CHAPTER XXX.
Journey from Annee to How, general direction W.S.W., time marching six hours.—Aleekduggee Sageer.—Immense Kafilah.—Water-cure for determination of blood to the head.—Attack of the Galla.—Display of forces.—Ras ul Kafilah balances profit and loss so far.
May 19th.—Being the first Kafilah but one in the line of march, we were saddled and away two hours before sunrise. We ascended the gently rising slope before us, arriving at the summit as the sun came upon the horizon. A sudden but gradual descent of a few feet led us into the extensive but shallow valley plain of Aleekduggee Sageer; which, in the account given of this country by the officers of the British mission in 1840, contained in the twelfth volume of the Royal Geographical Society’s Journal, is supposed to have been the former bed of a large river; but which most certainly, is nothing more than a broadly denuded valley, some four or five miles in extent, running for a few miles nearly parallel with the river Hawash, into which the little stream that has formed the valley enters, between the hills of Baardu and Hyhilloo; the latter being situatedto the east of its junction with that river. Sometimes this valley is one extensive marsh, impassable to Kafilahs, and the delay it occasions on either bank frequently favours the attacks of the Hittoo Galla, and on this account is a locality very much dreaded by the traders and slave-merchants.
The sloping ascent and ridge we passed over during the earlier part of the march, was called Gudmuddee. We crossed the valley in two more hours, and as I had walked the whole way, I lay down to rest myself in the thin cool shade of a dwarf mimosa-tree, and immediately went to sleep. The sun had ascended high in its course to the meridian before I awoke, and I found Ebin Izaak and four or five of the Hy Soumaulee lying upon their stomachs upon the ground, watching the still coming line of camels, which in one long single file extended to the very top of Gudmuddee. Others were still coming into sight at that distant point, as those at our extremity of the line, kept yielding up their loads of salt, bags, and boxes, which were fast accumulating in detached heaps along the narrow ridge of How, that formed the western bank of Aleekduggee Sageer, and where we were to halt for the night.
There were now gathered together, at least, three thousand camels, and upwards of seven hundred men. The women also, especially those that accompanied the Wahama Kafilahs, were very numerous. The Tajourah people said they had never seen so largea collection of camels before; and many a wish was expressed by my Hy Soumaulee escort, that the Gallas might come down with the intention of attacking us, and then they said, the Ahkeem should see they were “Cottam,” like the English.
My sleepiness I found was not altogether the effect of fatigue, for I had not long retreated to my hut before a giddiness and a sense of sliding out of all consciousness, roused me with a kind of alarm, to the thought that some sun stroke or apoplectic fit might be approaching. I called out right lustily for Zaido, Allee, and water, as if there were a fire in my hut, and on their arrival, bearing the distended black hair skin bags upon their shoulders, they looked all in a hurry, as if to ask where it was; I, however, turned back the collar of my frock, and holding on by a spear, held my head down for them to give me the full benefit of a shower bath. To do which effectually they mounted on the top of the boxes, and with two Bedouin assistant surgeons to help them, let fall a gradually descending stream upon my head, which quite relieved me from all the unpleasant sensations that had occasioned my resorting to the remedy.
During the day a heavy thunder storm broke along the height, and a considerable fall of rain soon filled the cooking pots, which were hastily put out on all sides to catch the fresh cool water. The squall did not last long, but it completelydeluged the camp, and it was well we had crossed Aleekduggee Sageer before it came on, or the march would have been much more laborious and painful to the heavily loaded camels, if even it could have been performed at all.
Another name for How, I understood, was Billin, although I think this latter name is given to the whole ridge, whilst the former properly belongs only to our particular halting-place. Just before sunset, whilst nearly all the men of our Kafilah, stript to their waist-cloths, were engaged in the bustle and the dust of their boisterous game of ball; and I was amusing myself with Zaido and the two Allees, trying our respective strength in balancing and heaving away heavy slabs of pewter; a sudden cry among the women, followed by a general rush of the players to shields and spears, and a plunge by Zaido into my hut to be out of the way, put an end to our sports. Some cause of alarm had arisen, but what it was I could neither see nor learn, but I never shall forget the tumultuous crowd, whooping, leaping, and yelling, that almost in a moment I was in the centre of; whilst the shrill screaming of the women, gathering upon and around some large ant-hills in our rear, pierced through all the roar. I was unarmed, my pistols and knife being in my hut, so almost as quickly as Zaido I turned to get at them, and seeing him on his hands and knees creeping up to the farther end, I caught hold of his waist-cloth to give him a lug out, and divestedhim in a moment of all the clothes he had on. His quick, almost convulsive, twitch round, as he cast an imploring look, until he saw who it was, made me smile, and throwing his cloth over him again, I told him to come out directly. He faltered out, “Tabanja, tabanja,” wishing me to suppose he had gone into the hut only to get my pistols for me.
Allee the First was waiting to go with us to where the Kafilah men had already formed a line, which was now extending fast to the right and to the left by the additional men who kept running up from the other Kafilahs on our rear and flanks, to take part in the expected fight. Thinking I was a long time, Allee stooped to look into the hut, and laughed outright at the trembling confusion of Zaido, who, however, was quickened in his actions considerably by this, and reaching to me my pistols, I soon buttoned on my belt, and was ready. We then started, running as fast as we could towards the squatting warriors, Himyah with his matchlock joining in the race. Immediately after taking a position between Ohmed Medina and Moosa, where I had been beckoned to come by the former, I missed one of my pistols from my waist, it having fallen out during the exertion of running. Pointing out my loss, I jumped again to my feet, and looking in the direction I had just come, saw Zaido standing as if on guard over something, and calling for me. Allee suspecting it was the missingpistol, immediately ran to the spot. When he returned with the weapon, and had given it to me, he tapped his breast with a deal of pride, and appealed to me if he were not a brave soldier, and Zaido an old woman.
