The others are the red, white, green, and spotted twisted
beads, round and oblong. Before entering a district the traveller should
ascertain what may be the especial variety. Some kind are greedily sought
for in one place, and in another rejected with disdain.
[28] The Somali word "Fal" properly means "to do;" "to bewitch," is its
secondary sense.
[29] The price of blood in the Somali country is the highest sanctioned by
El Islam. It must be remembered that amongst the pagan Arabs, the Korayah
"diyat," was twenty she-camels. Abd el Muttaleb, grandfather of Mohammed,
sacrificed 100 animals to ransom the life of his son, forfeited by a rash
vow, and from that time the greater became the legal number. The Somal
usually demand 100 she-camels, or 300 sheep and a few cows; here, as in
Arabia, the sum is made up by all the near relations of the slayer; 30 of
the animals may be aged, and 30 under age, but the rest must be sound and
good. Many tribes take less,--from strangers 100 sheep, a cow, and a
camel;--but after the equivalent is paid, the murderer or one of his clan,
contrary to the spirit of El Islam, is generally killed by the kindred or
tribe of the slain. When blood is shed in the same tribe, the full
reparation, if accepted by the relatives, is always exacted; this serves
the purpose of preventing fratricidal strife, for in such a nation of
murderers, only the Diyat prevents the taking of life.
Blood money, however, is seldom accepted unless the murdered man has been
slain with a lawful weapon. Those who kill with the Dankaleh, a poisonous
juice rubbed upon meat, are always put to death by the members of their
own tribe.
[30] The Abban or protector of the Somali country is the Mogasa of the
Gallas, the Akh of El Hejaz, the Ghafir of the Sinaitic Peninsula, and the
Rabia of Eastern Arabia. It must be observed, however, that the word
denotes the protege as well as the protector; In the latter sense it is
the polite address to a Somali, as Ya Abbaneh, O Protectress, would be to
his wife.
The Abban acts at once as broker, escort, agent, and interpreter, and the
institution may be considered the earliest form of transit dues. In all
sales he receives a certain percentage, his food and lodging are provided
at the expense of his employer, and he not unfrequently exacts small
presents from his kindred. In return he is bound to arrange all
differences, and even to fight the battles of his client against his
fellow-countrymen. Should the Abban be slain, his tribe is bound to take
up the cause and to make good the losses of their protege. El Taabanah,
the office, being one of "name," the eastern synonym for our honour, as
well as of lucre, causes frequent quarrels, which become exceedingly
rancorous.
According to the laws of the country, the Abban is master of the life and
property of his client. The traveller's success will depend mainly upon
his selection: if inferior in rank, the protector can neither forward nor
defend him; if timid, he will impede advance; and if avaricious, he will,
by means of his relatives, effectually stop the journey by absorbing the
means of prosecuting it. The best precaution against disappointment would
be the registering Abbans at Aden; every donkey-boy will offer himself as
a protector, but only the chiefs of tribes should be provided with
certificates. During my last visit to Africa, I proposed that English
officers visiting the country should be provided with servants not
protectors, the former, however, to be paid like the latter; all the
people recognised the propriety of the step.
In the following pages occur manifold details concerning the complicated
subject, El Taabanah.
[31] Future travellers would do well either to send before them a trusty
servant with orders to buy cattle; or, what would be better, though a
little more expensive, to take with them from Aden all the animals
required.
[32] The Somal use as camel saddles the mats which compose their huts;
these lying loose upon the animal's back, cause, by slipping backwards and
forwards, the loss of many a precious hour, and in wet weather become half
a load. The more civilised make up of canvass or "gunny bags" stuffed with
hay and provided with cross bars, a rude packsaddle, which is admirably
calculated to gall the animal's back. Future travellers would do well to
purchase camel-saddles at Aden, where they are cheap and well made.
[33] He received four cloths of Cutch canvass, and six others of coarse
American sheeting. At Zayla these articles are double the Aden value,
which would be about thirteen rupees or twenty-six shillings; in the bush
the price is quadrupled. Before leaving us the Abban received at least
double the original hire. Besides small presents of cloth, dates, tobacco
and rice to his friends, he had six cubits of Sauda Wilayati or English
indigo-dyed calico for women's fillets, and two of Sauda Kashshi, a Cutch
imitation, a Shukkah or half Tobe for his daughter, and a sheep for
himself, together with a large bundle of tobacco.
[34] When the pastures are exhausted and the monsoon sets in, the Bedouins
return to their cool mountains; like the Iliyat of Persia, they have their
regular Kishlakh and Yaylakh.
[35] "Kaum" is the Arabic, "All" the Somali, term for these raids.
[36] Amongst the old Egyptians the ostrich feather was the symbol of
truth. The Somal call it "Bal," the Arabs "Rish;" it is universally used
here as the sign and symbol of victory. Generally the white feather only
is stuck in the hair; the Eesa are not particular in using black when they
can procure no other.
