CHAPTER XXI.
Purchase of some tobacco, with remarks on its use among the Dankalli.—Make cover for hat.—Conversation with Ohmed Mahomed.—May 3, Journey from Hasanderah to Bundurah.—General direction, S.W. by W.—Time marching seven hours.—Singular effect of refraction.—Joined by party of Issah Soumaulee; description of their appearance and arms.—Affectionate inquiries of Kafilah friends.—Description of halting-place and country around Bundurah.
Severalapplications for tobacco to-day determined me to purchase from Ohmed Medina three pounds, for which I gave only three dollars, the most reasonable price that was ever asked me, for any commodity I required during the journey. Over the presents intended for the road I had no command whatever, they having been placed in the charge of Ohmed Mahomed before we left Tajourah; and he took such especial care of them that the three skin bags full of handkerchiefs, coloured cottons, and white calico cloth, were untouched when we arrived in Shoa. All the presents required, were supplied from a stock of blue cloth and tobes, he had purchased at Berberah, and which he took care to charge to the Commanderin Shoa (the British Ambassador) at the price of three dollars each tobe, and of ten dollars the piece of blue sood, much to his great gain and emolument. At the same time, the cunning fellow expected at the end of our journey, to have given to him all the original and much more valuable presents, as a kind of perquisite belonging to his office as Ras ul Kafilah.
Tobacco, in all its forms, is eagerly sought for by the Dankalli; their constant asking for it is one of the principal annoyances a traveller experiences in passing through Adal. A very little, however, sends the sturdy beggars away quite satisfied, and if it were not for the numbers of them, their moderate expectations would be a source of amusement, for a thimbleful is received with a great deal more thankfulness than a handful, which, if bestowed, they look at with a kind of feeling, that if you can afford to give so much, there is no harm done in asking you for a little more.
The sort of tobacco I saw most general among these people was the dried leaf, unprepared in any other manner than by mere exposure to the sun after being gathered. The Bedouins used it rudely crushed between the fingers, and well mixed up with an equal quantity of fine wood ashes. This rough powder is placed between the cheek and the lower jaw, where it forms a large lump, which is allowed to remain until all the bitter or active principle of the mass is extracted. It makes a mostunsightly protuberance, just above and on one side of the chin, and occasions a continual ejection of saliva, which, as it is cast only upon the earth, is less objectionable than a similar indulgence when committed in the more civilized resorts of men, as, for example, in the drawing-rooms of the less fastidious of our Transatlantic brethren.
The people of Tajourah manufacture this tobacco into snuff by first scorching the leaf, and then triturating it between two stones, something in the same manner as paint is ground in England. Some of the Dankalli tribes, among which are the Assobah, and Omah Battah’s family of the Sidee Ahbreu, are remarkable for their abstinence from the use of this intoxicating herb, an indulgence in which, by any individual belonging to either of these tribes would be followed by his assassination. These people may have derived this prejudice from some early connexion with the Christian Church of Abyssinia, one canon of which interdicts the use of tobacco among its communicants. I suspected also that it might have arisen from the exhortation of some of their more respected Sheiks, who had learnt the existence of a similar abstinence from tobacco, practised by the modern Islam sect termed Whaahbee. On inquiry, however, I found that the Dankalli had rejected its use long before the appearance of these Unitarians of South Arabia. I may observe that the Whaahbee found their objection to the use of tobacco, upon somecommandment contained in the Koran, that says “no property shall be consumed in fire,” which they contend is the case when smoking is indulged in, and that consequently, it is a crime of scarcely less atrocity than downright arson.
Tobacco in the form of snuff is used, however, by all the tribes, and I have myself seen the Chief of the Sidee Ahbreu snuffing greedily a large quantity up his nose whilst he was telling me, with a great deal of self-satisfaction, that the use of tobacco was a capital crime among his people. This luxury is kept in a little bag, or pouch, made of two pieces of fine gut, stretched and dried in the sun, and then sewed together. What little snuff they can get possession of is carefully deposited in this; it is then folded up several times one way, and placed between the scabbard of their knife and the thongs that secure it to their girdle. “Surat,” the name of snuff in the Dankalli language, indicates the place on the coast of India from whence was imported the first that came into Adal.
