First Footsteps in East Africa Part 10

[5] This delicate operation is called by the Arabs Daasah (whence the "Dosch ceremony" at Cairo). It is used over most parts of the Eastern world as a remedy for sickness and fatigue, and is generally preferred to Takbis or Dugmo, the common style of shampooing, which, say many Easterns, loosens the skin.

[6] The Somal, from habit, enjoy no other variety; they even showed disgust at my Latakia. Tobacco is grown in some places by the Gudabirsi and other tribes; bat it is rare and bad. Without this article it would be impossible to progress in East Africa; every man asks for a handful, and many will not return milk for what they expect to receive as a gift. Their importunity reminds the traveller of the Galloway beggars some generations ago:--"They are for the most part great chewers of tobacco, and are so addicted to it, that they will ask for a piece thereof from a stranger as he is riding on his way; and therefore let not a traveller want an ounce or two of roll tobacco in his pocket, and for an inch or two thereof he need not fear the want of a guide by day or night."

[7] Flesh boiled in large slices, sun-dried, broken to pieces and fried in ghee.

[8] The Bahr a.s.sal or Salt Lake, near Tajurrah, annually sends into the interior thousands of little matted parcels containing this necessary.

Inland, the Bedouins will rub a piece upon the tongue before eating, or pa.s.s about a lump, as the Dutch did with sugar in the last war; at Harar a donkey-load is the price of a slave; and the Abyssinians say of a _millionaire_ "he eateth salt."

[9] The element found upon the maritime plain is salt or brackish. There is nothing concerning which the African traveller should be so particular as water; bitter with nitre, and full of organic matter, it causes all those dysenteric diseases which have made research in this part of the world a Upas tree to the discoverer. Pocket filters are invaluable. The water of wells should be boiled and pa.s.sed through charcoal; and even then it might be mixed to a good purpose with a few drops of proof spirit. The Somal generally carry their store in large wickerwork pails. I preferred skins, as more portable and less likely to taint the water.

[10] Here, as in Arabia, boxes should be avoided, the Bedouins always believe them to contain treasures. Day after day I have been obliged to display the contents to crowds of savages, who amused themselves by lifting up the case with loud cries of "hoo! hoo!! hoo!!!" (the popular exclamation of astonishment), and by speculating upon the probable amount of dollars contained therein.

[11] The following list of my expenses may perhaps be useful to future travellers. It must be observed that, had the whole outfit been purchased at Aden, a considerable saving would have resulted:--

Cos. Rs.

Pa.s.sage money from Aden to Zayla............................ 33 Presents at Zayla...........................................100 Price of four mules with saddles and bridles................225 Price of four camels........................................ 88 Provisions (tobacco, rice, dates &c.) for three months......428 Price of 150 Tobes..........................................357 Nine pieces of indigo-dyed cotton........................... 16 Minor expenses (cowhides for camels, mats for tents, presents to Arabs, a box of beads, three handsome Abyssinian Tobes bought for chiefs).....................166 Expenses at Berberah, and pa.s.sage back to Aden.............. 77 ---- Total Cos. Rs. 1490 = L149 ====

[12] I shall frequently use Somali terms, not to display my scanty knowledge of the dialect, but because they perchance may prove serviceable to my successors.

[13] The Somal always "side-line" their horses and mules with stout stiff leathern thongs provided with loops and wooden b.u.t.tons; we found them upon the whole safer than lariats or tethers.

[14] Arabs hate "El Sifr" or whistling, which they hold to be the chit- chat of the Jinns. Some say that the musician's mouth is not to be purified for forty days; others that Satan, touching a man's person, causes him to produce the offensive sound. The Hejazis objected to Burckhardt that he could not help talking to devils, and walking about the room like an unquiet spirit. The Somali has no such prejudice. Like the Kafir of the Cape, he pa.s.ses his day whistling to his flocks and herds; moreover, he makes signals by changing the note, and is skilful in imitating the song of birds.

