to the intersection of latitude 9° north, with

longitude 49° east, along which it proceeds, terminating at the coast.

[18] These baggage camels from Aden were not a success, and I have never

since tried to import into Somáliland any Arab camels but the fast ones

which are ridden.

[19] We afterwards heard, in Berbera, that while we were at Gosaweina two

or three Mahamud Gerád saw our camp from a distance, and rode away to

warn the tribes, with the result that fifty horsemen came to reconnoitre,

but found we had already marched back to Badwein.

[20] Sometimes we were several hours passing a cloud of millions upon

millions of these insects, which were going the other way; at other times

they were found settled upon the ground, covering great areas, or they

were crawling and hopping over the grass and sand. The newly-born ones

stream along the ground like a brown rivulet; then there are half-grown

ones, which can only hop, and look from a distance like strips of green

grass. The full-grown locusts are of three colours-yellow, green, and

spotted red. The different generations do not appear to mix.

[21] Literally “Lion Hand Mountain.”

[22] Nala, _i.e._ the dry river-bed of India, called in Arabia _wádi_, in

Somáliland, _tug_.

[23] Although at the present time I am not much inconvenienced by the

wounds, my right arm and shoulder are very deeply scarred.

[24] Euphorbia.

[25] The Esa sub-tribes are grouped into two great divisions—the Esa Ad

or White Esa, and the Esa Madóba or Black Esa.

[26] The Jibril Abokr were deeply grateful, and on our second visit

to them they took the trouble to come from all sides to express their

gratitude to us for having forwarded their complaints.

[27] We saw also several graves of women. In this country they do not

give women the heaps of stones surrounded by enclosures which mark the

graves of men. They merely bury the women in the earth, heaping thorns

on top to prevent prowling hyænas from rooting up the grave; and in the

middle of the thorns they set up an upright stake with the top of a

broken _hán_ hung over it; this serves as a scarecrow to keep off wild

animals.

Our men, whenever we passed a grave, piously said a prayer and plucked a

tuft of grass to throw over it.

[28] A large rounded tree producing quantities of edible red berries.

They look like cherries, and have a stone inside, but taste like

half-dried apples.

[29] Also called Gol Wiyileh.

[30] Some skill of hand and eye is required in this work. The man above

with the empty bucket throws it down to the man below at the same moment

that the latter tosses up the full one. On reaching the surface each full

bucket is emptied out into the rough cattle trough at which the cattle

are drinking, improvised out of a hide propped up with sticks and stones,

or in a hollow shaped with clay. Half the water is lost on the way up, so

it usually takes many hours to water the enormous herds.

[31] “Wise man” or chief.

[32] We afterwards ascertained that at this time Banagúsé, the Abyssinian

chief, was shooting elephants in Harrawa under the guidance of a son of

Nur, the deposed Ugaz of the Gadabursi tribe. When we passed through

the Harrawa Valley a few days later we were taken no notice of by

Banagúsé or the Ugaz, who was living quite near our route. The latter had

professed himself an enemy to the British, and had been intriguing with

the Abyssinians, encouraging them to advance their influence into the

Gadabursi country, in the hope that by their help he would be reinstated

at the head of the tribe, ousting his brother Elmy, the present Ugaz.

[33] Undertaken after the Esa raid on Bulhár.

[34] The Somális themselves denied that the sickness was caused by bad

water, declaring that the real cause was the bites of mosquitoes. These

pests (called _Kan-ad_) are not generally present in Eastern Somáliland,

but are common at certain spots on the coast between Berbera and Zeila,

and on the Zeila-Harar routes, and in the Gadabursi country. They are

also found near the Webbe, and when there the tribes from Berbera, who

are not accustomed to mosquitoes, have a great dread of their bites,

believing malarial fever to be caused by them.

[35] Adapted by Somális from the Hindustáni.

[36] The following titles were explained to me by an Abyssinian, and,

though I cannot vouch for their accuracy of spelling, I jot them down:—

_Negúsa negest_, the Emperor; literally the “king of kings.”

_Negús_, King.

_Rás-Bitódet and Rás_, high titles ranking next to _Negús_.

_Dejasmatch_, General of Division.

_Kanyasmatch_, General of the Right.

_Gerasmatch_, General of the Left.

_Fi Taurari_, General of the Advance.

_Balanbaras_, Commandant of a fortress.

_Turk Basha_, General of Artillery.

_Yeshi Alaka_, Chief of a thousand.

The combined camp of a large Abyssinian army is so arranged that the

Emperor and various kings occupy the central camp. In front is that of

several _Rás_, _Dejasmatch_, and _Taurari_; to the right several _Rás_,

_Dejasmatch_, and _Kanyasmatch_; to the left several _Rás_, _Dejasmatch_,

and _Gerasmatch_.

Some idea of Rás Makunan’s importance as Governor of Harar may be

gained from the fact that he has under him four _Dejasmatch_, eight

_Balanbaras_, four _Kanyasmatch_, nine _Gerasmatch_, and five _Fi

Taurari_.

