"Why, don't you wish him to go?"
"Ha, Sahib, I wish him to go more than anything else in the world, but his mother is very ill. She is deeply attached to the boy, and it would upset her to part with him just now. When she is a little better I shall tell her, and the boy can go."
And, do you know, I believe Buralli is deeply attached to his sick wife. He is the first Somal I have ever met who could show such tender consideration for a woman.
III
Mahomed Auwit, Arab, is the court petition writer. The son of an influential Arab resident of Aden, who died many years ago leaving Mahomed a handsome legacy. He belongs to the upper ten of Zeila society. Rumour has it that the residuum of Mahomed's legacy is buried in the floor of his house. He is a scholar, and reads and writes not only Arabic but also English passing well.
It is customary for people with a plaint to engage the services of Mahomed to write it all down in English, in what is called a petition. The defendant and plaintiff in the same case may each write a petition, which is handed up, with the other documents, when the case comes on for trial. A very excellent plan, giving the magistrate some idea of what the dispute is all about. Mahomed is a past master at writing petitions, and some of his epistles might well have been taken straight out of the Old Testament.
He is a most estimable, unassuming character, wears glasses, has a pronounced stoop, and in appearance is not at all unlike a tall thin old woman with a large nose, dressed only in a turban, her nightdress, and a pair of sandals.
Mahomed the interpreter, Buralli, and Mahomed Auwit are the three most important personages in Zeila district court.