At Herhowlee, we were unfortunate enough to meet with a runaway slave, belonging to Ohmed Mahomed. He was a great rascal, and his master would rather, that he had not made his appearance. His name was Allee, and having lived for the last six months with the Bedouins, had acquired somewhat of their wildness. I suspected him, from the great intimacy that seemed to exist between him and Garahmee, and he was just that kind of character, that might be made the instrument of an unscrupulous man.
CHAPTER XVII.
Staying at Herhowlee.—Dankalli sell their female children for slaves.—Pillar of sand and cloud of fire indications of rain.—Engage escort of thirty Hy Soumaulee. Comparison between modern Dankalli and ancient Blemmyes.—April 26th, Journey from Herhowlee to Barradudda, general direction S.S.W.; time marching two hours.—Description of halting-place.—Religious discussion with Ohmed Medina.
April 24th.—A beautiful morning, air fresh and cool, and I was disappointed at there being no start. We were staying, I believe, to give the camels a rest. All this day I kept in my hut amusing myself by projecting a map from the information I had received of the surrounding country, including Owssa and the lakes of the Hawash. On showing it to Ohmed Medina for his confirmation of the particulars, he was much pleased with the attempt, and begged me to make a copy for him. This map quite restored me to his good opinion, as to the extent of my knowledge, which had been somewhat shaken by my ignorance of the vegetable, he had gathered for me the day before, and which turned out to be most excellent. I should observe, that I have since learnt that it is the common Barjee of Indian bazaars, and Ohmed Medina was quite right therefore in the statement he made of its being a favourite food of the Banyans, and it indicated no little observation on his part, to have noticed that circumstance.
Garahmee to-day left us to pay a short visit to his family, who lived in a kraal some miles to the north, in the direction of Owssa. As he expected a present upon the occasion, I gave him a couple of coloured handkerchiefs for his two wives. It is very seldom that a Dankalli Bedouin has more than one help-mate; but Garahmee, making great pretensions to a godly life, like a pious Mahomedan, had added another wife to his establishment. The precepts of his religion being so far practised, his virtue was rewarded, by the profit arising from the sale of his more numerous offspring; having just been to Tajourah, to conclude a bargain for his youngest and only remaining daughter. He had on previous occasions disposed of two elder ones, and before he left Herhowlee, he came to me again and offered for three dollars, to bring me the daughter of some friend who, he said, had one to dispose of, but I have no doubt, he intended to steal the girl, had I consented to the business.
To-day I witnessed a very interesting proof of the great similarity between the climate and physical character of this country, and that through which Moses led the Israelites in their flight from Egypt. About noon, a sudden stir among the Kafilah people, induced me to leave my hut to see what could be the matter; every one was running about for mats and skins, with which they covered in a great hurry the heaps of salt-bags, that surrounded the encampment. Those who had charge of the stores of the Embassy, were equally busy in protecting the boxes and packages, from a storm which was fast approaching, for on looking towards the east I saw, with astonishment, the sky in that direction quite dark, with one vast cloud of wind, and the red sand borne up before it. Its rotary motion was very evident, although the whirlwind, as it really was, was too large and too near to be seen distinctly as a separate body, which it might have been at some little distance. It advanced towards the camp at the rate of about ten or twelve miles an hour, but as numbers were now shouting to me to get under cover, and I did not know exactly what effects to anticipate, I made a dive into my hut, and wrapping my head and face up in my handkerchief to prevent inhaling more of the fine sand than could be avoided, I awaited the result. In a few moments afterwards, the strength of the wind passed over us, whirling the roof of my hut, along with the mats covering the salt, high up in the air, and scattering them far and wide over the plain. The heavy stones that had been placed upon them to prevent such an occurrence being rolled off, sometimes upon the prostrate Kafilah men, who lay under the sides of the salt heaps, which they had hoped would have served as a kind of shielding from the blinding and choking sand. A few drops of rain, and some distant claps of thunder, accompanied this phenomenon. In a few minutes, the sky clearing, the short silence of the camp gave way to a burst of shouting and laughing, as the people chased the retiring column, in pursuit of their flying mats and ropes. I got out of my retreat, and saw moving towards the west, an immense pillar of sand, reaching from earth to heaven, in form and size exactly like the huge water-spouts I have seen out at sea, off the island of Ceylon.
On asking Ohmed Medina respecting these sand spouts, and whether they were common in Adal, he told me, that sometimes twenty or thirty of them, might be seen at once upon extensive plains which admitted of their formation, and added, that they were always accompanied by rain, and with the sheet lightning in the horizon by night, and that these signs, directed the Bedouins to situations, where they would not fail to find water for their flocks. This was a most interesting fact for me to learn, evidently proving, as it does, that the goodness of heaven was not especially devoted to the comfort and happiness of the Israelites alone, as with some little national vanity, and more ignorance of natural phenomena, these people have ascribed the presence of the pillar of a cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, to be, imagining them to have been solely created for the purpose of directing them in their wanderings through the wilderness. We find, however, that in Adal the same benevolence has there provided for the Dankalli Bedouin, similar indications for his convenience, in a country where water is only occasionally found. Moses, very properly led the Israelites to believe these signs to be, as they really are, miracles of mercy exerted in the behalf of man, and which still prove, as in the time of that great leader, that the hand of God is always stretched over his creatures, to preserve them in situations, where otherwise, they would be exposed to great privations.
All the evening, Ohmed Medina and Ohmed Mahomed were engaged in a great council; the men of Herhowlee and of the Kafilah, forming one great circle, between the village and our encampment. Immediately on our arrival the best understanding had been established between us, and after the first surprise occasioned by my appearance had worn away, I was received by the inhabitants of the village, on the same familiar terms as other people of the Kafilah, and sometimes visited them in their houses. Here medicine was in great demand, and frequently asked for in exchange, for the milk and butter which were offered.
The cause of the calahm this evening I found, was the circumstance becoming known to our Ras ul Kafilah, that a serious quarrel existed between the Hy Soumaulee and the Wahama, the next tribe on our route to Shoa. As the treatment of Mahomed Allee, who was a Wahama, when last in Tajourah, had been exceedingly unfriendly, his tribe had determined to resent it, and threatened a very hostile reception, to future Tajourah Kafilahs passing through their country. All this we had been made aware of, when we met the Kafilah of Mahomed Allee at Sagagahdah, and Ohmed Mahomed felt a corresponding anxiety, until he was somewhat relieved, by finding that his friends, the Hy Soumaulee, had also a quarrel with the same tribe. A large council was accordingly called together this evening, to determine upon a combined mode of proceeding, to ensure a safe passage through the country of our common enemy.