Any of the kings has apparently a chance of becoming Emperor. The present

Emperor, Menelek, is also King of Shoa.

[37] The _Gu_ or spring rains; due about the middle of April.

[38] Also called Dih Wiyileh.

[39] Amhára, _i.e._ Abyssinians.

[40] It now transpires that the Italian traveller Sacconi had visited

this neighbourhood, and that it was here he was killed in 1883.

[41] The Rer Amáden have inflicted loss on the Abyssinians from time

to time. I saw the remains of the bivouac of an Abyssinian army which

was said to have been defeated by them two or three years before my

visit. The Malingúr, living in the Fáfan Valley, which is the Abyssinian

eastward path of invasion, have had to give in, but not so the Amáden.

[42] By the Protocol of ’94 the Amáden tribe falls within the Italian

sphere of influence.

[43] The mullahs get on with Europeans because, being the only people in

Somáliland who can read and write, they have great respect for people who

show nimbleness with a pencil and note-book, and who can write even on

horseback; they admire pictures and photographs.

I was amused by their insisting that nearly every book I had was a

“Frinji Bible”; and not till I had shown them the illustrations in one of

the supposed Bibles, which was Gordon-Cumming’s _Five Years’ Adventures

in South Africa_, did they realise that there are books on every subject.

They all beg for _hashi_ (paper), Korans, and _tusbas_, and I gave a

score of mullahs two or three quires of white foolscap to divide between

them.

[44] _I.e._ “the black rock,” called after a feature in the river-bed

near the wells.

[45] She had actually come back half a mile on her tracks to follow us,

with what motive I know not, unless it was to see us safe off the ground.

A lion will often, on seeing men in the jungle, follow them in order

to mark them down and find out the site of their karia, with a view to

future seizures of cattle or human beings.

[46] Between the Tug Fáfan and Milmil we were very much annoyed by

two kinds of gadfly, the camels, whenever they were halted, throwing

themselves down and rolling, with the result that a great deal of kit

was broken. There are two kinds—the _balaad_, a small, grayish black fly

the size of a common house-fly, with triangular wings, very dangerous

to camels, often causing eventual death; and the _dúg_, as large as a

bumblebee, which stings both men and animals, and is present in great

numbers, only ceasing its persecutions by night. It is not so dangerous

to camels as _balaad_. I learned, on sending specimens to be examined at

the British Museum, that neither of these flies have anything whatever

to do with the “Tsetse” of South Africa, which belongs to an entirely

different family.

[47] These people are a great encumbrance in the movable karias of the

nomads, and if they stay there, unless they have relations who will

befriend them, they soon die, or are eaten up by the packs of hyænas

which haunt the outskirts of the encampments at night. In the hope of

gaining a permanent sanctuary they travel painfully great distances to

the nearest mullah villages; hence the large number of cripples and sick

that are to be found in these settlements.

[48] I call this tree the casuarina, because of its resemblance to a tree

so called which is common in India. Having lost my botanical collection

in the Webbe I cannot accurately identify it.

[49] The various kinds of game, although unable to get at the water lying

at the bottom of the deep wells, visit them at night on the chance of

finding water standing at the surface, left in the excavated clay troughs

after flocks have been watered.

[50] The people here played a characteristic pleasantry upon me. I found

it difficult to buy a sheep, and had quite given up all hope of getting

mutton for my men, when one was at last driven up to my tent; the owner

of the sheep said he had heard I wanted one, and that having been some

distance off he could not come till now. I bought the sheep for two

pieces of cloth. Half an hour later its throat began to swell up, and

my men showed the marks where it had been bitten by an _abéso_, a very

poisonous snake, whilst grazing. Half an hour later it was dead, its neck

having swollen to a tremendous size. By this time, of course, the owner

of the sheep had vanished!

[51] The bush being chiefly of low, flat-topped mimósas, spreading into

foliage about four feet from the ground, a man walking erect has little

chance of seeing the game first, unless he stops and bends down to look

along the ground at every few paces.

[52] Many Arabic words are incorporated into the Somáli language, and

many more are used by Somális only when talking to strangers.

[53] Of these Somáli antelopes, no less than five have been described

as new species since 1891, namely, hartebeest, Clarke’s antelope, the

red hill antelope called _Baira_, and three dwarf antelopes of the genus

_Madoqua_.

[54] _Rusa aristotelis._

[55] Not long after my second visit to the Webbe, Major Wood pushed into

the country across the river, and was successful in bringing to England

the trophies of these giraffes.

[56] _I.e._ a “wise man,” elder, or petty chief.

[57] These stores should be sewn up in small bags, each to contain a

fortnight’s supply.

[58] The stony nature of much of the country renders these necessary.

[59] There are two kinds of pad saddles used by Arab coolies in Aden, a

large one for the baggage camel and a smaller and neater one for the fast

camel. Neither have stirrups, as an Arab coolie presses his feet into the

groove of the camel’s neck, a very comfortable way of riding.

