28th January.—At about 9 A.M. the caravan crossed one of the lower ridges of the mountains by a tolerable road. Lieutenant Speke had preceded his camels, and was sitting down to rest, when he was startled by hearing the rapid discharge of a revolver. His valiant Abban, either in real or in pretended terror of the Habr Gerhajis had fired the pistol as a warning. It had the effect of collecting a number of Bedouins to stare at the travellers, and cogitate on what they could obtain: they offered, however, no opposition.
At midday the caravan reached a broad and deep Fiumara, which contained a spring of good sweet water flowing towards the sea. Here they halted for refreshment. Again advancing, they traversed another ridge, and, after a march of twelve miles, arrived in the evening at another little watercourse on the Maritime Plain. That day was clear and warm, the rain being confined to the upper ranges. The name of the halting-place was Farjeh.
29th January.—The caravan marched over the plain into Kurayat, or Little Las Kuray, where Lieutenant Speke, after a detention of upwards of a fortnight, took boat, and after five days' sail arrived at Aden, where I was expecting him. He was charged forty dollars—five times the proper sum—for a place in a loaded Buggalow: from Aden to Bombay thirty-five dollars is the hire of the whole cabin. This was the last act of the Abban, who is now by the just orders of the acting Political Resident, Aden, expiating his divers offences in the Station Jail.
CONCLUSION.
Lieutenant Speke has passed through three large tribes, the Warsingali, the Dulbahanta, and the Habr Gerhajis.
The Warsingali have a Sultan or Chief, whose orders are obeyed after a fashion by all the clans save one, the Bihidur. He cannot demand the attendance of a subject even to protect the country, and has no power to raise recruits; consequently increase of territory is never contemplated in this part of the Somali country. In case of murder, theft, or dispute between different tribes, the aggrieved consult the Sultan, who, assembling the elders, deputes them to feel the inclinations of the "public." The people prefer revenging themselves by violence, as every man thereby hopes to gain something. The war ends when the enemy has more spears than cattle left—most frequently, however, by mutual consent, when both are tired of riding the country. Expeditions seldom meet one another, this retiring as that advances, and he is deemed a brave who can lift a few head of cattle and return home in safety. The commissariat department is rudely organised: at the trysting-place, generally some water, the people assemble on a day fixed by the Sultan, and slaughter sheep: each person provides himself by hanging some dried meat upon his pony. It is said that on many occasions men have passed upwards of a week with no other sustenance than water. This extensive branch of the Somal is divided into eighteen principal clans, viz.:
1. Rer Gerad (the royal family). 2. Rer Fatih. 3. Rer Abdullah. 4. Rer Bihidur. 5. Bohogay Salabay. 6. Adan Yakub. 7. Gerad Umar. 8. Gerad Yusuf. 9. Gerad Liban. 10. Nuh Umar. 11. Adan Said. 12. Rer Haji. 13. Dubbays. 14. Warlabah. 15. Bayabarhay. 16. Rer Yasif. 17. Hindudub. 18. Rer Garwayna.
The Northern Dulbahantas are suffering greatly from intestine war. They are even less tractable than the Warsingali. Their Sultan is a ruler only in name; no one respects his person or consults him in matters of importance: their Gerad was in the vicinity of the traveller; but evasive answers were returned (probably in consequence of the Abban's machinations) to every inquiry. The elders and men of substance settle local matters, and all have a voice in everything that concerns the general weal: such for instance as the transit of a traveller. Lieutenant Speke saw two tribes, the Mahmud Gerad and Rer Ali Nalay. The latter is subdivided into six septs.
The Habr Gerhajis, here scattered and cut up, have little power. Their royal family resides near Berberah, but no one as yet wears the turban; and even when investiture takes place, a ruler's authority will not extend to Makhar. Three clans of this tribe inhabit this part of the Somali country, viz., Bah Gummaron, Rer Hamturwa, and Urus Sugay.
I venture to submit a few remarks upon the subject of the preceding diary.