SOMA LTLAND * IT is a remarkable fact that four
years ago, tribes existed within four hundred miles south of Berbera and two hundred miles west of the Indian Ocean, to whom not only the uses but the existence of firearms were unknown. When Mr. James and his cheerful companions made a path southward from the sea through the centre of Somaliland and despite very grave obstacles, pressed on to the Webbe River, the mere flash and report of a rifle fired at a bird, struck such awe and terror into the natives that they fell prone or scampered away. Yet for ages since guns were invented, ships have traded on the coasts of Somaliland. The people on the Berbera shore have long been more or less familiar with shooting weapons, and it might have been supposed that muskets and pistols would have been carried into the country. It was not so, and the fact we have cited would serve by itself to indicate the rela- tively remote and old-world character of a corner of Africa the edges of which have been known and visited for at least some two thousand years.
But the truth is, that few penetrated beyond the seaward fringe: "Known to the ancients," says Mr. James, "as Regio Aromatifera, it is now called by Europeans Somali Country ;' by Arabs, Bar-ajam, or the Unknown Land ;' and by its in- habitants, Bar-as-Somal, the Land of the Somal." It is this considerable district, lying between the sea and a line drawn southward from the Gulf of Tadjurah to the River Juba, which Mr. James styles the "Unknown Horn of Africa," the tip being the dreaded Cape Guardafui. The entire northern shore, the Adel of the ancients, washed by the Gulf of Aden, is now under British control; but beyond the purely maritime border, on that side, and wholly towards the Indian Ocean, native chiefs of many tribes hold a troubled and precarious sway. The people are assumed to be a race nearly related to the Gallas, but profoundly modified by a large infusion of Arab blood, especially within the broad maritime border. Their religion is Mahommedan, and their language is a compost of Galla and Arabic. Hence a know- ledge of the latter proved very useful to the travellers,
• 7'he Unknown Horn of Africa an Exploration front Berbera to the Leopard River. By F. L. James, NA., F.R.G.S. With Additions by J. Godfrey Thrupp, NAAS. The Map by W. D. James and Percy Aylmer. The Narrative illus- trations by Rose Rake, and the Dravrings of the 'Fauna by R. Kenleman, from Specimens chiefly collected by Lort-Phillips. London: George Philip and Son.
although an interpreter was frequently needed. The track they followed from Berbera lay across the plain to the hill- range which buttresses the inland plateau. That brought them to the "Hand," a sort of steppe region, arid and desolate, except during the rains, and they suffered greatly from the scarcity or absence of water until they reached first the Ogadayn Country, and then the banks of the Webbe Shebeylik at Barn. Eager to collect fauna and flora, as well as map out the country and observe manners and customs, the explorers also looked for the sport afforded by "big game." The land is reported to abound in the larger quadrupeds ; but whatever may be the case in other parts, the line followed by Mr. James, out and home, did not in this respect come up to his moderate expectations. On the other hand, it should be said that the very conditions he had to fulfil in order to reach the Webbe, were not favourable to the hunter. From the moment he entered the hills, he was obliged to look closely after the safety, of himself and companions, and subordinate everything to the main design of attaining the river and returning to Berbera within a reasonable time. That he was so successful, must be attributed quite as much to the fair and firm mode of dealing with the natives, as to the courage and resolution dis- played by the companionship. The story of the expedition. is told in the same spirit, and well told. It is never dull, and leaves behind, when finished, a desire for more. The illustra- tions of all kinds are admirable, for they are really illustra- tive. The explorers added several new species and sub- species to the collections of science, and these are beautifully figured in colours, and authentically described. The result is a book done as books should be, and Mr. James owed no apology to the public for the time occupied in performing his work so well Somaliland is neither a safe nor always a pleasant country to travel in ; but danger and privation more or less neces- sarily attend explorers, and few, save those forming this. expedition, have escaped death when they ventured beyond the hills. Before and since, the hardy adventurers have been killed ; and it may be said that Mr. James's party were never out of peril after they quitted the lowlands. One reason is that the tribes have been accustomed to plunder intruders,. another that they dread annexation, a third that they have no central government, and that each tribe or group of tribes has to be propitiated as the explorer moves on. Finally, they are, or have the reputation of being, fanatical Moslems. Mr. Jamesdefines them as "instinctively commercial and naturally pastoral and warlike ;" while Sir Richard Burton says they are "constant in nothing but inconstancy, soft, merry,. affectionate souls, passing without apparent transition stages. into a state of fury in which they are capable of the most terrible atrocities." The expedition to the Leopard River escaped scathless, partly because a hired party of natives, armed with rifles, went with them ; partly because they made no secret of their intentions, and while showing no sign of fear, dealt in an open and honourable manner with all whom they encountered. The doctor, as usual, was a popular character and a real force; Mr. James mollified and won over the " priests " by the judicious present of a copy of the Koran, and his other comrades seem to have been models. of conciliation. They must have left behind them a good name, which is so much capital for the English, and the natives. of all kinds professed friendly sentiments; nevertheless, it is. fairly open to doubt whether a longer stay near the Leopard River would not have produced a collision and a fight for life.. Infact, as two rival " Sultans " had made up their differences, and seemed inclined to quarrel, the expedition stole away in the night, and set out on the return journey. Well may Mr.. Jamesexpress a hope that his record "may induce travellers who are not prepared to exercise the greatest caution and. patience, to turn their attentions to a less dangerous field for future enterprise." Perhaps it was a lively sense of the ever- present peril which made the Consul at Berbera try to stop them when he found they had passed the hills, and even pro- cure orders from the Home Government to do so ; but it was- certainly most injudicious of the Consul to take that step at such a moment, and especially to allow the fact that he had done so to be known by the people. It imperilled the lives of the whole party; and that they escaped slaughter speaks well for the impression their conduct had made on the Somalis, just as the resolve to proceed testifies to their moral as well as physical courage.
Fortunately, they were not daunted, as many might have been, by this sudden outburst of official anxiety,—we say fortunately, because their stout-heartedness has given us this very interesting book revealing a new bit of the world. The wealth of the Somalis consists of their quadrupeds—camels for burden and meat, sheep, goats, oxen—while to the eastward there are horse-breeders, the Dolbohantis, a predatory tribe ; and we have one example of domesticated ostriches, kept for their feathers. It is remarkable that the people will only eat such kinds of wild animals as were "eaten by their fathers ;" and their narrowness in this respect limited the usefulness of the guns as food-providers in a country where small game was plentiful enough. The travellers found it often difficult to purchase food, and they had brought with them some sheep ; but when there was only one left, the comrades resolved to spare his life. They named him 'Sultan,' and he has a history. He was of the breed described by Marco Polo, "the body all
-white, the head black :"— " He became a great pet with us, and with all our men, and was as tame as a dog. Directly the camels were up-loaded, he would trot along in front in the most independent manner, as though his particular business was to show us the way ; and during the march, he would now and then turn off and follow any guns which had left the caravan in search of guinea-fowl. We brought him back to England with us, and he is still (1888) alive and well. A friend of mine has introduced this breed of fat-tailed sheep into England and the North of Scotland, and finds they thrive well in either climate, and the mutton is of the finest quality."
There are few sheep which have such a history as that of this four-footed traveller. In Ogadayn, the new country, the natives pointed to the guns, and asked their use. "When we said, for killing men and beasts, they laughed, and replied that they would be of no use against sticks, let alone swords and
spears ;" but so soon as a gun was fired at a bird, they fell ,down, invoking "Allah." The same wonderment was ex- hibited, though in a less degree, when a match was struck, a pipe lighted and smoked. It seems that the mystery of tobacco had not reached the wild Somalis of Ogadayn. The danger from the match and vanishing smoke-clouds was that
the travellers were, for a time, regarded with hostility as ." storm-makers." On one occasion, two tribes, horse and foot, zurrounding the well-formed and manned zariba, demanded four thousand " tobes," cotton cloth for dresses ; and when that was refused, the armed men drew up, and one who was mounted began an oration which lasted for an hour, and was only stopped abruptly by a general discharge in the air of all the guns in the zariba. The effect was electric, for the ground was strewn with "bodies," those who did not fall flat fled in all directions, and the result was peace, after a bloodless victory, for no one, of course, was hurt. Finally, a bale of goods, and judicious explanations, brought about amity, and the expedition was neither robbed nor stayed. So they reached the Leopard River, there some sixty yards wide, running through a valley, lightly wooded, dotted with flocks, herds, and native huts, and bounded by lofty hills. How they fared in their zariba near Bath, on the banks of the large stream which runs towards yet never reaches the Indian Ocean, must be sought in the book, which throughout is both instructive and enter- taining. Evidently more must be learned about Somaliland before its commercial value can be determined; and since we hold the seaboard, the needed knowledge is sure to be obtained in time, and without abnormal risk, if future enterprises are conducted as ably as that recorded by Mr. James.
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