[60] These rates are what would be given to men highly skilled at their

duties; the great thing to avoid is spoiling the market for other

travellers.

[61] A disadvantage of the Arab camel is that until it has been a

few months in Somáliland it may not settle down to its new climatic

conditions and change of food.

[62] It must be remembered that there are generally more sporting parties

than lions near the coast, and the game is being driven farther and

farther towards the distant interior every year; so it is necessary to go

to unexplored tribes to get good sport.

INDEX

Abadigal, Banagúsé’s headman, 166

Abbárso camp, 101

Abbasgúl, 122, 136, 195;

raided by Habr Awal, 195

Abdul Ishák, 88

Abdul Káder, 131, 217, 220, 221, 229

Abonsa in the Harar Highlands, 138

Abósa, 143

Abud, Captain, 15, 19;

at Hargeisa, 259

Abyssinians, 230, 267, 279;

threaten to attack Hargeisa, 101;

leader, Banagúsé, 111;

scouting for, 126;

soldiers seize our men and camels, 147;

and the Esa tribe, 149;

threaten to attack author’s party, 167;

general, 167;

raids, 168, 169;

dealings with foreigners, 182;

ambition, power, influence, 183

_Adad_ thorn bushes, 208, 370

Adadleh, 291

Adan Yusuf, caravan leader, 156, 165, 202

Aden, 257, 291;

garrison, 78

Adone, 23, 223, 224, 227, 276

Ahmed Abdalla, Sultán, 138

Ain Valley, 93

Alaka Gobau Desta, 178

_Alakud_ or klipspringer, 318

Aleyadéra nala, 121

Ali Hirsi, author’s hunter, 79, 299

Ali Maan, 115, 158

Allegiri tribe, 94

Aloe plants, 13

Aloes and thorn jungle, ruins rise from, 95

Amáden, 228

Amhára or Abyssinians, 201, 204, 227

Amháric letter from Rás Makunan, 152

_Ammodorcas clarkei_, 310

Antelopes, 298

Ant-hills, 102, 306

_Aoul_ gazelle, description of, 314

Arab salutation “_Salaam aleikum_,” 9;

immigrations, 21;

pony taken from Bombay as experiment by author, 131

Arabian trotting camel, author’s, 165

Arasama, sub-tribe of Dolbahanta, 93, 96

Armadader aloe undergrowth, 111

_Armo_ creeper, 49, 247, 371;

food of elephants, 70

Aror, 126

Arregéd, a deep ravine in Bur Dab Range, 96

Arroweilo, 27

Arroweilo legend, 26, 27

Arrto; loss of Count Porro’s expedition, 152

Arussi Gállas, 223, 230, 263

Assa Range, 41

Au Ismail, 133

_Aukál_, or elders, 81

Aulihán Somális, 210, 267, 273, 307;

country, 326

Au Mahomed Sufi, the Somáli Sheikh, 128

Awálé Yasin injured, 158

Awáré, 283

Ayyal Yunis traders, 164

Ba (tribal collective prefix), 20;

Awal, 20;

Habr, 20;

Gailoh, 20;

Ambaro (or sons of Ambaro), 21;

Gadabursi elders, 79, 84

Baboons, 143, 249, 273, 327

Badgers, 329

Badwein (Big Tank) in the Dolbahanta country, 27;

march to, 95

Bahgoba camels stolen, 113

_Baira_ antelope described, 321

Bakáwa, ascent of, 97

Baker, Sir Samuel, 116

Banagúsé, Abyssinian general, 120, 142, 165;

his history, 169;

threatens to arrest author, 165;

is beaten in the game, 167

Ban-ki-Aror Plain, 122

Banyéro Mountain, 249, 251

Barkad Gerád, 95

Basha-Basha, Abyssinian general, 130, 177;

reported killed, 278

Baudi, Captain, 210, 224

Beads, 281, 347

Bér, 92;

return to, 97

Berbera, 2, 223, 257, 361;

start from, 45, 259;

Maritime Plain, 51;

taken over by British Government, 75

Bergéli, 93

Bertiri tribe, 20, 120, 136, 142, 167

_Billeil_, 194, 207, 289, 370

Birds on the Wagar Mountains, 98;

varieties of, 328

Biyo-Kabóba, Abyssinian fort, 114, 152

Blood-feud, 14

Blood-money, 13

Boh, our Esa guide, 151

Boho, 83

Bohol-Káwulu, 113

Bombay Infantry sepoys, 86

Bombós, 122

Bone-setting by the Somális, 159

Botanical collection lost, 277

Bottigo, Captain, 222

Bottor Valley, 111

British influence, effect of, 118

_Bubalis swaynei_, first shot, 100

Buffalo, 228, 273, 274, 326;

tracks of, 272

Buk Gégo, 116

Bulhár, 55, 78, 116, 299, 363;

under Mr. Morrison’s charge, 81;

