LEAVE ADEN FOR KURRUM. 21st February 1855.-Having engaged a buggalow and stowed away all the traps, I embarked in the evening, weighed anchor, and set sail. Even before we could sail out of the harbour, the first row commenced. The Nakhuda (captain), as is often the case in these primitive countries, kept no regular sailors, but trusted to finding men, desirous of going to their country, who would work his vessel for him--all Somalis being by nature sailors. The men he had now on board were of the Habr Gerhajis and Habr Teljala tribes, who occupy the coastline near Kurrum, and had waited the opportunity of obtaining a passage over there in company with me. They were all dreadfully uproarious, and would not by any persuasion on my part keep quiet. On inquiring from the Balyuz the cause of their violent discussions, he informed me they were drawing lots to see who should be my Abban, and those of the seven foreigners I had with me. The bare idea of eight Abbans was too ridiculous, and their persistency made it beyond a joke. I instantly ordered the sails to be hauled down, and had my instructions about Abbans proclaimed to the whole crew: that the Balyuz was my Ras Cafila, and the other foreigners my protectors. If they determined on wrangling any more, I should 'bout ship and settle the difference with them in a less ceremonious manner in the harbour. This effectually stopped their tongues, and we again proceeded on the journey. After two entire days' sailing across the Gulf with variable and gentle breezes, we arrived at our destination, Kurrum, in safety, on the third evening, the 24th February, and at once sent some Government letters to the Agils, ordering their attendance, and to proclaim publicly the nature of my business, in order that camels might be brought for sale. I found all the people extremely obliging; they tried to make my residence as comfortable as they could; showed me great deference because I was an English man, and brought their camels readily, though, of course, as might be expected, they were canny in their mode of dealing, trying to dispose of their worst animals first, and asking prices much above the market tariff. For poor animals they asked from four to five and a half dollars, which, though not a third of the price I paid in the Warsingali country, was full price for the finest animals at Berbera. Berbera during the fair time is undoubtedly the cheapest place to purchase camels in of all the coast-line, and the farther you leave it the more expensive animals become, increasing in price at the same ratio as the extent of distance. Whilst halting here I heard for the first time of the existence of the Victoria Nyanza, my discovery of which I described in my former paper in the Magazine in October last. The people described its dimensions as equal in extent to the Gulf of Aden, and further alluded to its being navigated by white men. None of the men present had been there to see it, though it was currently known as a positive fact amongst them. I did not believe the story in the light they expressed it, supposing they confounded an inland sea for the Western or Atlantic Ocean. Colonel Rigby, H.B.M. Consul at Zanzibar, tells me he also heard of this lake when he was travelling in this country some years previously. It is strange this story was never published earlier. The white navigators alluded to are evidently the expeditionists who went up the White Nile about twelve or fourteen years ago, and the Nile and lake have been confounded for one water in the transmission of the intelligence, though both were seen. The minds of the Kurrum people seemed greatly discomposed about various rumours which they heard. One was, that the English intended to suppress the slave-trade, and they wished me to tell them if such was not a fact-saying it would be unjust for us to do so, as slaving was an acknowledged right given them in the Holy Scriptures, and handed down by their Russŭl Mahamed. The other bugbear which alarmed them was a report that the English intended either to take possession of Berbera, or that they would give it to Sharmarky. The village of Kurrum consisted of a single fort and a large collection of mat huts, all grouped together, and was situated close to the shore. The maritime plain consisted of sandybrown soil, very uninteresting, with scarcely any vegetation growing on it, and was here only about half a mile broad. The hills in the background were very insignificant, not half so high as any I had seen, and were dull and brown, like those one sees when travelling down the Red Sea. The people say that in its recesses and ravines acacias and other gum-trees grow as they do elsewhere. Gum only exudes in the dry hot season; and the confined air in the ravines is described as being so hot that people can hardly stay there, and many of the gum-pickers who do become deaf in consequence of it. The water which the villagers used was so brackish as to be hardly drinkable. I lived here five days, enjoying sour camel's milk, gossiping with the natives, and roaming about the place. The difference between the life I was now living, attributable principally to the sagacity and good-heartedness of the Balyuz, was a charming contrast to my wretched existence when with the Warsingalis. I bought twenty-five camels, at an average rate of five and a half dollars a-head, and then stopped purchasing, as I heard by letter from Lieutenant Herne he had then got nearly sufficient for our requirements, that camels were very plentiful at Berbera, and he was buying them at a cheaper rate than I could. On the 29th February, at 4 P.M., I broke ground with all my camels and ponies, and commenced the march on Berbera. At sundown, after travelling three miles along the sea-shore, we encamped in a watercourse called Goldéra. The water we found here, in a little well in its bed, was deliciously sweet-so pleasant after the brackish Kurrum wells. No one, not having been deprived for a long time of the pure element, can conceive the greed with which a man first plunges his head into clear sweet water. It is the natural fluid for man, and for no other beverage does abstinence produce so keen an appetite. The following morning, a little after daybreak, the caravan was ready, and we soon got under weigh. Travelling with