[15] In this country camels foal either in the Gugi (monsoon), or during the cold season immediately after the autumnal rains.

[16] The shepherd's staff is a straight stick about six feet long, with a crook at one end, and at the other a fork to act as a rake.

[17] These utensils will be described in a future chapter.

[18] The settled Somal have a holy horror of dogs, and, Wahhabi-like, treat man's faithful slave most cruelly. The wild people are more humane; they pay two ewes for a good colley, and demand a two-year-old sheep as "diyat" or blood-money for the animal, if killed.

[19] Vultures and percnopters lie upon the wing waiting for the garbage of the kraals; consequently they are rare near the cow-villages, where animals are not often killed.

[20] They apply this term to all but themselves; an Indian trader who had travelled to Harar, complained to me that he had always been called a Frank by the Bedouins in consequence of his wearing Shalwar or drawers.

[21] Generally it is not dangerous to write before these Bedouins, as they only suspect account-keeping, and none but the educated recognise a sketch. The traveller, however, must be on his guard: in the remotest villages he will meet Somal who have returned to savage life after visiting the Sea-board, Arabia, and possibly India or Egypt.

[22] I have often observed this ceremony performed upon a new turban or other article of attire; possibly it may be intended as a mark of contempt, a.s.sumed to blind the evil eye.

[23] Such is the general form of the Somali grave. Sometimes two stumps of wood take the place of the upright stones at the head and foot, and around one grave I counted twenty trophies.

[24] Some braves wear above the right elbow an ivory armlet called Fol or Aj: in the south this denotes the elephant-slayer. Other Eesa clans a.s.sert their warriorhood by small disks of white stone, fas.h.i.+oned like rings, and fitted upon the little finger of the left hand. Others bind a bit of red cloth round the brow.

[25] It is sufficient for a Bedouin to look at the general appearance of an animal; he at once recognises the breed. Each clan, however, in this part of Eastern Africa has its own mark.

[26] They found no better word than "fire" to denote my gun.

[27] "Oddai", an old man, corresponds with the Arab Shaykh in etymology.

The Somal, however, give the name to men of all ages after marriage.

[28] The "Dihh" is the Arab "Wady",--a fiumara or freshet. "Webbe" (Obbay, Abbai, &c.) is a large river; "Durdur", a running stream.

[29] I saw these Dihhs only in the dry season; at times the torrent must be violent, cutting ten or twelve feet deep into the plain.

[30] The name is derived from Kuranyo, an ant: it means the "place of ants," and is so called from the abundance of a tree which attracts them.

[31] The Arabs call these pillars "Devils," the Somal "Sigo."

[32] The Cape Kafirs have the same prejudice against fish, comparing its flesh, to that of serpents. In some points their squeamishness resembles that of the Somal: he, for instance, who tastes the Rhinoceros Simus is at once dubbed "Om Fogazan" or outcast.

[33] This superst.i.tion may have arisen from the peculiarity that the camel's milk, however fresh, if placed upon the fire, breaks like some cows' milk.

[34] "Bori" in Southern Arabia popularly means a water-pipe: here it is used for tobacco.

[35] "Goban" is the low maritime plain lying below the "Bor" or Ghauts, and opposed to Ogu, the table-land above. "Ban" is an elevated gra.s.sy prairie, where few trees grow; "Dir," a small jungle, called Haija by the Arabs; and Khain is a forest or thick bush. "Bor," is a mountain, rock, or hill: a stony precipice is called "Jar," and the high clay banks of a ravine "Gebi."

[36] Snakes are rare in the cities, but abound in the wilds of Eastern Africa, and are dangerous to night travellers, though seldom seen by day.

