Let Us Look At The Kings!" Others,
"Come, See The White Man, He Is Governor Of Zayla!" I Objected To Such
Dignity, Principally On Account Of Its Price:
My companions, however, were
inexorable; they would be Salatin--kings--and my colour was against claims
to low degree.
This fairness, and the Arab dress, made me at different
times the ruler of Aden, the chief of Zayla, the Hajj's son, a boy, an old
woman, a man painted white, a warrior in silver armour, a merchant, a
pilgrim, a hedgepriest, Ahmed the Indian, a Turk, an Egyptian, a
Frenchman, a Banyan, a sherif, and lastly a Calamity sent down from heaven
to weary out the lives of the Somal: every kraal had some conjecture of
its own, and each fresh theory was received by my companions with roars of
laughter.
As the Gudabirsi pursued us with shouts for tobacco and cries of wonder, I
dispersed them with a gun-shot: the women and children fled precipitately
from the horrid sound, and the men, covering their heads with their
shields, threw themselves face foremost upon the ground. Pursuing the
Fiumara course, we passed a number of kraals, whose inhabitants were
equally vociferous: out of one came a Zayla man, who informed us that the
Gudabirsi Abbans, to whom we bore Sharmarkay's letter of introduction,
were encamped within three days' march. It was reported, however, that a
quarrel had broken out between them and the Gerad Adan, their brother-in-
law; no pleasant news!--in Africa, under such circumstances, it is
customary for friends to detain, and for foes to oppose, the traveller. We
rode stoutly on, till the air darkened and the moon tipped the distant
hill peaks with a dim mysterious light. I then called a halt: we unloaded
on the banks of the Darkaynlay fiumara, so called from a tree which
contains a fiery milk, fenced ourselves in,--taking care to avoid being
trampled upon by startled camels during our sleep, by securing them in a
separate but neighbouring inclosure,--spread our couches, ate our frugal
suppers, and lost no time in falling asleep. We had travelled five hours
that day, but the path was winding, and our progress in a straight line
was at most eight miles.
And now, dear L., being about to quit the land of the Eesa, I will sketch
the tribe.
The Eesa, probably the most powerful branch of the Somali nation, extends
northwards to the Wayma family of the Dankali; southwards to the
Gudabirsi, and midway between Zayla and Berberah; eastwards it is bounded
by the sea, and westwards by the Gallas around Harar. It derives itself
from Dirr and Aydur, without, however, knowing aught beyond the ancestral
names, and is twitted with paganism by its enemies. This tribe, said to
number 100,000 shields, is divided into numerous clans [47]: these again
split up into minor septs [48] which plunder, and sometimes murder, one
another in time of peace.
A fierce and turbulent race of republicans, the Eesa own nominal
allegiance to a Ugaz or chief residing in the Hadagali hills.
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