burnt to the ground, 121;

march to, 156

Bur Dab Range, 90, 92, 295

Burka, 265, 307

Bur’o, 92

Burton, Sir Richard, his first expedition to Somáliland, 78

Burton’s book, _First Footsteps in East Africa_, 102, 181

Bushbuck, 262, 268, 273, 277;

description of, 308

Bustards, 328

Cabul tents, 185, 341

Cahaigne, Taurin, Monseigneur, 24, 181

Camelman scared, 93

Camels, 8, 13, 29, 30, 32, 33;

varieties of, 33;

buying and selling, 224, 346;

meat, 113;

killed by hyæna, 205;

load for, 336

Camera and outfit, 343, 345

Candeo, Signor, 210, 224

Caravans, 2, 38;

our caravan imprisoned, 144

Carrington’s, Colonel, expedition, 157

Caves at Jebel Hákim, 184

Cecchi, Signor, Italian Consul-General, 156, 181

Cedar forests explored, 98

Centipedes, 329

Clarke’s gazelle, 241, 310

Clarke, T. W. H., 91

Climate of Somáliland, 371

Clothes suitable for Somáliland, 345

_Cobus ellipsiprymnus_, 307

Cowasjee Dinshaw Brothers, 346

Crocodiles, 262, 263, 277, 326

Curteis, Colonel R., 139

Czetwertynski, Boris, Prince, 5, 29

Daar-Áss Mountain, 253, 254, 255

Daba Jérissa, 282

Dagaha Todobálla, or “the Rock of the Seven Robbers,” 243

Dagahbúr in Ogádén, 27, 137, 212

Daghatto Valley, 205, 206, 209, 230

Dágo stops our caravan, 144

_Dair_ (October, November, December), 37, 276

Dambaswerer in the Rer Amáden country, 217, 222, 229

Damel Plain, 55;

sight elephants, 63

Danakil tribe, 278

_Darémo_, 124

Dárud, 20

Daud Gerhajis, 21

Daura reports death of Awálé Yasín, 158;

and the rhinoceros, 199;

his tragic death, 238

Delamere, Lord, 259

Denleh, 210

Deria Hassan, my gunbearer, 74, 199

Deria Shiré, son of important elder of Shiré Shirmáki, 86

Dhows, 37

_Dibáltig_, open recognition of the authority of a sultan, etc., 15, 104;

in our honour, 129, 220, 240

_Dibatag_, or Clarke’s gazelle, description of, 309

Dibiri-Wein country, 158

Digan, 157

Digwein, 295, 296

Dik-Dik antelopes described, 319

Dímis, 89

Division of classes in Somáliland, 4

Dobóya, 122

Dofaré, march to, 139

_Dól_, or bushbuck, 262, 308

Dólababa, 236

Dolbahanta tribe, 20, 21;

country—reconnoitre trade routes, 90

Donkeys, 3, 35;

killed by lion, 285

Dubár, 90

Dubbi Harré, Arussi Gálla chief, 265, 276

Dubbur, 91, 138

Dubburro, 139

Ducks, 189

Dúd Libah, or the “Lion’s Forest,” 236

Durhi, 202, 204, 205, 210, 236

_Durr_, 124, 200, 214, 240;

grass, 284

E⸺ (Captain E. J. E. Swayne), 90

Eagles, 328

Egyptians evacuate Somáli coast, 78

Eidegalla tribe, 15, 21, 41, 241, 283

Eil Ánod, 85

Eil Bhai, 142

Eil Dab (rocky well), 94

Eil-ki-Gabro, 203

Eilo, a mountain in the Gadabursi country near Zeila, 10

Eil Sheikh, 82, 84, 85, 89, 157

Elephant, looking for tracks, 47;

feeding, 52;

method of hunting by natives, 116

Elephants (_Maródi_), 46, 55, 60, 111, 115, 205;

at Jalélo, 56;

shooting, Hembeweina river, 59;

height of one at shoulder shot at, 58, 76;

sight herd of sixty, 60;

death of the big cow, 64;

a wounded bull, 67;

feeding on _armo_ creeper, 73;

in the Daghatto Valley, 206;

description of, 209, 294

Élinta Kaddo, 140

Elmas Mountain, 80, 157

Emir Abdillahi, 119

Enleh, 211, 213

_Equus grévyi_, 204;

description of, 322;

