had ever been adverse, and be bad remonstrated with
the Government about it, declaring, as bis opinion, the
scheme to be quite unfeasible. The Somali, be said,
were the most savage of all African savages, and were
of such a wild and inhospitable nature that no stranger
could possibly live amongst them. The Government,
however, relying on the ability of one who made the
pilgrimage of Mecca, were bent at least on giving the
Lieutenant a chance of showing what he could do in
this even darker land, and he was then occupied in
Aden maturing his plans of procedure.41.
This, then, was the opportunity the Colonel took
advantage of, advising me to ask Lieutenant Burton
to incorporate me in his expedition, at the same time
saying that, if it was found to be agreeable to Lieutenant
Burton, he would back my application to the
Turban Government, obtain a cancel of my furlough,
and get me put on service-duty as a member of the
expedition.
Nothing could have suited me better, as it brought
me on service again, and so saved my furlough leave
for a future exploration. Lieutenant Burton consented,
and I was at once installed in the expedition. My
travelling, mapping,! and collecting propensities, it
* Lieutenant Burton received ¿100 from the Royal Geographical
Society to cross Africa, from west to east, and whilst attempting that
journey he got drifted off with the flood of pilgrims to Mecca. See his
book.
f I had then mapped Tibet, and had laid down several new districts
which even to this day have not been trodden by any European but
myself.
was thought would be of service to the ends of the
expedition; and by my being incorporated in it, there
would be no chance of my running counter to it, by
travelling on its line of march, and possibly giving
rise to disturbances with the natives.
Before proceeding further in the narrative of events
as they occurred, it may be as well, perhaps, to anticipate
a little, and give a general impression of the
geography, ethnology, history, and other characteristics
of the country under investigation—the Somali
land—and the way in which it was intended that those
investigations should be carried out. As will appear
by the following pages, my experiences were mostly
confined to the north central parts, in the highlands
of the Warsingali and Dulbahanta tribes. The rest
of my information is. derived from conversations with
the natives, or what I have read in some very interesting
pages in vol. xix. of the I Transactions of the
Boyal Geographical Society/ written by Lieutenant
Cruttenden.
The Somali country is an elbow of land lying between
the equator and the 11th degree of north latitude,
which, from its peculiar form, might well be
designated the Eastern Horn of Africa. The land is
high in the north, and has a general declination, as
may be seen by the river system, to the south and
eastward, but with less easting as we come westward.
I t is separated from the main body of Africa by the
river Jub, a large and fertilising stream, which, rising.