They were importunate beggars, but a pinch
of snuff or a handful of tobacco always made us friends:
They begged me to
settle amongst them, they offered me sundry wives and,--the Somali
Bedouin, unlike the Arab, readily affiliates strangers to his tribe--they
declared that after a few days' residence, I should become one of
themselves.
In appearance, the Eesa are distinguished from other Somal by blackness,
ugliness of feature, and premature baldness of the temples; they also
shave, or rather scrape off with their daggers, the hair high up the nape
of the neck. The locks are dyed dun, frizzled, and greased; the Widads or
learned men remove them, and none but paupers leave them in their natural
state; the mustachios are clipped close, the straggling whisker is
carefully plucked, and the pile--erroneously considered impure--is removed
either by vellication, or by passing the limbs through the fire. The eyes
of the Bedouins, also, are less prominent than those of the citizens: the
brow projects in pent-house fashion, and the organ, exposed to bright
light, and accustomed to gaze at distant objects, acquires more
concentration and power. I have seen amongst them handsome profiles, and
some of the girls have fine figures with piquant if not pretty features.
Flocks and herds form the true wealth of the Eesa. According to them,
sheep and goats are of silver, and the cow of gold: they compare camels to
the rock, and believe, like most Moslems, the horse to have been created
from the wind. Their diet depends upon the season. In hot weather, when
forage and milk dry up, the flocks are slaughtered, and supply excellent
mutton; during the monsoon men become fat, by drinking all day long the
produce of their cattle. In the latter article of diet, the Eesa are
delicate and curious: they prefer cow's milk, then the goat's, and lastly
the ewe's, which the Arab loves best: the first is drunk fresh, and the
two latter clotted, whilst the camel's is slightly soured. The townspeople
use camel's milk medicinally: according to the Bedouins, he who lives on
this beverage, and eats the meat for forty-four consecutive days, acquires
the animal's strength. It has perhaps less "body" than any other milk, and
is deliciously sweet shortly after foaling: presently it loses flavour,
and nothing can be more nauseous than the produce of an old camel. The
Somal have a name for cream--"Laben"--but they make no use of the article,
churning it with the rest of the milk. They have no buffaloes, shudder at
the Tartar idea of mare's-milk, like the Arabs hold the name Labban [50] a
disgrace, and make it a point of honor not to draw supplies from their
cattle during the day.
The life led by these wild people is necessarily monotonous. They rest but
little--from 11 P.M. till dawn--and never sleep in the bush, for fear of
plundering parties, Few begin the day with prayer as Moslems should: for
the most part they apply themselves to counting and milking their cattle.
The animals, all of which have names [51], come when called to the pail,
and supply the family with a morning meal. Then the warriors, grasping
their spears, and sometimes the young women armed only with staves, drive
their herds to pasture: the matrons and children, spinning or rope-making,
tend the flocks, and the kraal is abandoned to the very young, the old,
and the sick. The herdsmen wander about, watching the cattle and tasting
nothing but the pure element or a pinch of coarse tobacco. Sometimes they
play at Shahh, Shantarah, and other games, of which they are passionately
fond: with a board formed of lines traced in the sand, and bits of dry
wood or camel's earth acting pieces, they spend hour after hour, every
looker-on vociferating his opinion, and catching at the men, till
apparently the two players are those least interested in the game. Or, to
drive off sleep, they sit whistling to their flocks, or they perform upon
the Forimo, a reed pipe generally made at Harar, which has a plaintive
sound uncommonly pleasing. [52] In the evening, the kraal again resounds
with lowing and bleating: the camel's milk is all drunk, the cow's and
goat's reserved for butter and ghee, which the women prepare; the numbers
are once more counted, and the animals are carefully penned up for the
night. This simple life is varied by an occasional birth and marriage,
dance and foray, disease and murder. Their maladies are few and simple
[53]; death generally comes by the spear, and the Bedouin is naturally
long-lived. I have seen Macrobians hale and strong, preserving their
powers and faculties in spite of eighty and ninety years.
FOOTNOTES
[1] By this route the Mukattib or courier travels on foot from Zayla to
Harar in five days at the most. The Somal reckon their journeys by the
Gedi or march, the Arab "Hamleh," which varies from four to five hours.
They begin before dawn and halt at about 11 A.M., the time of the morning
meal. When a second march is made they load at 3 P.M. and advance till
dark; thus fifteen miles would be the average of fast travelling. In
places of danger they will cover twenty-six or twenty-seven miles of
ground without halting to eat or rest: nothing less, however, than regard
for "dear life" can engender such activity. Generally two or three hours'
work per diem is considered sufficient; and, where provisions abound,
halts are long and frequent.
[2] The Mikahil is a clan of the Habr Awal tribe living near Berberah, and
celebrated for their bloodthirsty and butchering propensities. Many of the
Midgan or serviles (a term explained in Chap. II.) are domesticated
amongst them.
[3] So the Abyssinian chief informed M. Krapf that he loved the French,
but could not endure us--simply the effect of manner.
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