[33] This superstition may have arisen from the peculiarity that the
camel's milk, however fresh, if placed upon the fire, breaks like some
cows' milk.
[34] "Bori" in Southern Arabia popularly means a water-pipe: here it is
used for tobacco.
[35] "Goban" is the low maritime plain lying below the "Bor" or Ghauts,
and opposed to Ogu, the table-land above. "Ban" is an elevated grassy
prairie, where few trees grow; "Dir," a small jungle, called Haija by the
Arabs; and Khain is a forest or thick bush. "Bor," is a mountain, rock, or
hill: a stony precipice is called "Jar," and the high clay banks of a
ravine "Gebi."
[36] Snakes are rare in the cities, but abound in the wilds of Eastern
Africa, and are dangerous to night travellers, though seldom seen by day.
To kill a serpent is considered by the Bedouins almost as meritorious as
to slay an Infidel. The Somal have many names for the reptile tribe. The
Subhanyo, a kind of whipsnake, and a large yellow rock snake called Got,
are little feared. The Abesi (in Arabic el Hayyeh,--the Cobra) is so
venomous that it kills the camel; the Mas or Hanash, and a long black
snake called Jilbis, are considered equally dangerous. Serpents are in
Somali-land the subject of many superstitions. One horn of the Cerastes,
for instance, contains a deadly poison:
