The Hammal, Who Had Married A Daughter Of This
Clan, And Had Constituted His Father-In-Law My Protector At Berberah, Made
Sure Of A Hospitable Reception:
"To-night we shall sleep under cover and
drink milk," quoth one hungry man to another, who straightways rejoined,
"And we shall eat mutton!"
After dark we arrived at a kraal, we unsaddled our mules and sat down near
it, indulging in Epicurean anticipations. Opposite us, by the door of a
hut, was a group of men who observed our arrival, but did not advance or
salute us. Impatient, I fired a pistol, when a gruff voice asked why we
disturbed the camels that were being milked. "We have fallen upon the
Ayyal Shirdon"--our bitterest enemies--whispered the End of Time. The same
voice then demanded in angrier accents, "Of what tribe be ye?" We boldly
answered, "Of the Habr Gerhajis." Thereupon ensued a war of words. The
Ayyal Shirdon inquired what we wanted, where we had been, and how we
dared, seeing that peace had not been concluded between the tribes, to
enter their lands. We replied civilly as our disappointment would permit,
but apparently gained little by soft words. The inhospitable Bedouins
declared our arrival to be in the seventeenth house of Geomancy--an advent
probable as the Greek Kalends--and rudely insisted upon knowing what had
taken us to Harar. At last, a warrior, armed with two spears, came to meet
us, and bending down recognized the End of Time:
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