Before The Voyage, However, I Was Called
Upon To Compose A Difficulty Upon The Subject Of Abbanship.
The Hammal had
naturally constituted his father-in-law, one Burhale Nuh, of the Ayyal
Gedid, protector to Lieut.
Herne and myself. Burhale had proved himself a
rascal: he had been insolent as well as dishonest, and had thrown frequent
obstacles in his employer's way; yet custom does not permit the Abban to
be put away like a wife, and the Hammal's services entitled him to the
fullest consideration. On the other hand Jami Hasan, a chief and a doughty
man of the Ayyal Ahmed, had met me at Aden early in 1854, and had received
from me a ring in token of Abbanship. During my absence at Harar, he had
taken charge of Lieut. Stroyan. On the very morning of my arrival he came
to the hut, sat down spear in hand, produced the ring and claimed my
promise. In vain I objected that the token had been given when a previous
trip was intended, and that the Hammal must not be disappointed: Jami
replied that once an Abban always an Abban, that he hated the Hammal and
all his tribe, and that he would enter into no partnership with Burhale
Nuh:--to complicate matters, Lieut. Stroyan spoke highly of his courage
and conduct. Presently he insisted rudely upon removing his _protege_ to
another part of the town: this passed the limits of our patience, and
decided the case against him.
For some days discord raged between the rivals. At last it was settled
that I should choose my own Abban in presence of a general council of the
Elders. The chiefs took their places upon the shore, each with his
followers forming a distinct semicircle, and all squatting with shield and
spear planted upright in the ground. When sent for, I entered the circle
sword in hand, and sat down awaiting their pleasure. After much murmuring
had subsided, Jami asked in a loud voice, "Who is thy protector?" The
reply was, "Burhale Nuh!" Knowing, however, how little laconism is prized
by an East-African audience, I did not fail to follow up this answer with
an Arabic speech of the dimensions of an average sermon, and then
shouldering my blade left the circle abruptly. The effect was success. Our
wild friends sat from afternoon till sunset: as we finished supper one of
them came in with the glad tidings of a "peace conference." Jami had asked
Burhale to swear that he intended no personal offence in taking away a
_protege_ pledged to himself: Burhale had sworn, and once more the olive
waved over the braves of Berberah.
On the 5th February 1855, taking leave of my comrades, I went on board El
Kasab or the Reed--such was the ill-omened name of our cranky craft--to
the undisguised satisfaction of the Hammal, Long Guled, and the End of
Time, who could scarcely believe in their departure from Berberah with
sound skins. [25] Coasting with a light breeze, early after noon on the
next day we arrived at Siyaro, a noted watering-place for shipping, about
nineteen miles east of the emporium. The roadstead is open to the north,
but a bluff buttress of limestone rock defends it from the north-east
gales. Upon a barren strip of sand lies the material of the town; two
houses of stone and mud, one yet unfinished, the other completed about
thirty years ago by Farih Binni, a Mikahil chief.
Some dozen Bedouin spearmen, Mikahil of a neighbouring kraal, squatted
like a line of crows upon the shore to receive us as we waded from the
vessel. They demanded money in too authoritative a tone before allowing us
to visit the wells, which form their principal wealth. Resolved not to
risk a quarrel so near Berberah, I was returning to moralise upon the fate
of Burckhardt--after a successful pilgrimage refused admittance to Aaron's
tomb at Sinai--when a Bedouin ran to tell us that we might wander where we
pleased. He excused himself and his companions by pleading necessity, and
his leanness lent conviction to the plea.
The larger well lies close to the eastern wall of the dwelling-house: it
is about eighteen feet deep, one third sunk through ground, the other two
thirds through limestone, and at the bottom is a small supply of sweet
clear water, Near it I observed some ruined tanks, built with fine mortar
like that of the Berberah ruins. The other well lies about half a mile to
the westward of the former: it is also dug in the limestone rock. A few
yards to the north-east of the building is the Furzeh or custom-house,
whose pristine simplicity tempts me to describe it:--a square of ground
surrounded by a dwarf rubble enclosure, and provided with a proportional
mosque, a tabular block of coralline niched in the direction of Meccah. On
a little eminence of rock to the westward, rise ruined walls, said by my
companions to have been built by a Frank, who bought land from the Mikahil
and settled on this dismal strand.
Taking leave of the Bedouins; whose hearts were gladdened by a few small
presents, we resumed our voyage eastwards along the coast. Next morning,
we passed two broken pyramids of dark rock called Dubada Gumbar Madu--the
Two Black Hills. After a tedious day's sail, twenty miles in twenty-four
hours, the Captain of El Kasab landed us in a creek west of Aynterad. A
few sheep-boats lay at anchor in this "back-bay," as usual when the sea is
heavy at the roadstead; and the crews informed us that a body of Bedouins
was marching to attack the village. Abdy Mohammed Diban, proprietor of the
Aynterad Fort, having constituted me his protector, and remained at
Berberah, I armed my men, and ordering the Captain of the "Reed" to bring
his vessel round at early dawn, walked hurriedly over the three miles that
separated us from the place.
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