Then The Fatal Struggle For Name, And The
Painful Necessity Of Doing The Most With The Smallest Materials For A
Reputation!
In Europe there are a thousand grades of celebrity, from
statesmanship to taxidermy; all, therefore, co-exist without rivalry.
Whereas, in these small colonies, there is but one fame, and as that leads
directly to rupees and rank, no man willingly accords it to his neighbour.
And, finally, such semi-civilised life abounds in a weary ceremoniousness.
It is highly improper to smoke outside your bungalow. You shall pay your
visits at 11 A.M., when the glass stands at 120°. You shall be generally
shunned if you omit your waistcoat, no matter what the weather be. And if
you venture to object to these Median laws,--as I am now doing,--you
elicit a chorus of disapproval, and acquire some evil name.
About 11 A.M., when the fresh water arrives from the Hissi or wells, the
Hajj sends us dinner, mutton stews, of exceeding greasiness, boiled rice,
maize cakes, sometimes fish, and generally curds or milk. We all sit round
a primitive form of the Round Table, and I doubt that King Arthur's
knights ever proved doughtier trenchermen than do my companions. We then
rise to pipes and coffee, after which, excluding visitors, my attendants
apply themselves to a siesta, I to my journal and studies.
At 2 P.M. there is a loud clamour at the door: if it be not opened in
time, we are asked if we have a Nazarene inside. Enters a crowd of
visitors, anxious to pass the afternoon. We proceed with a copy of the
forenoon till the sun declines, when it is time to escape the flies, to
repair to the terrace for fresh air, or to dress for a walk. Generally our
direction is through the town eastwards, to a plain of dilapidated graves
and salt sand, peopled only by land-crabs. At the extremity near the sea
is a little mosque of wattle-work: we sit there under the shade, and play
a rude form of draughts, called Shantarah, or at Shahh, a modification of
the former. [14] More often, eschewing these effeminacies, we shoot at a
mark, throw the javelin, leap, or engage in some gymnastic exercise. The
favourite Somali weapons are the spear, dagger, and war-club; the bow and
poisoned arrows are peculiar to the servile class, who know
"the dreadful art
To taint with deadly drugs the barbed dart;"
and the people despise, at the same time that they fear firearms,
declaring them to be cowardly weapons [15] with which the poltroon can
slay the bravest.
The Somali spear is a form of the Cape Assegai. A long, thin, pliant and
knotty shaft of the Dibi, Diktab, and Makari trees, is dried, polished,
and greased with rancid butter: it is generally of a dull yellow colour,
and sometimes bound, as in Arabia, with brass wire for ornament. Care is
applied to make the rod straight, or the missile flies crooked:
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