A Little Further Off Lay The
Aylonda Valley Studded With Graves, And Dark With Verdure.
Beyond it
stretched the Wady Harawwah, a long gloomy hollow in the general level.
The background was a bold sweep of blue hill, the second gradient of the
Harar line, and on its summit closing the western horizon lay a golden
streak--the Marar Prairie.
Already I felt at the end of my journey. About
noon, reaching a kraal, whence but that morning our Gudabirsi Abbans had
driven off their kine, we sat under a tree and with a pistol reported
arrival. Presently the elders came out and welcomed their old acquaintance
the End of Time as a distinguished guest. He eagerly inquired about the
reported quarrel between the Abbans and their brother-in-law the Gerad
Adan. When, assured that it was the offspring of Somali imagination, he
rolled his head, and with dignity remarked, "What man shutteth to us, that
Allah openeth!" We complimented each other gravely upon the purity of our
intentions,--amongst Moslems a condition of success,--and not despising
second causes, lost no time in sending a horseman for the Abbans.
Presently some warriors came out and inquired if we were of the Caravan
that was travelling last evening up a valley with laden camels. On our
answering in the affirmative, they laughingly declared that a commando of
twelve horsemen had followed us with the intention of a sham-attack. This
is favourite sport with the Bedouin. When however the traveller shows
fright, the feint is apt to turn out a fact. On one occasion a party of
Arab merchants, not understanding the "fun of the thing," shot two Somal:
the tribe had the justice to acquit the strangers, mulcting them, however,
a few yards of cloth for the families of the deceased. In reply I fired a
pistol unexpectedly over the heads of my new hosts, and improved the
occasion of their terror by deprecating any practical facetiousness in
future.
We passed the day under a tree: the camels escorted by my two attendants,
and the women, did not arrive till sunset, having occupied about eight
hours in marching as many miles. Fearing lions, we pitched inside the
kraal, despite crying children, scolding wives, cattle rushing about,
barking dogs, flies and ticks, filth and confinement.
I will now attempt a description of a village in Eastern Africa.
The Rer or Kraal [21] is a line of scattered huts on plains where thorns
are rare, beast of prey scarce, and raids not expected. In the hills it is
surrounded by a strong fence to prevent cattle straying: this, where
danger induces caution, is doubled and trebled. Yet the lion will
sometimes break through it, and the leopard clears it, prey in mouth with
a bound. The abattis has usually four entrances which are choked up with
heaps of bushes at night. The interior space is partitioned off by dwarf
hedges into rings, which contain and separate the different species of
cattle. Sometimes there is an outer compartment adjoining the exterior
fence, set apart for the camels; usually they are placed in the centre of
the kraal. Horses being most valuable are side-lined and tethered close to
the owner's hut, and rude bowers of brush and fire wood protect the
weaklings of the flocks from the heat of the sun and the inclement night
breeze.
At intervals around and inside the outer abattis are built the Gurgi or
wigwams--hemispheric huts like old bee-hives about five feet high by six
in diameter: they are even smaller in the warm regions, but they increase
in size as the elevation of the country renders climate less genial. The
material is a framework of "Digo," or sticks bent and hardened in the
fire: to build the hut, these are planted in the ground, tied together
with cords, and covered with mats of two different kinds: the Aus composed
of small bundles of grass neatly joined, is hard and smooth; the Kibid has
a long pile and is used as couch as well as roof. The single entrance in
front is provided with one of these articles which serves as a curtain;
hides are spread upon the top during the monsoon, and little heaps of
earth are sometimes raised outside to keep out wind and rain.
The furniture is simple as the building. Three stones and a hole form the
fireplace, near which sleep the children, kids, and lambs: there being no
chimney, the interior is black with soot. The cow-skin couches are
suspended during the day, like arms and other articles which suffer from
rats and white ants, by loops of cord to the sides. The principal
ornaments are basket-work bottles, gaily adorned with beads, cowris, and
stained leather. Pottery being here unknown, the Bedouins twist the fibres
of a root into various shapes, and make them water-tight with the powdered
bark of another tree. [22] The Han is a large wicker-work bucket, mounted
in a framework of sticks, and used to contain water on journeys. The Guraf
(a word derived from the Arabic "Ghurfah") is a conical-shaped vessel,
used to bale out the contents of a well. The Del, or milk pail, is shaped
like two cones joined at the base by lateral thongs, the upper and smaller
half acting as cup and cover. And finally the Wesi, or water bottle,
contains the traveller's store for drinking and religious ablution.
When the kraal is to be removed, the huts and furniture are placed upon
the camels, and the hedges and earth are sometimes set on fire, to purify
the place and deceive enemies, Throughout the country black circles of
cinders or thorn diversify the hill sides, and show an extensive
population. Travellers always seek deserted kraals for security of
encampment. As they swarm with vermin by night and flies by day [23], I
frequently made strong objections to these favourite localities: the
utmost conceded to me was a fresh enclosure added by a smaller hedge to
the outside abattis of the more populous cow-kraals.
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