CHAPTER XXIII.
Journey from Kuditee to Hiero Murroo, general direction west by south, time marching one hour and a-half.—False alarm at starting.—Necessity for being prepared for strife in Adal.—Abu Bukeree, Sheik of the second Debenee tribe.—Old friend of Lieutenant Barker.—Offered marriage.—Stay at Hiero Murroo.—Find here abandoned property of mission.—Negotiations for its restoration.—Joined by Wahama Kafilah.
May 6th.—When I awoke this morning I found that the camels were being loaded in great haste. I got up, and on looking around, saw the Hy Soumaulee with Ohmed Medina, sitting upon their heels, their chins, as usual, resting upon the upper edge of their shields. They were stationed upon the same height where we had been drawn up in battle array the night before. Not being wanted among the boxes, Zaido and Allee were waiting to remove, I took up my firearms and postponed any inquiry as to what new cause of alarm existed, until I had joined my escort. Ohmed Medina then told me that, after all the stipulations of last night’s treaty, an attack was expected from the Wahama, and he directed my attention, as he spoke, to the squatting circle ofthis tribe, a foul ringworm on the fair face of nature, that were still debating some momentous subject or other, exactly in the same place, and in the same manner as if they had been sitting up, talking all night. They, however, offered no interruption to the saddling and loading the camels, which was done more expeditiously than I had ever witnessed before. Every now and then Ohmed Mahomed, who was working away amongst them like one of his own slaves, would straiten his bent back and with an anxious look towards us, call out that we must not stir from where we were, until the whole of the Kafilah had moved off the ground. At last the Wahama calahm terminated, and the circle broke up; first singly, then in twos and threes, they separated and went their several ways, each person bearing in a little cleft stick his share of the spoil, being generally one half dollar’s worth of blue sood, folded up into the usual three-cornered currency of the country.
It appeared that all their talk this morning had been to arrange some differences that had arisen between themselves, about the division of the cloth we had given to them, and bore no reference to us at all. In fact I was much struck with the conscientious manner in which these savages seemed to fulfil their engagement of the last night, all but a very few, who now announced their intention of accompanying us to Shoa, moving off the ground without a single look at the Kafilah, or seeming to beaware that a camel or package was in their neighbourhood.
Among those who remained, and now approached the party I was with, was the grey-headed father of Mahomed Allee. He came to tell me that he was going with us as far as Hiero Murroo, to deliver to me the boxes left by his son when unable, on the last occasion, to convey them to Shoa. He was a mild, sagacious, hale old man, and appeared much respected, not only by his own tribe, but also by every individual in our Kafilah.
During the march, we passed along the most southern edge of an extensive district of extinct volcanoes, each of which, varying in height from twenty to fifty feet, presented a perfectly-formed crater, almost invariably broken down on the side towards the south-east. Abundance of tales were told by my companions of the Jinns who inhabited these hills, one of which was called “the House of the Devil’s Wife,” another “Jibel Mudfah,” (Cannon mountain) both names evidently alluding to the usual noisy phenomena of volcanic action, which is here frequently exerted. I cannot assert positively, but I have reason to believe that the great fire observed in this neighbourhood by Messrs. Isenberg and Krapf, said by their guides to have been spontaneously produced, was connected in some manner with subterranean igneous operation.
Although our march was scarcely for two hours, and at the slow pace of the camels, it was sufficientto take us out of the narrow valley tract of Kuditee, and to bring us again into the country of the Debenee, the chief of which division of this extensive tribe was named Abu Bukeree.
Ohmed Mahomed took an opportunity of telling me that when he accompanied the British Mission on their journey to Shoa, their Kafilah then went one day’s journey to the north, for the purpose of avoiding the Wahama at Kuditee. The Tajourah people had hoped by this means to have defeated the machinations of Mahomed Allee, the favoured of the Embassy, to assume here the Ras ul Kafilahship.