I now looked out for the enemy, but only saw four rapidly diminishing figures upon horseback, crossing diagonally the valley of Aleekduggee Sageer. I watched them until they had ascended the height of Gudmuddee, among the trees of which they soon disappeared. From what I could learn, these men, whose numbers, although I saw only four, were variously stated to be from twenty to thirty, calculating upon the speed of their horses, had crossed over the valley a few miles to the south, and had then cautiously travelled along the ridge of Billin, until close upon a Kafilah of Wahamas who formed, in military language, our extreme right, and distant about half a mile from us. They were then discovered, the alarm spread, all other occupations were suspended, and the men of the numerous Kafilahs came trooping up in great haste to the scene of the supposed attack. Finding themselves perceived, and hearing a far-spreading war-cry, the horsemen immediately descended from the narrow ridge; most of them retreating down the western slope into the valley of the Hawash, the others to the east, crossed, as I have before said, the dry bed of the Aleekduggee Sageer in our front, and made a rapid return towards the pointon the opposite bank, from whence it was conjectured they had at first proceeded. At all events, this party gave us a good view of their figures and appearance. All my companions agreed they belonged to the Hittoo Galla, and were not of the Muditu in whose country we had halted the night before, as I at first conjectured from their retreat being made in that direction. This was not likely either, when I came to reflect, for knowing our strength, the Muditu would not have sent such a useless party to attack, and they needed no scouts to inform them of our numbers, after we had just passed through their country. It was evident, as was generally supposed by our Kafilah, that these horsemen were out reconnoitring, and formed the van of a much greater number of footmen concealed from our view by the rising slope of Gudmuddee, upon which they had collected. Very probably the Galla women who visited us at Annee, and whose sudden departure surprised us, had returned to their people and given information of a large Kafilah being on the road, but not having been aware of the still larger ones farther in our rear, had carried home a most imperfect account of our strength. To this was attributed the defeat of their views to-day, for the Galla were no doubt quite unprepared to attack an army such as we were able to bring into the field against them.
We sat out all expectations of any more enemies approaching, being disturbed only once in thecourse of the hour so occupied, by forming a junction of two separate bodies. The men of the more distant Kafilahs having squatted down on a commanding eminence, nearly one hundred yards upon our left, Ohmed Medina, who acted as commander, directed us to join them. In this movement I was taken quite by surprise, a low murmur along the line being suddenly followed by everybody springing to his feet, I, of course, not being long in following their example. For the next few moments I was nearly carried off my legs by the sideway movement of the whole body. Shoulders were kept closely pressed together, and in this manner I was wedged in between two or three of them, and was carried along until, like a flock of crows, we all settled down again upon the right of the party towards which we had moved. Whilst this was being performed, a loud whirring noise was made by each individual, as if the tongue were rolled rapidly in the mouth during a long expiration. What its object was, or what it meant, I could never learn. It was, perhaps, merely a common custom for purposes of excitement, serving, like the long roll of a drum, to keep up a noise when silence is not calculated to raise and elevate the spirits.
A long conversation followed the breaking up of this martial display. Groups of individuals collected to discuss the probability of future attacks; and it was long after the usual hour of rest erequiet and deep sleep came wholly over this so lately life-stirring scene. I had laid myself down in my hut, and was just concluding in my mind that it would be the wisest thing I could do to follow the example of my wild companions, and go to sleep, when a low buzzing noise attracted my attention, and I got up very quietly to see from whence it proceeded. Although endeavouring to conceal themselves in the dark shadow of a large pile of salt, I could make out by the light of the moon, Ohmed Mahomed, Ebin Izaak, and Zaido, taking stock as it were, measuring very carefully by cubits, the remnants and remaining pieces of blue calico. Occasionally, a cautiously made long tear told of a division between them, of what had not been given away as presents on the road; in fact, they were sharing the perquisites of the office of Rasul Kafilah, as agreed upon in Tajourah.
They seemed to be also enjoying a quiet cup of coffee; for the long-necked globular pipkin, in which it was usual to boil that berry, stood in the broad moonlight, and was frequently applied to. I sat down in the shade of my own hut, and amused myself watching them until every piece of cloth had been duly measured and divided, the last drop of coffee strained through the bit of dried grass stuffed in the mouth of the bottle-shaped coffee-pot, and their conversation upon profit and loss had been adjourned until another night. Then cautiously retiring to their rest, they stretched themselves upon their mats laid upon thesandy mattress of the earth, and wrapping themselves up in their white tobes, were soon numbered among the corse-like sleepers that in every direction were reposing around. Over these, as if on watchful guard, the glistening iron heads of their spears shone in the moon’s bright light, and seemed to be ready, self-acting, to protect their dreaming owners. Round polished shields were also ranged carefully against long heaps of salt-bags, or suspended from the coarse fringe of saddle-staves that surmounted the stores. The yellow bodied couchant camels filled the centre of the camp, generally employed in triturating the sweetened cud of the day’s repast, in the process producing the slightest noise and gentlest action, necessary to give a greater contrasted stillness to the otherwise quiet scene before me.