_nubianus_, description of, 322

Esa insist they are British subjects, 149

Esa tribe, 10, 20, 24, 41, 115, 152;

country entered by author, 115

Esmán Abdi seized by leopard, 162

Ethnology, 1

Expeditions, fitting out, 331;

expenses, 346

Exports of Somáliland, 376

Fáf in Ogádén, 38

Fáfan river, 259

Farur Gerád Hirsi, 172

Felter, Signor, 178, 181, 185

Feyambiro, 177;

on the road to, 185

Fitting out expeditions, 331

Flowers at Tawáwur, 98

Fodwein Bluff, 90

Foxes, 233, 329

French sphere of influence, 77, 153

Frogs, 199

Gabba Oboho, the Adone chief, 224, 226, 258

Gabratagli, an Abyssinian agent of Menelek, 167, 169, 177

Gabriel Guigniony, 181

Gadabursi tribe, 20, 24, 34, 116;

country, 25, 295;

start for, 112;

author leaves the country, 115

Gadfly, 240, 329

Gadíd, a man born at noon, 21

Gagáb wells, 282

Gaha Pass, 42

Gálla graves, 26;

cairns, 94;

history, 181;

country, 210

Gállaland, project to explore, 155, 258, 276

Gállas, 8, 22, 23, 223, 228, 230, 259, 272, 276

Gán Libah, 99, 241, 243

Garabad, 205, 206, 210

Garasleh stream, 152

Garba-aleh pool, 202, 203

Garbadir, 253

Garodki Mayagód, 124

_Gáshán_, or shield, 10

“Gáshánbúr,” or “brothers of the shield,” 21

Gáwa Pass, 25

_Gazella sœmmeringi_, 314;

_spekei_, 316;

_pelzelni_, 317

Gebili, pass through, 111

Gédi or march, 21

Géli, author’s gunbearer, 132, 156, 189, 243, 283

Geographical names, 373

_Gerasmatch_, or General of the Left, 178

_Gerenúk_, see Waller’s Gazelle

Géri tribe, 20, 113, 136

Geríré Gállas, 156, 263

Gerlogubi, in distant Ogádén, 78, 138

German mission station, 22;

missionaries, 22

Gildessa, 75, 148;

exciting time at, 144

Gilimiss, 261

Giraffe, 228, 326

Goats, 36

_Gób_ trees eighty feet high, 127

Gobau Desta sent to Gildessa to meet author, 152;

reads Sir R. Burton’s book to Rás, 181

Gojar under Gureis Mountain, 168, 170

Golbánti on the Tana river, 22

Gólis Range, 3, 46, 55, 90, 241, 244, 365

Gol Wiyileh, or the “Valley of Rhinoceroses,” 200

Goose shot, 142

Gosaweina, 96

Government explorations, 77

_Graphic_ exhibited to natives, 201

Grasses, 124

Grave of a chief, 126

Graves, 21, 25;

description of, 93

Greater koodoo shooting at Mandeira, 242;

description of, 302

Grevy’s zebra, 204, 312

_Gu_ (May and June), 36, 230

Guban, 55, 244, 294, 307, 316;

or Lowland gazelle, 317

_Gudá_ timber, 55, 115, 243, 244, 255

Gudaweina, 125

Guigniony, M., a French merchant, 181

Guinea-fowl, 244, 282, 328

Gulanleh, 55, 56, 59, 72

Guldu Hamed, mullah village at Upper Sheikh, 25, 91

Gumbur Dúg Hill, 140, 164

Gumbur Wedel Hill, 133

Gum-pickers, 216

_Gurgi_, 2

Gypsum rock, 92

Habr (tribal collective prefix), 20

Habr Awal, 20, 24, 77, 87, 127;

Gerhajis, 20, 21, 41, 53, 79, 86, 88, 127;

Toljaala, 20, 77, 91;

march through the country, 97, 211

Haddáma, 134

Hadji Adan, our Esa guide, 151, 277

Hádo, a visit to, by author, 173, 186

_Haga_ (July, August, September), 37, 121;

wind, 121

Haines or Shabéleh river, 222

_Halal_, 218

Haljíd, 211;

march to, 199

Haraf, four miles from Hargeisa, 121, 139

Harar, 2, 22, 223, 295;

captured by Abyssinians, 119;

visited by author, 177

Harasáwa Valley, description of, 114

Hares, 329

Hargeisa in the Habr Awal country, 4, 7, 17, 55, 121, 139, 211;

description of town, 100

Harrawa Valley, 25

Harris, W. B., 23

Harrison, Captain, 139

Hartebeest, new variety first shot, 100;

vast herds of, 102, 122, 142, 163, 172;

description of, 305

Harka-weina, 247

_Hassádan_ trees, seventy feet high, 98, 370

Hassan, my gunbearer, 20, 156

Haud, 39, 284, 298, 367;

Plateau crossed, 122, 129, 291

Hegebo, near Berbera, 364

Helmók Valley, 175

Hemál, under the Bur Ad Range, 115;

journey from, to Ali Maan, 116

Hembeweina river at Jalélo, 56, 59, 69

Henweina Valley, 247, 252, 253

_Hérios_, or camel-mats, 346

Hippopotami, 228, 268, 326

Hug, in the mountainous Jibril Abokr country, 26

Huguf Pass, 97

Hulkabóba, shooting camp, 45

Hunting leopard or chitah, 281

Hussein-bin-Khalaf of Karanleh, 260

Hussein Debeli, my head tracker, sees elephant, 57

Hyænas, 193, 202, 203, 240, 261, 275, 281, 286;

stabbed by author, 195;

description of, 325

Ibrahim, author’s servant, speared through his hand, 181

Ibrahim Gúri has camels, sheep, etc., stolen by Abyssinians, 173

“Ideal” camera, 166

Imé on the Webbe, 137, 210, 211, 221, 223, 258;

author’s visit to, 222, 225

Imports of Somáliland, 376

_Ingrés_ (or English), 204

Insects, 98, 329

Ishák tribes, 20, 26

Ismail, 20

Issutugan river-bed, 55;

river, 56, 78, 294

Italian sphere of influence, 78

Instruments (scientific), 353

Jackals, 329

Jaléo, 56

Jáma, my hunter, sitting on the dead lioness, 106;