Although so short a journey, numerous were the mischances of the camels to-day, who were continually falling from the bad management of their loads, consequent upon our hurried start. I was not very sorry either when we halted, for I felt quite tired, and fell fast asleep upon the ground whilst my hut was being erected. Moosa rather suddenly awakened me to introduce an elderly lady, his wife. She brought me a present of a skin of milk and a fowl, the sight of which rather surprised me, for I had not seen one since leaving Aden, either at Tajourah or on the road. Much curiosity was evinced by my Bedouin friends to know if I had ever seen one before, and for some time they imagined, as I did not know the name of it in Arabic, that it must be a great rarity to me; but I satisfied them, at last, of its being an old acquaintance of mine by giving a regular crow.Upon inquiry, I was told that the people of Owssa keep and eat fowls, but that the Bedouins did not. At Herhowlee I had given this same woman a handful of tobacco, and a coloured handkerchief for her child, and either out of gratitude, or with the hope of receiving a corresponding reward for the trouble taken in procuring this delicacy, as it was thought to be, she had actually gone all the way to Owssa, and back to where we now were, to get it for me. The name of Moosa’s wife was Claudia, and I noticed this the more, because I had before considered the name of Lohitu’s sister Mira, and of my Wahama friend Ina, as being very classical, and reminding me of female names common at the present day in Spain and Portugal.
Expecting, from the number of Bedouins who visited us, that some more demonstrations of violence would be made, I prepared some cartridges. Rolling up a ball with a quantity of powder in some paper, I tied it in the centre and at the two extremities, turning out a very serviceable looking article. Eight of these I fastened together, and stowed away in my cartouche-bag, so that when need was, I could load my guns with greater despatch and certainty. In cases of anticipated peril, the most courageous men will be found to be those, who have prepared themselves properly, for the exigences that are likely to occur. I always felt agitated myself if I were not duly prepared for accidents, and thus learnt by degrees that realvalour consists in being always ready. A man has to be frightened a good many times before he graduates into a hero, but only let him have so ordered his resources of defence, and the anxiety natural to all men in situations of danger is kept suppressed, by the confidence which results from proper preparations having been made, to meet the worst that can happen.
The Sheik, or Chief, of this subdivision of the Debenee came to my hut in the course of the day. Allee the First pulled him along by the beard, calling out “Shabah, Shabah!” (old man) to make a way for him, through the crowd of his own people who encircled my place. I thought at first he was some blind individual who wanted me to restore him to sight, as he knelt down on his hands and knees to creep into the shade. Zaido, however, hanging his black head into the entrance of the hut, cried out that this was the celebrated Abu Bukeree, the friend of the “Kapitan,” for whom, of late, I had been making some inquiries. “Kapitan” was the name by which Lieut. Barker, of the Indian Navy, was known to the Dankalli. A few weeks before, this gentleman had travelled through Adal on his return from Shoa; his original intention had been to take the Hurrah road, and so to Zeilah, and for that purpose he had lived some months in Aliu-amba, a town in Shoa, inhabited chiefly by Hurrahgee people. A Kafilah going down, the Ras undertook to convey him andhis servants; but Lieutenant Barker, on this side of the Hawash, having reason to suspect the designs of his guide, considered it prudent to leave in the night, and put himself under the protection of some of the Dankalli tribes, with whom he had become acquainted on his first journey through their country. This confidence in their good faith was not misplaced; and after a short journey of scarcely three weeks, he arrived safely at Tajourah, with his four Indian followers. On my return to Aden, after my first visit to Tajourah, I had the good fortune to see Lieutenant Barker at the house of Captain Haines for a few minutes; and he gave me the names of two chiefs, he wished me to reward for their kindness to him during his late journey, one of whom was this Abu Bukeree, and the other one Durtee Ohmed, Chief of the Sidee Ahbreu, living at the lake Murroo, two days’ journey farther on.
Abu Bukeree was an old man, and, rather a curious circumstance for a Bedouin, had a clean tobe upon his shoulders, which, to give me a hint, he told me had been presented to him by Mahomed Allee, when he was coming down from Shoa. He asked after the Kapitan, but without the least idea, I think, of a present being due to him from that gentleman. He also invited me to his house, or wigwam, an incident that, like the fowl brought me by Moosa’s wife, was the only instance of the sort I met with whilst in this country. From the noveltyof the invitation, and the good character of the man I had received from Lieut. Barker, I felt inclined to accept it; and we got out of my retreat to look how far distant he lived, as he pointed to a patch of low green trees, among which the stone kraals and mat-huts were plainly visible. I told Zaido and Allee to come with me, but just as we were starting, Ohmed Mahomed sent for the chief to transact business, and he, therefore, left us to join a calahm of the Tajourah people.
