From This Tradition We May Gather That The City Was Restored, As
It Was First Founded And Colonized, By Hungry Arabs.
The Sherifs continued to rule with some interruptions until but a few
generations ago, when the present family rose to power.
According to
Bruce, they are Jabartis, who, having intermarried with Sayyid women,
claim a noble origin. They derive themselves from the Caliph Abubakr, or
from Akil, son of Abu Talib, and brother of Ali. The Ulema, although
lacking boldness to make the assertion, evidently believe them to be of
Galla or pagan extraction.
The present city of Harar is about one mile long by half that breadth. An
irregular wall, lately repaired [21], but ignorant of cannon, is pierced
with five large gates [22], and supported by oval towers of artless
construction. The material of the houses and defences are rough stones,
the granites and sandstones of the hills, cemented, like the ancient Galla
cities, with clay. The only large building is the Jami or Cathedral, a
long barn of poverty-stricken appearance, with broken-down gates, and two
white-washed minarets of truncated conoid shape. They were built by
Turkish architects from Mocha and Hodaydah: one of them lately fell, and
has been replaced by an inferior effort of Harari art. There are a few
trees in the city, but it contains none of those gardens which give to
Eastern settlements that pleasant view of town and country combined. The
streets are narrow lanes, up hill and down dale, strewed with gigantic
rubbish-heaps, upon which repose packs of mangy or one-eyed dogs, and even
the best are encumbered with rocks and stones.
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