The Somal Declare The Waraba To Be A Hermaphrodite; So The Ancients
Supposed The Hyaena To Be Of Both Sexes, An Error Arising From The Peculiar
Appearance Of An Orifice Situated Near Two Glands Which Secrete An
Unctuous Fluid.
[26] Men wear for ornament round the neck a bright red leather thong, upon
which are strung in front two square bits of true or imitation amber or
honey stone:
This "Mekkawi," however, is seldom seen amongst the Bedouins.
The Audulli or woman's necklace is a more elaborate affair of amber, glass
beads, generally coloured, and coral: every matron who can afford it,
possesses at least one of these ornaments. Both sexes carry round the
necks or hang above the right elbow, a talisman against danger and
disease, either in a silver box or more generally sewn up in a small case
of red morocco. The Bedouins are fond of attaching a tooth-stick to the
neck thong.
[27] Beads are useful in the Somali country as presents, and to pay for
trifling purchases: like tobacco they serve for small change. The kind
preferred by women and children is the "binnur," large and small white
porcelain: 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.
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