On first entering the place he advanced to receive me, and politely said, "Had you not dropped so suddenly in upon me this morning, it was my intention to have welcomed you with a royal salute, for the honour you have done, as the representative of the English, in paying me this visit." This speech, though showing what his feelings were towards me, was obviously a matter of simple palaver; for, in the first place, the guns could not have possibly been fired without occasioning their total destruction; and it was doubtful if he possessed any powder. Whilst sitting in his village, and drinking a bowl of sour curd—the first thing always offered to a visitor—I observed a group of old men sitting, in hot discussion on some knotty point, under the lee of the fort, and desired the Balyuz to ascertain the purport of the arguments under debate, as by their gesticulations I could plainly see it had some connection with my coming here.
After joining them and listening some time, he returned to say they were discussing the possibility of our expedition ever reaching the Webbé (River) Shebéli; to go as far as Ugahden, they thought, was out of the question. Hearing this, I went up to them, and asked what reasons they had for thinking so. They replied openly that the Somali would stop us before we got half-way. The Balyuz then interposed, saying, "But the British are strong, and can do anything, they like." Hearing this, they laughingly replied, "If the Somali came down to fight, and then ran away back into the fastnesses of their hills, what would the English do then, who cannot live a day without drinking beer and eating meat? whereas the Somali can do very well without anything, seldom requiring even water, and not more than one morsel of meat, for a whole week together." I concluded the argument by saying, "Without any exertion on our parts, we could cripple you at once; we have the seaboard in our hands, and at any moment could stop your trade, so that neither grain nor clothing would ever be supplied you; besides, if we wished, we could take quiet occupation of your hills and watering-places, and then what would become of you?" The sages mildly shook their heads, and said the English were indeed Shaitans (devils), and that they had never looked at their position in that light before. I then repaired to the camp, and found the cattle, as usual, gone out to graze, under charge of their drivers and two soldiers. In the evening, when the animals were brought home to be picketed, one pony and one camel were found wanting.
I sent men immediately to track the missing ones down, when it was discovered by footprints that some savages had singled them out from the herd, had driven them gently into a deep ravine, and when there out of sight had hurried them off to the hills lying beyond the plain. This open plunder on the coast, where British authority seemed to prevail, was monstrous. I summoned Abdie, as chief of the place, told him the whole story, and demanded that he should produce the missing animals immediately, as it was impossible for him not to be cognisant of the transaction. He said he did not then know who had stolen them, but I might rest satisfied he would find out by the morning, and they should be returned intact. He assured me he was lord of all he surveyed, and his power was infinite within the limits of his clan. The same night he brought back the pony, and said he would produce the camel in the morning. I believed he had played this trick himself to show the effect of his power, and so did the Balyuz; but he said he had been obliged to pay ten dollars to the thief before he would give it up. I now demanded he would produce the thief for trial, suspecting that thief to be himself, but he said he could not. This reply made the Balyuz knowingly cock his eye. The next day, as the camel did not come by noon, I wrote a letter to Aden reporting the circumstance, and begging some retribution would be taken from the Akil, as it was obvious to any man who knows these savages, that Abdie could not have been ignorant of one single feature in the whole of these transactions. Though the loss was small, I did not think it of little importance, as it remained a precedent, if overlooked, for the committal of greater deeds; and the place, being a port, was open to the exaction by blockade of any fines—which, without doubt, is the true way to make Somali feel.
During that day and the succeeding one we travelled along the coast to Siyareh, a small dilapidated fort,[27] standing alone without any other habitation, as if only intended for a traveller's lodge. Near it was an old well, said to be of antique construction, sunk by the former occupants of the land. As we increased our distance westwards, the maritime plain also enlarged, and was bounded to the southwards by small irregularly-disposed hills, all brown and dreary-looking as before. To judge from the quantity of vegetation, it would appear that water is nearer the surface here than elsewhere, though there was none of any importance to be seen. These few marches, slight as they were, served to prove the stamina of the soldiers, and showed the Seedis to have twice the heart and bottom of the Egyptians, who succumbed at once to the influences of the sun and fatigue of marching.