I was much amused by a comparison memory suggested, between the Dankalli of the present day, and the beggars for tobacco in the south of Galloway, in Scotland, not one hundred years ago, where a traveller of that day relates of the inhabitants, “that 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 atraveller 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.” This relation so accords with the practices of the Dankalli Bedouins, that supposing freedom from any attack is assured by the protection of some powerful chief, all other services and attention required during a sojourn amongst them, may be commanded by following the recommendation of the worthy traveller in Galloway.
During the day I managed to make a new covering for my hat, for in passing beneath and among the thorny mimosas, the old one had been torn to rags. Having to get out a shirt to cut up for the necessary material, such a collection of my escort and Kafilah men that gathered around my hut, I never saw, and snatching for the buttons, or begging for the remnants, they left me little more than barely sufficient for my purposes, and, in fact, I was obliged to purchase back, for a couple of needles, part of one of the sleeves, to finish my task in a creditable manner. Everything I required to perform this, my needles, my thread, the white tape binding, and the last shreds of the shirt, were distributed fairly among the admiring mob, before I could get them away.
Ohmed Medina, whilst at prayers this evening, without moving from the mat upon which he performed his prostrations, called me to bring my gun to have a pot shot at some guinea-fowl, that wereroosted for the night, in the branches of an aditu tree very near to the camp. Having only one barrel loaded with shot, the other containing a ball I sent the latter, first among the crowd of birds, not above twenty yards from me, and killed three, following it up by pouring in the shot, which brought down four more of the scared fugitives.
All had their throats cut before they were quite dead, each bird having three or four assistant executioners to settle its business, although numbers rather delayed than accelerated the operation, which Ohmed Medina consecrated, by bawling out from his prayer-mat the necessary “Allah achbar!” “Allah achbar!”
Ohmed Mahomed, who had become very civil the last day or two, visited my hut in the evening, and I had some conversation with him relative to our starting the next day, and sounded his intentions by remarking, that here was plenty of forage and excellent water. “Good, Good,” replied Ohmed, pointing to the camels; and then, with hands spread some distance from his stomach, intimated how well distended the animals seemed to be with food. I shook my head, telling him I was very sorry to see it, for where forage was abundant, there our stay was sure to be long. Ohmed Mahomed, to close the dialogue, and get away, responded, “Ehwah, ehwah” (yes, yes); “Jimel, big-belly,” making signs; “Jimel, carry big box. Jimel, little-belly,” screwing himself up. “Jimel, carry marfish” (nothing). TheEnglish of all this, it must be understood, was pantomimic; and a pretty good idea may be drawn from this little scene, of the manner in which conversations were carried on, between me and some of my companions.
May 3d.—Long before sunrise this morning, I was awoke by the hoarse voice of Ohmed Mahomed, as he stood upon one of the boxes, giving the usual loud cry, as a signal for starting. For some reason or other, it had been arranged that the Hy Soumaulee and myself, instead of preceding the Kafilah, as had been customary, should now remain until the very last camel had moved off the ground. Ohmed Mahomed was, perhaps, not quite sure, but that we might give him the slip, and push on for Shoa, without waiting for him.
After I had booted and belted, I retired to a large stone with my carbine in my hand, where I sat until the camels were all loaded, and, one after the other, in detached strings of six or eight, led by a slave, the long rope halter thrown over one shoulder, and his spear on the other, were stalking solemnly along the winding path among the clumps of trees, which now hid them for a moment or two from the view, and between which they then again appeared, until lost altogether to sight among the distant foliage.
Whilst I was sitting, I had an opportunity of observing a singular effect of mirage upon the summit of a long low ridge, that formed one of the sides of thevalley of Hasanderah. It evidently depended upon the refraction of the rays of light passing through a stratum of air, in which was suspended or contained a considerable quantity of the vapour of water, and which, of less specific gravity than the air itself, was rising from the damp earth in this neighbourhood. On the top of the ridge, standing in high relief, from the grey sky behind him, was a Bedouin, who, of gigantic proportions, seemed to be quite as tall as a very high tree, which was growing near to where he stood. I looked at him with astonishment; and thought of the enemy described by Ossian’s frightened scout,—“I saw their chief, tall as a rock of ice; his shield the rising moon, his spear a blasted pine;” of so enormous a size, was the figure and arms of this supernatural-looking being. Feeling assured that it must be some unusual phenomenon, rather than anything real, I left my seat to examine more closely the unmoving bronze colossus upon the height. A short walk soon proved to me that I was not wrong in my idea of the real character of this appearance, for I found that the tall tree, on my approach, sunk into a low mimosa bush, scarcely five feet high, and the tall giant reduced himself, to the form of my Hy Soumaulee friend, Carmel Ibrahim, who was waiting very leisurely a little apart, like myself, the departure of the Kafilah.
When the word was given for us to start afterthe camels, I mounted my mule, and travelled at a pace that suited her exactly, being about seven hours marching fourteen miles. We soon ascended from the valley of Hasanderah, and passing over the ridge, emerged into a very extensive treeless plain, where were numerous denuded bases of small volcanic cones, the remains of which consisted of stratified concentric circles of black lava, just appearing above the surface of the ground. The diameters of the numerous instances of this peculiar geological structure, I passed during the day, varied from fifteen to thirty yards. Grass was everywhere abundant. Numerous sand-pillars moved along before and behind us; sometimes, as many as twenty, or even thirty, appearing in sight at once. They varied considerably in form, from that of an upright exact column to that of an inverted trumpet, sustained at an angle of 50° from the horizon.
On our march we were overtaken by four men, whom, Ohmed Medina, on seeing, instantly pointed out to me as being Issah Soumaulee. That they differed in some respects from the Dankalli, was obvious, at first sight; but this was most strikingly apparent in the character of their arms. In the first place, they carried neither spears nor shields, instead of these, having light bows and rather bulky quivers, which hung under the left arm, from the shoulder of the same side, by broadleathern bands. In the belt of untanned hide, which secured the fotah, or cloth, around the waist, they had each an old rusty knife in a worn-out scabbard, and scarcely eight inches long. The rude hilts of these weapons were merely round bits of wood, hollowed between the ends for the grasp of the hand.
In the long frizzly character of their hair, and in the colour of their skin, they resembled the Dankalli, with whom their stature, and the general character of their features, also accorded. At the present day, the Dankalli and Soumaulee are distinct, as nations; but, the great similarity of their language, of their customs, and their indistinct separation, in the various tribes that border on this road to Abyssinia, and which made it therefore a most interesting one, prove them to have descended from one common origin, the Avalites of ancient geographers.
Some modification in the character of these ancient people, has been occasioned by intermixture with other nations, which has produced a difference in personal appearance. In the north, acted upon by the Grecian and Egyptian colonists, who made that part of the country of the Avalites, a rich and populous kingdom. Their representatives at the present day, the Dankalli, have assumed, or retained, the Circassian type; whilst in the south and west, their long intercourse with Shankallitribes, have given somewhat of the character of the Negro to the more southern Soumaulee and the inland Galla.
