Further up the hill, in the central folds of the range,
this great sterility changes for a warm rich clothing of
bush-jungle and a little grass. Gum-trees, myrrh, and
some varieties of the frankincense are found in great
profusion, as well as a variety of the aloe plant, from
which the Somali manufacture good strong cordage.
The upper part of the range is very steep and precipitous,
and on this face is well clad with trees and bush-
jungle. The southern side of the range is exactly the
opposite, in all its characteristics, of the northern.
Instead, of having a steep drop of from 6000 to 7000
feet, it falls by gentle slopes to successive terraces, like
a giant staircase, to scarcely half that depth, where it
rests at the head of the high plateau land of Nogal,
and is almost barren. Nogal, as I have said before, is
also very barren, only producing trees, such as the
hardy acacia and jujube, in sheltered places, in the
valleys or watercourses which drain that land to the
south-east. I had no means of determining it, but
should judge this second great geographical feature,
the plateau of Nogal, by the directions its streams lie
in, to have a gradual decreasing declination, like all
the rest of the interior, from the north, where it averages
an altitude of from 3000 to 4000 feet, down to
the level of the sea on south and by east.
According to traditional histories furnished me by
the natives who accompanied me on the journeys I
undertook, it appears that the present Somali are of
rather recent origin, not more than four and a half
centuries old. About the year 1413, an Arab chieftain,
Darud-bin-Ismail, who had been disputing with an
elder brother for certain territorial rights at Mecca,
was overpowered and driven from the Mussulman Holy
Land, and marched southwards, accompanied by a
large number of faithful followers,—amongst whom
was an Asyri damsel, of gentle blood and interesting
beauty, whom he subsequently married,—to Makallah,
on the southern shores of Arabia. Once arrived there,
this band of vanquished fugitives hired vessels, and,
crossing the Gulf of Aden, came to Bunder Gori. Here
they were hospitably received by the then governing
people, who, for the most part, were Christians—probably
Gallas and Abyssinians—who, judging from the
few archaeological remains they subsequently left behind
them, must have lived in a far more advanced
state of civilisation than the present Somali enjoy.
Those Christian people were governed by one man,
Sultan Kin, who had a deputy called Wurrah, renowned
alike for his ferocity of character and his
ability to govern.
For some years Darud and his Arab followers led
a quiet, peaceable life, gaining the confidence of his
host, and inspiring Kin’s subjects with reverence
for their superior talents. In process of time, by
intermarriage and proselytising, these Mussulmans
increased in number, and gained such strength, that
they began to covet, and finally determined to take
the country from the race that had preceded them.
This project, by various intrigues and machinations,
was easily effected; and Kin, with all his Christians,