In about an hour, the council having broken up, I sent to Ohmed Mahomed, desiring him to bring Abu Bukeree again to receive his reward for the kindness he had shown to Lieut. Barker. He came, however, alone, and wanted me to allow him to reward the old man. This I would not consent to, but told him I intended to give Abu Bukeree ten dollars in cash, for Lieut. Barker had desired me, not to give it to him in the blue sood currency. Ohmed Mahomed looked quite alarmed when I said, “Ten dollars.” “No, no, no,” he burst out, “bad, very bad; two dollars are enough, or every Tajourah Kafilah that comes up will always afterwards be made to pay the same sum.” I saw that my proposition was too extravagant, but as I thought two dollars disproportionate for the services performed, I concluded that five dollars would, perhaps, be a just recompence. Accordingly, a little before sunset, when Abu Bukeree came to bid me good-night, I slipped into his hand thatsum, and feeling the weight of the dollars, he went away without even thanking me, such was the hurry of delight with which he sought some retired spot to examine to what extent he had been rewarded so unexpectedly.
He soon returned profuse in his acknowledgments, and bade Allee, who was a great favourite of his, to tell me how much he was my friend, and that if I ever came in that country again, no one of his tribe would molest or injure me, but that they and all English for the future should be brothers. I do not know what he would have done, had I carried out the generous intentions of Lieutenant Barker, who requested me to give him twenty dollars. Such a sudden acquisition of wealth, would have turned his brain.
Abu Bukeree was not undeserving of the money, for the grateful old fellow went to his kraal, and in about an hour he and his son drove to my hut one of the finest bullocks I had yet seen, which he presented to me as a proof of the regard and respect he had, not only for me, but for all the English. Not to be outdone in generosity, and having this evening to purchase some animal of the kind, I insisted upon paying for this; but instead of three, the usual price paid to Ohmed Mahomed for a bullock, I gave the value of one in Adal, two dollars, which required very little pressing to induce the old man to take.
It now seemed as if there were a trial between us, of who should be the kindest to the other; but he certainly beat me, for in a very short time after he left me on this occasion, he returned with one of his daughters, a girl about fourteen years old, and wished me to receive her either as a temporary or a permanent wife; but as I had no idea of marriage even with royalty, I waived the honour intended, making a very good excuse, that having refused the daughter of the Sultaun of Tajourah under similar circumstances, I could not, without offending him, contract any engagements of the kind with other princesses on the road. Although this was not actually the fact as regarded myself, still, as it occurred to my companion, Mr. Cruttenden, to whom the Sultaun of Tajourah had offered his daughter for one hundred dollars, I did not hesitate to make use of the circumstance, to assist me in the dilemma I was in, of having to refuse the hand of a native, so highly connected with the rank and fashion of the country. Abu Bukeree was satisfied with my explanation, and the young lady herself was delighted, at her narrow escape from an introduction into civilized life.
There can be no doubt that the Dankalli Bedouins, especially the younger of both sexes, live in common. With this division of the Debenee, from some unexplained reason, we lived upon the most friendly terms; communication with each other was as free and as unreserved as if inTajourah, and I had opportunities of observing, that not only the other women of the kraal, but even the wife of Abu Bukeree and his daughters, were the handmaids of the whole Kafilah, during the time we remained in his district.
May 7th.—On awaking this morning, I was not surprised at seeing no symptoms of a start. Calling Zaido, I learnt from him we were to remain here several days, for the road now before us was so beset with Gallas, that we could not proceed until several Kafilahs, which had been obliged to stay here for some weeks past, should join us, and we should then be able to force our way together across the disturbed country. Whilst he was speaking, Abu Mahomed Allee, on his mule, rode up and asked me to accompany him to view the property of the mission which had been left by his son, in a kraal about four miles to the south. Zaido, on hearing this request, went immediately for Ohmed Mahomed, who soon came up and objected to my leaving the Kafilah.