To kill a serpent is considered by the Bedouins almost as meritorious as to slay an Infidel. The Somal have many names for the reptile tribe. The Subhanyo, a kind of whipsnake, and a large yellow rock snake called Got, are little feared. The Abesi (in Arabic el Hayyeh,--the Cobra) is so venomous that it kills the camel; the Mas or Hanash, and a long black snake called Jilbis, are considered equally dangerous. Serpents are in Somali-land the subject of many superst.i.tions. One horn of the Cerastes, for instance, contains a deadly poison: the other, pounded and drawn across the eye, makes man a seer and reveals to him the treasures of the earth. There is a flying snake which h.o.a.rds precious stones, and is attended by a hundred guards: a Somali horseman once, it is said, carried away a jewel; he was pursued by a reptile army, and although he escaped to his tribe, the importunity of the former proprietors was so great that the plunder was eventually restored to them. Centipedes are little feared; their venom leads to inconveniences more ridiculous than dangerous.

Scorpions, especially the large yellow variety, are formidable in hot weather: I can speak of the sting from experience. The first symptom is a sensation of nausea, and the pain shoots up after a few minutes to the groin, causing a swelling accompanied by burning and throbbing, which last about twelve hours. The Somal bandage above the wound and wait patiently till the effect subsides.

[37] These are tightened in case of accident, and act as superior ligatures. I should, however, advise every traveller in these regions to provide himself with a pneumatic pump, and not to place his trust in Zaal, garlic, or opium.

[38] The grey rat is called by the Somal "Baradublay:" in Eastern Africa it is a minor plague, after India and Arabia, where, neglecting to sleep in boots, I have sometimes been lamed for a week by their venomous bites.

[39] In this country the jackal attends not upon the lion, but the Waraba.

His morning cry is taken as an omen of good or evil according to the note.

[40] Of this bird, a red and long-legged plover, the Somal tell the following legend. Originally her diet was meat, and her society birds of prey: one night, however, her companions having devoured all the provisions whilst she slept, she swore never to fly with friends, never to eat flesh, and never to rest during the hours of darkness. When she sees anything in the dark she repeat her oaths, and, according to the Somal, keeps careful watch all night. There is a larger variety of this bird, which, purblind daring daytime, rises from under the traveller's feet with loud cries. The Somal have superst.i.tions similar to that above noticed about several kinds of birds. When the cry of the "Galu" (so called from his note Gal! Gal! come in! come in!) is heard over a kraal, the people say, "Let us leave this place, the Galu hath spoken!" At night they listen for the Fin, also an ill-omened bird: when a man declares "the Fin did not sleep last night," it is considered advisable to s.h.i.+ft ground.

[41] Throughout this country ostriches are exceedingly wild: the Rev. Mr.

Erhardt, of the Mombas Mission, informs me that they are equally so farther south. The Somal stalk them during the day with camels, and kill them with poisoned arrows. It is said that about 3 P.M. the birds leave their feeding places, and traverse long distances to roost: the people a.s.sert that they are blind at night, and rise up under the pursuer's feet.

[42] Several Acacias afford gums, which the Bedouins eat greedily to strengthen themselves. The town's people declare that the food produces nothing but flatulence.

[43] "Subhan' Allah!" an exclamation of pettishness or displeasure.

[44] The hills not abounding in camels, like the maritime regions, a.s.ses become the princ.i.p.al means of transport.

[45] This barbarous practice is generally carried out in cases of small- pox where contagion is feared.

[46] Fear--danger; it is a word which haunts the traveller in Somali-land.

[47] The Somali Tol or Tul corresponds with the Arabic Kabilah, a tribe: under it is the Kola or Jilib (Ar. Fakhizah), a clan. "Gob," is synonymous with the Arabic Kabail, "men of family," opposed to "Gum," the caste-less.

In the following pages I shall speak of the Somali _nation_, the Eesa tribe, the Rer Musa _clan_, and the Rer Galan _sept_, though by no means sure that such verbal gradation is generally recognised.

[48] The Eesa, for instance, are divided into--

1. Rer Wardik (the royal clan). 6. Rer Hurroni.