Deria, the minstrel of the Rer Amáden, 217, 261

James, F. L., his exploring party, 78, 222, 229, 295, 368

Jarso, 169, 184

Jebel Hakim visited, 182;

wonderful caves, 184

Jeráto Pass, 88, 241, 243

Jibril Abokr, sub-tribe of Habr Awal, 24, 41, 90, 98, 120, 243

Jibúti, French port, 149, 182

Jig-Jiga, 111, 120, 165, 170, 186, 187, 211

_Jilál_ (January to April), 36, 163, 191

_Jilib_, or family, 21

Jopp, General, Resident at Aden, 181

_Jowári_, 100, 226, 228, 260

Juba river, 228;

sources, 155, 228, 258

Júk, 163

Kabri Bahr, waterless march to, 157

_Kalíl_ season, 37, 163

Kanyasmatch Basha-Basha, 176

Karam, 97

Karanleh on the Webbe, 22, 228, 259, 269

_Karia_, or temporary village, 2

Karin Marda, 174

Kásin Ishák clan, 88

_Khansa_ bushes, or umbrella mimósa, 4, 124, 157, 208, 233, 287, 370

Kheidub-Ayéyu, 126

Khoda Bux, 80

Kirrit, 26;

well reached, 92

Kites, 328

Klipspringer, 54, 318

Kondurá, 174

Koodoo shooting, 47, 116, 204, 241, 246;

description of, 302

Koran, 17;

given to natives, 202;

price of, 354

_Kumá_ (Who are you?), 196

Kuredelli in the Jerer Valley, 188, 195, 196

Lámu, 23

Las Damel, 205

Lee-Metford rifle, 214, 282

Leopards, 95, 160, 209;

first one shot, 100;

stalking a goat in our camp, 101;

sport with, 160, 281;

one seizes Esmán Abdi, 162;

sitting up for one, 165;

seizes gazelle and is shot, 198;

jumps into camp, 202;

killed at Garba-aleh pool, 203;

description of, 323

Lesser koodoo, 54, 121, 204, 277;

in the Jerer Valley, 199;

description of, 303

Lions, 124, 205, 218, 279, 284;

killed by the Midgáns, 4;

tracks of, 54;

roaring of, awake us, 68;

stalking herds of antelope, 103;

wounds author, 105;

fine one killed by E⸺, 109;

haunts of, 123;

sleeping ten yards from author, 129;

tracking and shooting of one by author, 233;

seizes sleeping woman, 204;

exciting hunt, 234;

attack on a man, 278;

finest one shot, 288;

length of skin, 236, 288;

description of, 292

Lioness doing sentry, 284

_Lithocranius walleri_ described, 312

Lizards, 329

Locusts, 98

Lower Nogal, 307

Loyi-Ada, between Jibúti and Zeila, boundary of English and French

influence, 153

Maaruf, opposite Karanleh, 263

Mader Adan, 202

_Madoqua swaynei_ described, 319;

_phillipsi_ described, 319;

_guentheri_ described, 319

Mahamúd Gerád, sub-tribe of the Dolbahanta, 41, 42, 92

Mahomed Liba, a chief of Rer Ali tribe, 127

Malcolm Jones, Mr., 156

Malingúr, 156, 204, 205, 210, 259

Mandalay, 90

Mandeira, 54, 89, 242, 243, 295

Map for Government completed, 89

Marar Prairie, 25, 142, 158, 162, 211, 268, 369;

commencement of, 102

Marda Pass, 173

Marehán tribe, 20

Maritime Plain, 53

Maritime Range, 53, 91, 294, 364

Marriage laws, 12

Masai raids, 22

Massleh Wein, 253

Menelek, Emperor, 169

Methodist Mission at Golbánti, 22

Midgáns, 3, 4, 72, 140, 325;

method of hunting lion, 293;

method of hunting oryx, 299

Midjerten tribe, 20

Milmil, 121, 128, 283;

caravans, 41

Mirso, 45, 90, 252

“Moga Medir” rock, mentioned by Sir Richard Burton, 102

Monkeys, 263, 273, 328

Monsoon, or _Gu_, 37, 218

Morrison, D. (the late), 80, 81, 82

Mosquitoes, 204

Mules on the Zeila-Harar road, 34

Mullahs, 4

Músa Abokr, 92

Mussulmans, 9, 218, 324;

teaching, 16

Náno, 204, 211

Native councils, 14

Ngai (German mission station), 22

Nogál country, 94

Nomadic tribes, 2, 39

Núr Osman, my camelman, 47, 48, 53, 56

Núr Róbleh of Karanleh, 260, 264, 265

Obok, 278

Ogádén, 2, 4, 20, 182, 202, 276, 294, 298, 307, 316;

graves, 94

Ogo country, 3, 41, 54, 307, 316

Ogo-Gudan, 55

_Oreotragus megalotis_ described, 321;