tedious slowness, aggravated by the dreary monotony of the road and the sandy plain, constantly crossing dry, shallow water-courses, lined on both sides by fringes of stunted acacias or other salsolacious plants, we at last arrived at a hot spring of sweet water, called Golamiro, and rested here for several hours during the great heat of the mid-day sun. When the day became cooler we resumed the march, and travelled until after dark to a grazingground one mile short of Enterad, and there spent the night. The farther we travelled westwards, the broader became the maritime plain, and the richer its clothing of shrubs and grass. Besides the ordinary acacias, which were finer and more numerous, there were many patches of the bastard cypress and tall rank grasses growing on sandy hillocks, in the same way as they do in India. The Somalis exultingly pointed this out as a paradise, replete with every necessary for life's enjoyment, and begged to know if the English had any country pastures like it, where camels and sheep can roam about the whole year round without exhausting it. 31st.-To-day we made a short march, passing through Enterad, and encamping on a grazing-ground one mile to its westward. The village, as usual, was close to the shore, for the convenience of shipping. It is not half the size of Kurrum, but boasts of a fort of recent construction, with six rusty pieces of cannon lying on the sand in front of it. An Agil named Abdie, being chief of the place, is the lordly proprietor of these instruments of DEFENCE. 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 there. After joining them and listening some time, he returned to say they were discuss ing the possibility of our expedition ever reaching the Webbe (River); 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 Somal would stop us before we got half-way. The Balyuz then interposed, saying, "But the British are strong, and can do anything they Hearing this, they laughingly replied, "If the Somal 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 Somal 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 foot-prints, 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 in speed 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 would 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 Agil, 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 * What river they alluded to I could not understand. to the exaction by blockade of any fines, which, without doubt, is the true way to make Somalis feel. During that day and the succeeding one we travelled along the coast to Legareh, a small dilapidated fort, 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 future travelling companions, Lieutenants 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, Lieutenant Stroyan's on the right, Lieutenant Herne's in the centre, and mine on the left flank, about a dozen yards apart. Lieutenant 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 nighttime 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 Lieutenants 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, Banyans from Cutch and Aden, Arab merchants and Somalis, who had been gradually flocking in from about the 15th November; and as they arrived, erected mat huts as booths for carrying on their bartering trade. According to Lieutenant Herne's investigations, the Somalis 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, who 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 Somalis, 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 3000 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. Lieutenant 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 Somalis we were travelling under the auspices of the British Government, and Lieutenant King departed with his vessel. Lieutenant Burton now took occupation of the centre tent with Lieutenant Herne, and the party was complete. We were then severally appointed to our respective duties, Lieutenant Burton commanding; Lieutenant Stroyan, chief surveyor; Lieutenant Herne, photographer, geologist, and assistant-surveyor; whilst I was to bea Jack-of-all-trades, assisting every body, 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 daytime, 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. 9th. On this day the Gugi, or south-west Somal monsoon, in opposition to the Dairti, or north-east monsoon, commenced in the hills behind our camp, and warned us that we should soon have to start southwards. The fair had already begun to break. Caravan after caravan streamed out of the town, and, wending their way across the plain like strings of ants emerging from a hole, and, like the busy habits of those little insects, kept the whole maritime plain alive in motion. At this time we were daily expecting a vessel from Aden, which would bring us some letters and instruments that were on their way out from England, and saw the great Ugadhen caravan preparing to leave, but were undecided what to do-whether go with them, without our things from England, or wait and rely upon our strength in travelling alone. The latter alternative was unfortunately decided upon, and we saw our wonted protector depart upon its journey. 15th.-Saw the shore and harbour, alike both destitute of any living thing, save a few diseased and dying cattle, and one poor forlorn girl, in whom the smallpox had began to show its symptoms, and who was now mercilessly left by her parents, with only two or three days' provisions, to die like a dog on the inhospitable plain. Having suffered from that disease myself, and not fearing contagion, I went to her and administered some medicine, which she took without any hesitation ; and I hoped to cure her, for she was really, barring the blackness, a very pretty creature, but the disease was beyond my skill to relieve. I then took her to a room in the tomb of an Arab sheikh, gave her some ricewater, and bade her keep out of the sun, but it was no use. She took fright at the idea of living with the dead, and wandered into the desert no one knows whither, and was seen no more. Even the matting and sticks which formed the booths, with two or three exceptions, were packed on the camels, and carried away. We were now alone, and nobody came near us; our two Abbans had begged and obtained permission to go with their families to their homes |