First Footsteps in East Africa. Sir Richard Francis Burton
in value. In the Somali, as in other countries of Eastern Africa, travellers must carry not only the means of purchasing passage, but also the very necessaries of life. Money being unknown, such bulky articles as cotton-cloth, tobacco, and beads are necessary to provide meat and milk, and he who would eat bread must load his camels with grain. The Somal of course exaggerate the cost of travelling; every chief, however, may demand a small present, and every pauper, as will be seen in the following pages, expects to be fed.
[9] It is described at length in Chap. III.
[10] The author hoped to insert Lieut. Berne's journal, kept at Berberah, and the different places of note in its vicinity; as yet, however, the paper has not been received.
[11] Harar has frequently been described by hearsay; the following are the principal authorities:—
Rochet (Second Voyage Dans le Pays des Adels, &c. Paris, 1846.), page 263.
Sir. W. Cornwallis Harris (Highlands of AEthiopia, vol. i. ch. 43. et passim).
Cruttenden (Transactions of the Bombay Geological Society A.D. 1848).
Barker (Report of the probable Position of Harar. Vol. xii. Royal
Geographical Society).
M'Queen (Geographical Memoirs of Abyssinia, prefixed to Journals of Rev.
Messrs. Isenberg and Krapf).
Christopher (Journal whilst commanding the H. C.'s brig "Tigris," on the
East Coast of Africa).
Of these by far the most correct account is that of Lieut. Cruttenden.
[12] In A.D. 1825, the Government of Bombay received intelligence that a brig from the Mauritius had been seized, plundered, and broken up near Berberah, and that part of her crew had been barbarously murdered by the Somali. The "Elphinstone" sloop of war (Capt. Greer commanding) was sent to blockade the coast; when her guns opened fire, the people fled with their wives and children, and the spot where a horseman was killed by a cannon ball is still shown on the plain near the town. Through the intervention of El Hajj Sharmarkay, the survivors were recovered; the Somal bound themselves to abstain from future attacks upon English vessels, and also to refund by annual instalments the full amount of plundered property. For the purpose of enforcing the latter stipulation it was resolved that a vessel of war should remain upon the coast until the whole was liquidated. When attempts at evasion occurred, the traffic was stopped by sending all craft outside the guard-ship, and forbidding intercourse with the shore. The "Coote" (Capt. Pepper commanding), the "Palinurus" and the "Tigris," in turn with the "Elphinstone," maintained the blockade through the trading seasons till 1833. About 6000_l._ were recovered, and the people were strongly impressed with the fact that we had both the will and the means to keep their plundering propensities within bounds.
[13] The writer advised that these men should be hung upon the spot where the outrage was committed, that the bodies should be burned and the ashes cast into the sea, lest by any means the murderers might become martyrs. This precaution should invariably be adopted when Moslems assassinate Infidels.
[14] The reason of the objection is not apparent. A savage people is imperfectly punished by a few deaths: the fine is the only true way to produce a lasting impression upon their heads and hearts. Moreover, it is the custom of India and the East generally, and is in reality the only safeguard of a traveller's property.
[Illustration: Map to illustrate LIEUT. BURTON'S Route to HARAR from a Sketch by the late Lieut. W. Stroyan, Indian Navy.]
[Illustration: BERBERAH]
PREFACE
CHAPTER I. Departure from Aden
CHAP. II.
Life in Zayla
CHAP. III.
Excursions near Zayla
CHAP. IV.
The Somal, their Origin and Peculiarities
CHAP. V.
From Zayla to the Hills
CHAP. VI.
From the Zayla Hills to the Marar Prairie
CHAP. VII.
From the Marar Prairie to Harar
CHAP. VIII.
Ten Days at Harar
CHAP. IX.
A Ride to Berberah
CHAP. X.
Berberah and its Environs
POSTSCRIPT
APPENDICES
LIST OF PLATES.
Harar, from the Coffe Stream
Map of Berberah
Route to Harar
The Hammal
Costume of Harar
H. H. Ahmed Bin Abibakr, Amir of Harar
[Illustration]
CHAPTER I.
DEPARTURE FROM ADEN.
I doubt not there are many who ignore the fact that in Eastern Africa, scarcely three hundred miles distant from Aden, there is a counterpart of ill-famed Timbuctoo in the Far West. The more adventurous Abyssinian travellers, Salt and Stuart, Krapf and Isenberg, Barker and Rochet—not to mention divers Roman Catholic Missioners—attempted Harar, but attempted it in vain. The bigoted ruler and barbarous people threatened death to the Infidel who ventured within their walls; some negro Merlin having, it is said, read Decline and Fall in the first footsteps of the Frank. [1] Of all foreigners the English were, of course, the most hated and dreaded; at Harar slavery still holds its head-quarters, and the old Dragon well knows what to expect from the hand of St. George. Thus the various travellers who appeared in beaver and black coats became persuaded that the city was inaccessible, and Europeans ceased to trouble themselves about Harar.
It is, therefore, a point of honor with me, dear L., to utilise my title of Haji by entering the city, visiting the ruler, and returning in safety, after breaking the guardian spell.
The most auspicious day in the Moslem year for beginning a journey is, doubtless, the 6th of the month Safar [2], on which, quoth the Prophet, El Islam emerged from obscurity. Yet even at Aden we could not avail ourselves of this lucky time: our delays and difficulties were a fit prelude for a journey amongst those "Blameless Ethiopians," with whom no less a personage than august Jove can dine and depart. [3]
On Sunday, the 29th October, 1854, our manifold impediments were pronounced complete. Friend S. threw the slipper of blessing at my back, and about 4 P.m. embarking from Maala Bunder, we shook out our "muslin," and sailed down the fiery harbour. Passing the guard-boat, we delivered our permit; before venturing into the open sea we repeated the Fatihah- prayer in honor of the Shaykh Majid, inventor of the mariners' compass [4], and evening saw us dancing on the bright clear tide, whose "magic waves," however, murmured after another fashion the siren song which charmed the senses of the old Arabian voyagers. [5]
Suddenly every trace of civilisation fell from my companions as if it had been a garment. At Aden, shaven and beturbaned, Arab fashion, now they threw off all dress save the loin cloth, and appeared in their dark morocco. Mohammed filled his mouth with a mixture of coarse Surat tobacco and ashes—the latter article intended, like the Anglo-Indian soldier's chili in his arrack, to "make it bite." Guled uncovered his head, a member which in Africa is certainly made to go bare, and buttered