I Venture To Submit A Few Remarks Upon The Subject Of The Preceding Diary.
It is evident from the perusal of these pages that though the traveller
suffered from the system of black-
Mail to which the inhospitable Somal of
Makhar subject all strangers, though he was delayed, persecuted by his
"protector," and threatened with war, danger, and destruction, his life
was never in real peril. Some allowance must also be made for the people
of the country. Lieutenant Speke was of course recognised as a servant of
Government; and savages cannot believe that a man wastes his rice and
cloth to collect dead beasts and to ascertain the direction of streams. He
was known to be a Christian; he is ignorant of the Moslem faith; and, most
fatal to his enterprise, he was limited in time. Not knowing either the
Arabic or the Somali tongue, he was forced to communicate with the people
through the medium of his dishonest interpreter and Abban.
I have permitted myself to comment upon the system of interference pursued
by the former authorities of Aden towards the inhabitants of the Somali
coast. A partial intermeddling with the quarrels of these people is
unwise. We have the whole line completely in our power. An armed cruiser,
by a complete blockade, would compel the inhabitants to comply with any
requisitions. But either our intervention should be complete,--either we
should constitute ourselves sole judges of all disputes, or we should
sedulously turn a deaf ear to their complaints.
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