The bows of the Soumaulee are of the most classical shape, having a central depression, between two curved arms, at the extremities of which, the strong catgut string is fastened. Instead, as in the bows best known to us, the middle portion of the string being at the greatest distance from the centre, in those used by the Soumaulee, this part of the string actually rests upon the wood in that situation, and each time the arrow is discharged, strikes the back of the left thumb of the archer, with great force. Thinking I should not be aware of this, Ohmed Medina, as a practical joke, put one of the bows into my hand, and requested me to bend it; with a very great effort I effected this, but took care to let the string down gently, with a knowing kind of wink, which made them all laugh at seeing me up to the little trick intended. The quivers were made of a long cucumber-kind of gourd-shell, but quite straight, with a parchment cover, which fitted like the top of a large pill-box. Inside were contained ten or twelve arrows, about a foot long, made of a thin hollow reed. These were each armed with a broad head of blue steel, the shape and size of the ace of spades, attached to a nail-like spike, one inch and a-half long, which, when the arrow was to be used, was thrust into a deep hole, down one extremity. The lower endof the shaft was feathered, as usual, for the purpose of steadying it in its flight. When such a weapon is discharged, and strikes the game, the endeavours which are made, by the animal to escape, occasion the head to become detached from the reed, which falls to the ground, whilst the former remains in the wound; and as it is loaded with a black mass of vegetable poison, the absorption of this into the system, soon terminates the life of the animal. I had no opportunity, nor has any other traveller, I believe, of identifying the plant, which supplies this poison, with the “Euphorbia Antiquorum,” of botanists. I do not think it inhabits the low country of the basin of the Hawash; for the Soumaulee told me, they obtained it from the South of Hurrah; and as this city stands upon the highland, where commences the water-shed of the river Whabbee, to the south, I should suppose, that the poison plants of the Soumaulee will not be determined, until some traveller has visited that locality.
The party who joined us on the road, had just before succeeded in killing an ostrich, and each possessed a small parcel of the feathers. These were preserved in portions of the gut of the bird, cleaned and dried in the sun, through which, the feathers were carefully drawn, in the direction of the plumage, so as not to disarrange it. Besides these, contained in the parcels, they had others tied in a bunch, which they freely distributed amongmy escort, all of whom in a very short time were decorated, with one stuck at the back of their coarse, black, frizzly hair, over which curled the light, white, dancing feather, with very good effect, and in excellent keeping with the rest of the picture of savage life, our road presented.
One was given to me, but as I could not conveniently carry it in my hat, I secured it for the present, in the head-stall of my mule’s bridle; and the toilet of the whole party being finished, and our introduction to the Soumaulee concluded, we parted, and proceeded on our different ways; we, in the direction that the Kafilah had taken, whilst the strangers continued on their way in the direction of Owssa.
We were moving on, Ohmed Medina, by the side of my mule, talking all the way about the wars of the several tribes of the Dankalli, between themselves, and the Galla living on the banks of the Hawash. The Hy Soumaulee, in lines of six or seven, kept pacing away after us; each extended party listening to one of their number who was giving a very energetic relation of some late personal rencontres, in which he had been engaged. So occupied, were all, with the conversations of each other, that none but myself heard a distant shout from the rear, and turning, on my mule, I made out the running figure of a man, whose spear-head, even at the distance he was, glanced brightly in the sun’s light, and enabled me todecide that the approaching object was really a native, and on my directing attention, we all stopt for him to come up. He turned out to be an old acquaintance, Garahmee, whom I had begun to think had deserted us altogether. He had been two days on the journey, to overtake the Kafilah, travelling principally in the night; and had intended to have halted this day at Hasanderah. Finding, on his arrival there, traces of our departure very recent, he determined to push on at once, and our staying to converse with the Issah Soumaulee, had enabled him to come up with us, before half the day’s march had been performed. Although I had no great love for the cunning old rascal, I thought it would be prudent to be polite to him, so I dismounted, and proposed, that as he must be very tired, he should ride; at the same time pointing to the head of the mule, directed his attention to the feather placed there, as if it had been saved only for him.
After a little delay, we were again on our march, and soon overtook the rearmost camels, but as we walked much faster, gradually left them all behind. As I came up, the conductor of every fresh string, or the owner, walking by the side of his own beast, vociferated, “Ahkeem,” “Ahkeem,” as if our long separation, two hours before, must have obliterated all remembrance of them out of my memory, and they wished to receive some comfort and an assurance tothe contrary, by my bawling out, in reply, their respective names, with an affectionate inquiry after their health. One good thing was, that among them Mahomed seemed to be a part of every master’s name, for if it were not Ohmed Mahomed it was almost sure to be Mahomed Ohmed, whilst the slaves all answered either to Allee or Zaido, so there was not much chance of being wrong. They were also a good-humoured set, for they were sure to laugh if I hit upon the right name, and a great deal more so, if I were wrong; but as remembering a man is as little attention as we possibly can pay to any one who acts courteously to us, I took care to flatter them when I could, by saluting my companions by their proper names.
