They Are Miserable Ponies, But Well Trained To The Rocks And
Hills.
The Galla Bedouins would oppose an invader with a strong force of
spearmen, the approaches to the city are difficult and dangerous, but it
is commanded from the north and west, and the walls would crumble at the
touch of a six-pounder.
Three hundred Arabs and two gallopper guns would
take Harar in an hour.
Harar is essentially a commercial town: its citizens live, like those of
Zayla, by systematically defrauding the Galla Bedouins, and the Amir has
made it a penal offence to buy by weight and scale. He receives, as
octroi, from eight to fifteen cubits of Cutch canvass for every donkey-
load passing the gates, consequently the beast is so burdened that it must
be supported by the drivers. Cultivators are taxed ten per cent., the
general and easy rate of this part of Africa, but they pay in kind, which
considerably increases the Government share. The greatest merchant may
bring to Harar 50_l._ worth of goods, and he who has 20_l._ of capital is
considered a wealthy man. The citizens seem to have a more than Asiatic
apathy, even in pursuit of gain. When we entered, a caravan was to set out
for Zayla on the morrow; after ten days, hardly one half of its number had
mustered. The four marches from the city eastward are rarely made under a
fortnight, and the average rate of their Kafilahs is not so high even as
that of the Somal.
The principal exports from Harar are slaves, ivory, coffee, tobacco, Wars
(safflower or bastard saffron), Tobes and woven cottons, mules, holcus,
wheat, "Karanji," a kind of bread used by travellers, ghee, honey, gums
(principally mastic and myrrh), and finally sheep's fat and tallows of all
sorts. The imports are American sheeting, and other cottons, white and
dyed, muslins, red shawls, silks, brass, sheet copper, cutlery (generally
the cheap German), Birmingham trinkets, beads and coral, dates, rice, and
loaf sugar, gunpowder, paper, and the various other wants of a city in the
wild.
Harar is still, as of old [33], the great "half way house" for slaves from
Zangaro, Gurague, and the Galla tribes, Alo and others [34]: Abyssinians
and Amharas, the most valued [35], have become rare since the King of Shoa
prohibited the exportation. Women vary in value from 100 to 400 Ashrafis,
boys from 9 to 150: the worst are kept for domestic purposes, the best are
driven and exported by the Western Arabs [36] or by the subjects of H. H.
the Imam of Muscat, in exchange for rice and dates. I need scarcely say
that commerce would thrive on the decline of slavery: whilst the Felateas
or man-razzias are allowed to continue, it is vain to expect industry in
the land.
Ivory at Harar amongst the Kafirs is a royal monopoly, and the Amir
carries on the one-sided system of trade, common to African monarchs.
Elephants abound in Jarjar, the Erar forest, and in the Harirah and other
valleys, where they resort during the hot season, in cold descending to
the lower regions. The Gallas hunt the animals and receive for the spoil a
little cloth: the Amir sends his ivory to Berberah, and sells it by means
of a Wakil or agent. The smallest kind is called "Ruba Aj"(Quarter Ivory),
the better description "Nuss Aj"(Half Ivory), whilst" Aj," the best kind,
fetches from thirty-two to forty dollars per Farasilah of 27 Arab pounds.
[36]
The coffee of Harar is too well known in the markets of Europe to require
description: it grows in the gardens about the town, in greater quantities
amongst the Western Gallas, and in perfection at Jarjar, a district of
about seven days' journey from Harar on the Efat road. It is said that the
Amir withholds this valuable article, fearing to glut the Berberah market:
he has also forbidden the Harash, or coffee cultivators, to travel lest
the art of tending the tree be lost. When I visited Harar, the price per
parcel of twenty-seven pounds was a quarter of a dollar, and the hire of a
camel carrying twelve parcels to Berberah was five dollars: the profit did
not repay labour and risk.
The tobacco of Harar is of a light yellow color, with good flavour, and
might be advantageously mixed with Syrian and other growths. The Alo, or
Western Gallas, the principal cultivators, plant it with the holcus, and
reap it about five months afterwards. It is cocked for a fortnight, the
woody part is removed, and the leaf is packed in sacks for transportation
to Berberah. At Harar, men prefer it for chewing as well as smoking: women
generally use Surat tobacco. It is bought, like all similar articles, by
the eye, and about seventy pounds are to be had for a dollar.
The Wars or Safflower is cultivated in considerable quantities around the
city: an abundance is grown in the lands of the Gallas. It is sown when
the heavy rains have ceased, and is gathered about two months afterwards.
This article, together with slaves, forms the staple commerce between
Berberah and Muscat. In Arabia, men dye with it their cotton shirts, women
and children use it to stain the skin a bright yellow; besides the purpose
of a cosmetic, it also serves as a preservative against cold. When Wars is
cheap at Harar, a pound may be bought for a quarter of a dollar.
The Tobes and sashes of Harar are considered equal to the celebrated
cloths of Shoa: hand-woven, they as far surpass, in beauty and durability,
the vapid produce of European manufactories, as the perfect hand of man
excels the finest machinery. On the windward coast, one of these garments
is considered a handsome present for a chief. The Harari Tobe consists of
a double length of eleven cubits by two in breadth, with a border of
bright scarlet, and the average value of a good article, even in the city,
is eight dollars.
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