We found here several Bedouins of the Wahama tribe, 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 only arrived 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.
CHAPTER XXII.
Journey from Bundurah to Kuditee, general direction south-west, time marching, four hours.—Territory of the Wahama.—Description of halting-ground.—Meet with party of friends returning from Shoa.—Strange request.—Custom of incising skin with sharp stone.—Influx of Wahama people into camp.—May 5th. Staying at Kuditee.—La Belle Sauvage.—Long discussion with the Wahama.—Differences settled, and allowed to proceed.
May 4th.—We moved off our halting-ground long before daylight, the Wahama men and women accompanying us. Our march was over a very level country of a sandy-kind of loam, on which the tallest grass, I ever saw in my life, grew, not in tufts, but in one continued field. It was quite as high as our shoulders, and our pathway through it looked like a deeply-cut canal. No trees were seen until the latter part of the march, where low mimosa-trees, with their spreading umbrella tops, running into each other, made a miniature grove, beneath which children might have walked in a delightful shade, but which restricted us to one narrow path, where the thorny boughs, just the height of our faces, annoyed us not a little. Numerous herds of the large Wydiddoo antelope grazed around, gazing on our approach, as if undecided how to act. As we came nearer, they trotted away for a short distance, turned about, formed front, in an irregular line, and then made up their minds either to continue their flight, or recommence their meal.
I noticed that the buck was solitary, living apart from the herd; but wherever we did see one of these gentlemen, we were pretty sure of finding his harem on the other side of the ridge, or at some short distance beyond, on the plain. All were far too shy for me to think of following them with my short carabine, so that my sporting on the road now was confined to shooting the tall-stalking bustards, or the tantalizing florican that, dropping a few yards after I had started them, would run in quite a different direction to what was expected; then, if flushed again, would fly up a short distance to drop again and take another dodging run, and when I was quite sure they were before me in the grass, would be started a long distance on one side, or even sometimes behind me, by others of my companions. Something more than ubiquity is required, following up these birds, with Dankalli beaters to assist the sportsman, for when half a dozen are calling several ways to come to their particular spots, it is a difficult thing for him to please all, or to prove that the bird would not have been there, had he gone to every other place but the one he did.
After a march of four hours, we arrived at a fair open spot, where water, in many little pools, lodged amidst groves of sweetly-scented henna trees, and the yellow-blossomed mimosa. Here it was determined the Kafilah should halt for the day. The moment we came up, five men sprung from a recumbent position to their feet, seizing spears and shields, whilst a little boy ran hastily to drive in three lean, ragged-looking horses that were standing beneath the shade of one of the larger trees, as if the fatigue of a night march, or the growing heat of the day had driven the animals for repose and shelter to the same retreat with their owners.