3d April.—The caravan broke ground at 2 A.M., and, after travelling over much the same ground as yesterday, nearly the whole day long without passing a single habitation, arrived in the evening at Berbera. Here I was warmly met by my companions, Herne and Stroyan, and began again a social life of great enjoyment. Berbera was in the plenitude of its prosperity. Its market was full of life and bustle, and the harbour was full of native Oriental craft. Our camp was pitched on a little rise in the land, facing the east and overlooking the fair. Our tents, three in number, were formed in line—Stroyan's on the right, Herne's in the centre, and mine on the left flank nearest the sea, and each about a dozen yards apart. Herne had procured his fair share of animals, and we mustered from forty to fifty camels and six or seven ponies and mules, including those I brought. These at night-time were all tethered in front of our tents, and guarded by a sentry. During the day they were always sent out to graze under an escort of soldiers, with Somali archers to look after them. The boxes, pack-saddles, and grain were placed between the central tent and mine, whilst the dates and more precious cloths I kept underneath my tent. Including ourselves, servants, guards, and camel-tenders, we mustered in all about forty souls; amongst these were the two Abbans of Herne and Stroyan, who, now matters had gone so far, could not prudently be dispensed with; but my man, the Balyuz, was considered chief, or Ras Cafila.
During the four days succeeding my arrival I inspected the fair and shipping. The marketplace was supposed to contain upwards of 60,000 people,[28] Banyans from Cutch and Aden, Arab merchants and Somali, who had been gradually flocking in from about the 15th November; and as they arrived they erected mat huts as booths for carrying on their bartering trade. According to Herne's investigations, the Somali took coarse cloths, such as American and English sheeting, black and indigo-dyed stuffs, and cotton nets (worn by married women generally to encase their hair), small bars of iron and steel, as well as zinc and lead, beads of various sorts, and dates and rice. In exchange for these, they exported slaves, cattle, gums of all sorts, ghee, ivory, ostrich-feathers, and rhinoceros-horns.
7th.—At sunrise this morning a very interesting scene took place in the arrival of the great annual Harar caravan,—a large body, composed of an aggregate of numerous small caravans, which all march together that their combined strength may give mutual support. Down the whole breadth of the plain, like a busy stream of ants, they came in single file, one camel's nose tied to his leader's tail. Immediately on their flanks were Somali, armed with spear and bow, the men who tended them and looked after the loading. Outside them again were occasional detachments of men riding ponies, all armed, and guarding the caravan from sudden surprise or attack. In this caravan alone there were about three thousand people, as many head of cattle, and 500 or more slaves, all driven chained together for sale in the market. A little later the same morning a second excitement enlivened our little camp in the approach of a man-of-war, which came sailing up the coast in full sail, looking like a giant swan in contrast to the little ducks of native shipping. It was the Hon. East India Company's schooner Mahi, commanded by Lieutenant King, conveying our Captain, Lieutenant Burton, and the complement of the expedition. Arrived in the harbour, we saluted them with our small-arms, and went on board to pay respects and exchange congratulations. King then gave us a hospitable entertainment, and we all repaired on shore.
The same evening a thundering salute from the Mahi was fired, to assure the Somali we were travelling under the auspices of the British Government, and King departed with his vessel.
Lieutenant Burton now took occupation of the centre tent with Herne, and the party was complete.
We were then severally appointed to our respective duties, Lieutenant Burton commanding; Stroyan chief surveyor; Herne, photographer, geologist, and assistant-surveyor; whilst I was to be a Jack-of-all-trades, assisting everybody, looking after the interests of the men, portioning out their rations, setting the guards, and collecting specimens of natural history in all its branches. The central tent was fixed as a place of rendezvous for all to flock to in case of any sudden alarm. Here I appended my guns and sword, whilst my revolver-pistol and dirk were placed within my belt by day, or under my pillow by night. I made the whole guard sleep with their arms in rear of the camp, where it was most likely any attack might be expected. As so many men were necessarily brought on duty by watching the cattle grazing in the day-time, I only posted two sentries by night to watch the camp—one with the guard in the rear, the other over the cattle in front; whilst we Englishmen and the Balyuz occasionally patrolled the camp to see that the sentries were on the alert.