_8th December_.--Early In The Morning The Caravan Moved On To Rhat, A
Distance Of Eight Miles:
It arrived at about noon.
The road lay through
the depression at the foot of the hills. In the patches of heather
Florikan was found. The Jujube-tree was very large. In the rains this
country is a grassy belt, running from west to east, along a deep and
narrow watercourse, called Rhat Tug, or the Fiumara of Rhat, which flows
eastward towards the ocean. At this season, having been "eaten up," the
land was almost entirely deserted; the Kraals lay desolate, the herdsmen
had driven off their cows to the hills, and the horses had been sent
towards the Mijjarthayn country. A few camels and donkeys were seen:
considering that their breeding is left to chance, the blood is not
contemptible. The sheep and goats are small, and their coats, as usual in
these hot countries, remain short. Lieutenant Speke was informed that,
owing to want of rain, and it being the breeding season, the inland and
Nomad Warsingali live entirely on flesh, one meal serving for three days.
This was a sad change of affairs from what took place six weeks before the
traveller's arrival, when there had been a fall of rain, and the people
spent their time revelling on milk, and sleeping all day under the shade
of the trees--the Somali idea of perfect happiness.
On the 9th December Lieutenant Speke, halting at Rhat, visited one of
"Kin's" cities, now ruined by time, and changed by the Somal having
converted it into a cemetery. The remains were of stone and mud, as usual
in this part of the world. The houses are built in an economical manner;
one straight wall, nearly 30 feet long, runs down the centre, and is
supported by a number of lateral chambers facing opposite ways, _e. g._
[2 Illustrations]
This appears to compose the village, and suggests a convent or a
monastery. To the west, and about fifty yards distant, are ruins of stone
and good white mortar, probably procured by burning the limestone rock.
The annexed ground plan will give an idea of these interesting remains,
which are said to be those of a Christian house of worship. In some parts
the walls are still 10 feet high, and they show an extent of civilisation
now completely beyond the Warsingali. It may be remarked of them that the
direction of the niche, as well as the disposition of the building, would
denote a Moslem mosque. At the same time it must be remembered that the
churches of the Eastern Christians are almost always made to front
Jerusalem, and the Gallas being a Moslem and Christian race, the sects
would borrow their architecture from each other. The people assert these
ruins to be those of Nazarenes. Yet in the Jid Ali valley of the
Dulbahantas Lieutenant Speke found similar remains, which the natives
declared to be one of their forefathers' mosques; the plan and the
direction were the same as those now described. Nothing, however, is
easier than to convert St. Sophia into the Aya Sufiyyah mosque. Moreover,
at Jid Ali, the traveller found it still the custom of the people to erect
a Mala, or cross of stone or wood covered with plaster, at the head and
foot of every tomb.
[Illustration]
The Dulbahantas, when asked about these crosses, said it was their custom,
derived from sire and grandsire. This again would argue that a Christian
people once inhabited these now benighted lands.
North of the building now described is a cemetery, in which the Somal
still bury their dead. Here Lieutenant Speke also observed crosses, but he
was prevented by the superstition of the people from examining them.
On an eminence S.W. of, and about seventy yards from the main building,
are the isolated remains of another erection, said by the people to be a
fort. The foundation is level with the ground, and shows two compartments
opening into each other.
[Illustration]
Rhat was the most southerly point reached by Lieutenant Speke. He places
it about thirty miles distant from the coast, and at the entrance of the
Great Plateau. Here he was obliged to turn westward, because at that
season of the year the country to the southward is desolate for want of
rain--a warning to future visitors. During the monsoon this part of the
land is preferred by the people: grass grows, and there would be no
obstacle to travellers.
Before quitting Rhat, the Abban and the interpreter went to the length of
ordering Lieutenant Speke not to fire a gun. This detained him a whole
day.
_11th December_.--Early in the morning, Lieutenant Speke started in a
westerly direction, still within sight of the mountains, where not
obstructed by the inequalities of the ground. The line taken was over an
elevated flat, in places covered with the roots of parched up grass; here
it was barren, and there appeared a few Acacias. The view to the south was
shortened by rolling ground: hollow basins, sometimes fifteen miles broad,
succeed each other; each sends forth from its centre a watercourse to
drain off the water eastward. The face of the country, however, is very
irregular, and consequently description is imperfect. This day ostriches
and antelopes were observed in considerable numbers. After marching ten
miles the caravan halted at Barham, where they found a spring of clear and
brackish water from the limestone rock, and flowing about 600 yards down a
deep rocky channel, in parts lined with fine Acacias. A Kraal was found
here, and the traveller passed a comfortable night.
_12th December_.--About 9 A.M. the caravan started, and threaded a valley,
which, if blessed with a fair supply of water, would be very fertile.
Whilst everything else is burned up by the sun on the high ground, a
nutritious weed, called Buskallay, fattens the sheep and goats. Wherever,
therefore, a spring is found, men flock to the place and fence themselves
in a Kraal.
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