_saltator_, 317

Oryx hunting on foot, 4, 163;

hide shield, 4;

shoot two fine bulls and two cows, 56;

tracks, 69;

herds of, 102, 122, 136, 163, 205, 216, 241;

in the Jerer Valley, 199;

at Náno, 204;

description of, 298, 325

Ostrich feather worn by Esa who has killed a man, 11

Ostriches, 56, 132, 133, 157, 199;

see seventeen, 110;

description of, 325

Outfit, 346

Paget, Col. Arthur, 91, 92, 261, 307;

threatened attack on, 170

Panjábis enlisted at Aden, 83

Panther, see Leopard

“Paradox” gun, 209, 287

Partridges, 328

Pelzeln’s gazelle, 317

Photographic outfit, 343

Physical geography of Somáliland, 361

Plants and trees, 369

Plateau gazelles, 56, 317

Ponies, description of, 34

Porro, Count, expedition of, 152

Purchase of tent, rifles, etc., 341

Rabbits, 329

Raiding tribes, 41

Raids, Somális and Gállas, 41

Rain, deluge of, 139, 218

Rainy season, 37

Rás Makunan, governor of Harar, 147, 231, 241;

his orders to treat British travellers with courtesy, 168;

visit to Shoa, 168;

visit to Rome, 178;

expresses great friendship for the British, 181;

author’s farewell visit to, 183

Rations for natives, 348

Ravens, 328

Remington rifles, 144

Rer (tribal collective prefix), 20

Rer Ali tribe, 12, 20, 188, 212;

wealth of, 283

Rer Amáden, 136, 156, 212, 216

Rer Harún, 128, 137, 211

Rer Dahir Farah, sub-tribe, 20

Rer Dollol and their camels, 102

Rer Gédi, 134

Rer Guléd (family), 21

Rer Haréd spies, 111;

robbers, 113

Rer Mattan (clan), 21

Rer Samanter karias, 139

Rer Shirmáki Adan, 21

Rer Yunis Jibril, 101

Rhinoceros, first one shot, 132;

shoot fine bull, 133;

horns as sword handles, drinking cups, etc., 148;

horns given as present to Rás Makunan, 148;

author’s adventure with, 190, 200;

drinking, 191;

plentiful in Jerer Valley, 198;

at Náno, 204;

description of, 297

Rhinoceros bird, 32

Rhinoceros Valley, or Dih Wiyileh, 200

Rifle kicks and injures author, 64;

·577 used to shoot lion, 109;

Lee-Metford, success of, 215;

Winchester “Express,” 214

Rifles, the battery to take, 343

Róbleh, 21

Rock rabbits, 329

Rowland Ward, Mr., 247;

examines new gazelle, 310

Ruins, 22;

at Badwein, 95

Ruspoli, Prince, 170, 223, 261, 265, 281

Saad Yunis, 92

Said Harti, 21

_Sakáro_ antelopes, 63, 87, 243;

description of, 319

Sala Asseleh, 143

Sala, Mr., an Italian traveller, 115

“_Salaam aleikum_” (Peace be with you), 87

Salimbeni, Count, 178

Samani, 219

Samanter, 20, 126;

my interpreter, 88

Samawé ruins, 25;

tomb, 25

Sarar-awr (camel-back plateau), 86

Sattáwa, halt at, to form camp, 114

Sclater, Dr., 305

Scorpions, 329

Segag, 210

Sen Morettu, 261, 263, 277

Seton Karr, 157

Seyyid Mahomed, 259

Seyyid Mahomed’s town, 4, 259

Shabéleh, 136, 258

Shafei Mussulman, 20

Sheep, 2, 36;

export of, 3

Sheikh, 90;

