The Latter Is A
Somali Who Takes An Active Part In Politics.
These professors teach Moslem literature through the medium of Harari, a
peculiar dialect confined within the walls.
Like the Somali and other
tongues in this part of Eastern Africa, it appears to be partly Arabic in
etymology and grammar: the Semitic scion being grafted upon an indigenous
root: the frequent recurrence of the guttural _kh_ renders it harsh and
unpleasant, and it contains no literature except songs and tales, which
are written in the modern Naskhi character. I would willingly have studied
it deeply, but circumstances prevented:--the explorer too frequently must
rest satisfied with descrying from his Pisgah the Promised Land of
Knowledge, which another more fortunate is destined to conquer. At Zayla,
the Hajj sent to me an Abyssinian slave who was cunning in languages: but
he, to use the popular phrase, "showed his right ear with his left hand."
Inside Harar, we were so closely watched that it was found impossible to
put pen to paper. Escaped, however, to Wilensi, I hastily collected the
grammatical forms and a vocabulary, which will correct the popular
assertion that "the language is Arabic: it has an affinity with the
Amharic." [24]
Harar has not only its own tongue, unintelligible to any save the
citizens; even its little population of about 8000 souls is a distinct
race. The Somal say of the city that it is a Paradise inhabited by asses:
certainly the exterior of the people is highly unprepossessing.
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