"Adaray" and by the Arabs and ourselves
"Harar," [6] lies, according to my dead reckoning, 220° S.W. of, and 175
statute miles from, Zayla--257° W. of, and 219 miles distant from,
Berberah. This would place it in 9° 20' N. lat. and 42° 17' E. long. The
thermometer showed an altitude of about 5,500 feet above the level of the
sea. [7] Its site is the slope of an hill which falls gently from west to
east. On the eastern side are cultivated fields; westwards a terraced
ridge is laid out in orchards; northwards is a detached eminence covered
with tombs; and to the south, the city declines into a low valley bisected
by a mountain burn. This irregular position is well sheltered from high
winds, especially on the northern side, by the range of which Kondura is
the lofty apex; hence, as the Persian poet sings of a heaven-favoured
city,--
"Its heat is not hot, nor its cold, cold."
During my short residence the air reminded me of Tuscany. On the afternoon
of the 11th January there was thunder accompanied by rain: frequent
showers fell on the 12th, and the morning of the 13th was clear; but, as
we crossed the mountains, black clouds obscured the heavens. The monsoon
is heavy during one summer month; before it begins the crops are planted,
and they are reaped in December and January. At other seasons the air is
dry, mild, and equable.
The province of Hadiyah is mentioned by Makrizi as one of the seven
members of the Zayla Empire [8], founded by Arab invaders, who in the 7th
century of our aera conquered and colonised the low tract between the Red
Sea and the Highlands. Moslem Harar exercised a pernicious influence upon
the fortunes of Christian Abyssinia. [9]
The allegiance claimed by the AEthiopian Emperors from the Adel--the
Dankali and ancient Somal--was evaded at a remote period, and the
intractable Moslems were propitiated with rich presents, when they thought
proper to visit the Christian court. The Abyssinians supplied the Adel
with slaves, the latter returned the value in rock-salt, commercial
intercourse united their interests, and from war resulted injury to both
people. Nevertheless the fanatic lowlanders, propense to pillage and
proselytizing, burned the Christian churches, massacred the infidels, and
tortured the priests, until they provoked a blood feud of uncommon
asperity.
In the 14th century (A.D. 1312-1342) Amda Sion, Emperor of AEthiopia,
taunted by Amano, King of Hadiyah, as a monarch fit only to take care of
women, overran and plundered the Lowlands from Tegulet to the Red Sea. The
Amharas were commanded to spare nothing that drew the breath of life: to
fulfil a prophecy which foretold the fall of El Islam, they perpetrated
every kind of enormity.
Peace followed the death of Amda Sion.