Ohmed Medina and Ebin Izaak, hearing of the matter, also joined us, and protested against my going out of their sight, as in case of my death they would be made answerable to Captain Haines at Aden. Seeing the opposition, and thinking it was exerted for my benefit, I did not persevere in my wish to accompany the old man, especially as Ohmed Mahomed assured me that the seventeen packages, or boxes, should be brought into camp to-morrow.They then took away Abu Mahomed Allee, and after a long discussion among themselves, they all again returned to my hut, and sitting down round the entrance, said they had come to have a calahm, to consider what sum of money they should receive in Shoa for taking up the abandoned property with us. I could promise them nothing more than the hire of the camels, which should be paid at half the rate given for those, which were engaged in Tajourah, as I understood that there was still to be performed, about the same distance as we had already come. This did not satisfy them at all; two hundred dollars they demanded as a present for themselves, independent of the camels’ hire, and unless I promised that, they said they would not interfere in the matter at all, or exert themselves to procure the restoration of the property. This I refused at once, and as I felt it to be another attempt at extortion, I threatened in return, that I would not stir from the halting-place we were at, until the boxes were given up, and if they chose to proceed without me, I would go and live at Errur with Abu Mahomed Allee, in whose kraal I should be as secure as I was with the Kafilah.
This determination had its weight in their deliberations, and they never alluded to the present again, but insisted upon receiving in Shoa, and not in Tajourah, the ten dollars per camel required to carry this addition to my charge. I agreed to thiswithout further discussion, as it would have been absurd to hesitate under the circumstances, especially as I did not know, but that many valuable and necessary articles, might be amongst the recovered property.
All the day long Ohmed Mahomed was absent on this business, and I heard or saw nothing of him until the evening, when he came to congratulate me on the success of his labours, saying the boxes were on the road to the camp, and would arrive during the night.
The next morning by sunrise, Ibrahim, a younger brother of Mahomed Allee, according to promise, brought in the first instalment of the valuables, consisting of two small square boxes, packed in cloth, and containing shot. With him were upwards of forty men and women and a large Kafilah of salt which had been detained here nearly two months in consequence of the disturbed state of the country, for some days’ journey on both sides of the Hawash. A Galla tribe, called Hittoo, on the south of our route, and an Affah people, the Assa-hemerah Muditu, to the north of it, seemed to divide between them the attention of the rich and the fearful among my friends. The Hy Soumaulee, on the contrary, were in great glee, and often would amuse themselves when they saw me, by calling out the names of the hostile tribes, and then with an action as if striking with their daggers, or imitating the report of my firearms, intimatehow they intended to serve them, should any attempt be made upon the Kafilah.
The two boxes just brought in, I looked upon as earnest of the arrival of the rest, and congratulated Ohmed Mahomed, in my own mind, for having once in the course of our journey, not deceived me in the information he had given. I was a little too hasty, however, in this conclusion, for another day passed over us, without any more being brought into camp.
The new comers of the Wahama Kafilah, men and women, annoyed me terribly to-day, blocking up, with a dense mass of squatting human nature, all the avenues to my hut, and begging for whatever they could see. The worst was, I could not encourage any of the female relatives of Abu Bukeree to come and live with me as a keeper, they were such a bad set. Had I done so, it would have raised a great scandal, and my character as a medical practitioner would have suffered, as it was now usual to ascribe all my extraordinary cures to excessive morality, as also, by the bye, all good and fortunate shots that I happened to make.
I distributed needles, and paper, and tobacco until I wished myself anywhere, even in a stall at the Pantheon, to have got out of my present huxtering business, with such a lot ofgratiscustomers as I had; and had it not been for Ibrahim, the brother of Mahomed Allee, who went andbrought his father to my assistance, I should not have got rid of them, even to take my usual siesta in the afternoon. A few words from him soon dispersed the crowd, who, like a lot of children, without a word or look to the contrary, obeyed the old man in a way I could wish to see, the younger members of civilized society pay attention, to the expressed wishes of their seniors.
The government of the Dankalli tribes is strictly patriarchal. Power concentrates naturally to elders distinguished for valour and wisdom, in a state of society where the fools and cowards are sure to be cut off in the earlier part of life. The daily occurrence of quarrels between themselves and other tribes, tends to cultivate caution and policy in naturally clever minds, to avoid the violent and fatal results of giving way to sudden passion. A long life of trial must produce, therefore, that memory of experience, and that penetration of judgment, which is so characteristic of the chiefs we meet with, on our road through Adal. After all, the axiom that knowledge is power, is the secret of the great influence possessed by the elders, among this people as among all others. Every old man here is a sage, and must be well versed in the philosophy of human nature, taught by an education of many years’ exposure, to the fatal consequences attendant upon unrestrained anger, or unprepared valour.