We halted at a place called Bundurah, the elevated apex of a large triangular plain, the base of which to the south was formed by the Oburah range of hills, inhabited by the Alla Galla. Bundurah appeared to have been the central point of some extensive elevatory movement of the surface of the earth in this situation, as several long low ridges of lava radiated from it, especially to the north. To the west were also a great number of small volcanic cones, some of which looked like craters, but too distant for me to examine them. The plain was bare of trees, but abounded in grass and a plant of the mint species, like bergamot, which diffused a very fragrant odour.
We found here several Bedouins of the Wahamatribe, and the object of keeping me in the rear with the Hy Soumaulee escort was now obvious, for we entered, it seemed, to-day, the territories of these people whom we had every reason to expect would receive us in an hostile manner. It was, therefore, to protect the weak and straggling camels, who would be most likely to be attacked, if they were left behind without guard, that we had remained at Hasanderah so long after the Kafilah had started this morning.
Bundurah was not, strictly speaking, Wahama territory, but a kind of debateable land, which extended to our next halting-place, Kuditee. The Hy Soumaulee contend that this district belongs to them, and on this plea the people of Tajourah raised their objection to the Wahama Kafilahs coming to their port, for, possessing no country upon the line of road to Shoa, it was argued the proper point for the Wahama to communicate with foreign markets ought to be Zeilah. The Wahama, however, being the largest of all the Dankalli tribes, and the Hy Soumaulee the least, the latter are not able to contend the matter with them, and are obliged to submit to the usurpation they have no means of preventing; whilst the Tajourah people dare not refuse to the Wahama the convenience of their town for mercantile purposes, or most assuredly their road to Shoa would be closed by this powerful tribe.
Those whom we met at Bundurah had onlyarrived the day before, having been to the south of Errur with an expedition against the Alla Galla, who occupy the country between the Wahama and Hurrah. They had heard nothing about the quarrel at Herhowlee, and were very well disposed to be on good terms with us. One of our new friends displayed above his hair a white ostrich feather, and around his neck, wrist, and ankles, were small twisted strips of goat-skin, he having killed a Galla during the expedition. The boss of his shield, the handle of his knife, and the head of his spear, were also bound round with knots of the same twisted skin.
Ohmed Mahomed, anxious to secure friends among the Wahama, paid every attention to those we met in this place, and on one of the two women who accompanied them bestowed a piece of blue sood, or half a dollar, whilst I was called upon to make some present to the Galla slayer, which I did by giving him a handful of tobacco and some paper. The woman, by the bye, was an old lady-love of Ohmed Mahomed, and the sister of Lohitu. She had now become the helpmate of an influential man among the Wahama. Altogether our meeting with this party was most fortunate, as they proved grateful for the little presents they all received from us, and advocated our cause with good effect in the subsequent calahms of their tribe. This was the object which made Ohmed Mahomed so assiduously to cultivate their friendship;and to induce them to accompany us for the next two or three days, until we were out of that part of the country through which the Wahama people commanded the road, he promised each of the four men half a dollar. The youngest of the women it was proposed should live with me, but I was ungallant enough to object to this, for, although I did not mind her sitting in the hut during the day, I would insist on her not remaining there for the night. She did not seem to understand this at all, and I could not explain to her a morality of which she had no idea, so I gave Zaido a piece of sood to free me from the lady’s presence. He, however, mistook my meaning altogether, and, being a stingy kind of a character, intimated with some dumby kind of antics, that it was all right without such a sacrifice as that. I could not stand this, so hurried off to Ohmed Medina, and explained to him that as I was a Christian it was not exactly right for me to take a Mahomedan wife, especially as I was not going to become a settler in these parts. He very good-naturedly came and relieved me from my dilemma, by saying I was an invalid, and the woman taking the hint, instead of sleeping in my hut, laid down her mat, like Ruth at the feet of Boaz, and slept across the entrance.