Pass, 45

Sheikh Mattar, the chief of Hargeisa, 7, 17, 101, 121, 156, 259

Shendil, 275

Shield, 10, 297

Shírdone Yunis, 80

Shiré Shirmáki, 69, 71

Shirmáki Adan and his fifty-two children, 21

Shoa, 168

_Shúm_, or petty officer, visits author, 164

_Sirkal_ (Government official), 43, 196

Sisai, at the back of Wagar, 97

Snakes, 329

Sobát, twelve miles from Jalélo, 59

Sœmmering’s gazelle, vast herds of, 102, 122, 133, 142, 157, 164, 172;

shoot two right and left, 164;

at Náno, 204;

shot with Lee-Metford, 214;

description, 315

So Madu, arrival of mail bag, 153

So Midgán, 85

Somáli tribes, 1, 21, 22;

the, his character, 7, 17;

salutation “_Nabad_,” 9;

religion, costume, weapons, superstitions, and nomenclature, 10;

women, wonderful powers of endurance, 12;

language, 17;

origin, 19;

nicknames, 21;

seasons, 36;

trade, 374

Spears, 10

Spear-throwing, 218

Spiders, 329

Sporting battery, 343

Squirrels, 262, 329

Stace, Lieut.-Col., 376

Storks, 328

_Strepsiceros imberbis_ (lesser koodoo), 243, 303

Subbul hills, 111, 162

Sultán Deria, 21

Swahili race, 23

Swayne, Captain E. J. E., assists me in the survey, 90

Swayne’s hartebeest first shot, 100;

description of, 305

Sword hunters, 116

Syk, in the high Ogo country, 88, 244

Taala Gálla, or Gálla cairns, 26, 91

Tana river, 23

Taurin Cahaigne, Monseigneur, of Harar, 24, 181

Tawáwur (nearly seven thousand feet), 97

Temperature, 37, 38, 372;

at Sisai, 97

Temple, supposed work of Gállas, 95

Tents, 341;

Cabul, 185, 341;

description of Basha-Basha’s, 175

Theodolite station, 90

Thirst, effect on domestic animals, 123

Ticks, 34

Tobe, 9, 287

Tomal, 3

Toyo Plain, 42, 297

Trade of Somáli, 375

Traders, 2

Trading caravans, 2

_Tragelaphus decula_, 308

Treaty between British Government and Somális, 77

Trees, 370

Trophies, preparation of, 359

Tug Dér, wells, 91

Túli, 132;

march to, 201

_Tusbas_, scented prayer-chaplets, 220

Tusks of Somáli elephant smaller than those of southern ones, 76

Ugaz Núr, 114

Ujawáji, 101, 120, 162

Umr Ugaz, 205, 261

Upper Sheikh, 91

Vultures, 113, 215, 275, 328

Vulturine guinea-fowls at the wells, 94

Wa-berri (from _berri_, morning), 21

_Wádi_ thorn-trees, 163

Wagar Mountain, 46, 97, 303

Waller’s gazelle, 56, 133, 201, 204, 237, 321;

seized by panther, 198;

shot with Lee-Metford, 214;

killed by leopard, 281;

description of, 312

Walsh, L. P., assistant Resident at Aden, 78, 148

Wandi, chief of police at Harar, 184

Wapokómo negroes of the Tana, 23

Warda-Gumaréd, one of the great trade arteries, 123

Waredad Plain, 96, 294

Waror, 133;

description of wells, 135

Warsama Dugál, a chief of the Ba-Gadabursi, 85

Warsingali tribe, 20

Wart-hog, 126, 243, 254, 278;

kill fine one near camp, 64, 278;

description of, 324

Water, method of getting, 92, 135;

supply statistics, 122;

wells, 241

Water-bottles made by natives, 10

Waterbuck, 228, 261, 268, 275, 276;

swims across stream, 269;

description of, 307

Webbe Shabéleh river, 23, 38, 210, 307;

first journey to, 186, 213, 223, 226, 228;

second journey to, 258;

crossing the river, 264

Wild asses, 56;

description of, 323

Wild boar, see Wart-hog

Wild dog, 326

Wolverton, Lord, 261

Women appeal for help against the Abyssinians, 127

Wood, Major C. E. W., 326

Yahia, a Somáli, 265, 276

Yebir, 3

Yemen, 182

Yirrowa, 90

Yoáleh, 127

Yoghol hill, 25

Yunis, author’s guide, 216

Zebra, trying to catch young one, 216

Zebras, 204, 205, 214, 237;

description of, 322

Zeila, 24, 151, 153, 362;

under British Consul, 78;

exploration into the hills, 89;

march to, 115

Zeríba, 2, 20, 126, 200, 236;

arrangement of, 357

Zoological Society _Proceedings_ shown to natives, 229

THE END

_Printed by R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, Edinburgh._

[Illustration: HUNTING MAP OF NORTHERN SOMÁLI LAND.

_To illustrate Captain H. G. C. Swayne’s Seventeen Trips through Somáli

Land._

_Published by Rowland Ward & Co., Limited “The Jungle” 166 Piccadilly,

London._]

[Illustration: _RAPID RECONNAISANCE OF ROUTE OF TWO PRIVATE HUNTING

EXPEDITIONS TO THE WEBBE IN 1893._

_SKETCH OF THE HORN OF AFRICA showing all journeys by the Author & his

brother_

_To illustrate Captain H. G. C. Swayne’s Seventeen Trips through Somáli

Land._

_PUBLISHED BY ROWLAND WARD & CO., Limited “The Jungle” 166 Piccadilly,

London._]