myself by shooting, and on returning again, was met by the Abban, interpreter, and many Dulbahanta Agils, who, now trying the conciliating dodge, came to report the good news that a victory had been gained by the northerners, and the southerners were in full retreat to their provinces, by which the road to Berbera would be open to my proceeding onwards. Moreover, the rear traps had arrived at Abi, by which accident everything seemed to harmonise. This sounded very cheering for the moment, but soon was damped again. I wanted to move at once, and lose no time in taking full benefit of the opportunity thus offered; but this, like every other proposal that I made, was immediately checked by a cruel device, as unforeseen as it was objectionable. Hassan had not come with the ponies; I must, therefore, before advancing, send back to the farther frontier of the Warsingalis to purchase, by bills on Aden, five ponies at thirty dollars a-head, to be afterwards given away in presents to chiefs on the road for allowing me to pass through their territories, and this, at a minimum calculation, would occupy a fortnight's time, and even then I should have to go single-handed without a servant, instrument, or article of any bulk with me. Of course this, as the Abban knew, I never would consent to. On no account would I suffer my being separated from my men and property when the time for my return to Berbera was so close at hand; and, moreover, without the instruments, the journey would be of no avail. Row succeeded row when I pushed matters closely; the Abban sometimes af fected repentance, but more often became defiant, and forbade anybody's assisting me without his entire consent. Such, in fact, were the effects of these angry ebullitions of temper on the minds of my people, that the young Prince Abdullah, fearing to be witness to them any more, took his leave and departed home.

31st.-At length the rear traps arrived, but one camel, having been taken ill on the march this morning

whilst coming from Abi, was slaughtered to "save" his flesh, and devoured by my hungry men. As soon as everything had arrived, and the men were made aware of my intention to push forward, they requested their discharge, affecting fear to enter on a strange land, but in reality seeing I had no cloths left to pay them, as afterwards transpired. This deficiency I visited on the Abban, who, in trying to excuse himself for inefficiency in his protectorship, meekly said he had been grieved to see the very rapid decline of my property, but he could not help it, as I had so many thieves in my employ !!! Mrs Awado came over from Birhamir, bringing a sheep and some ghee as a present for me; but I refused taking anything from the relative of the Abban, and this appeared to grieve her much. She said she had heard of all my disputes with Samater her son, and had remonstrated with him about them; he was a proud man, and led away by vanity. She could see his being at variance with me would not end to his advantage on his return to Aden, and tried coaxing him to journey with me; but at the same time told me he would have to be well upon his guard, as in former years he had married clandestinely with a damsel of the Rer Hamaturwa, a sub-tribe of the Habr Gerhajis, who occupy the hill-range overlooking Burder Heis; and her loss to those people would be avenged at once, if he ever came within their power. The Rur Hamaturwa had heard of my intention to journey westwards, and would be in readiness to descend upon and intercept our march, kill Samater, and destroy the whole of us; indeed, they had sent messages to that effect.

3d January-During these last three days I visited a ruined musjid and a cemetery, which, though much resembling the one at Rhut in every respect, was said to be of more recent origin, and built by Mohammedans. On my walking amongst the tombs, and inspecting the crosses * at their heads, the interpreter rebuked me for sacrilegious motives, and desired me to come away, lest the Dul

bahantas should find it out, and be angry with me. Besides this, I daily tried to draw Samater, like a badger, from his hut, which was four miles distant from my tent, but without effect. He and his wife, two dwarf sisters (little bits of things, which, the interpreter said, were too small to be of any use to man), and some children, all lived together in a small beehive hut, so low they had to crawl in on all-fours, and so small it was marvellous how they could turn round in it. At length to-day he arrived in a sullen angry mood, and said, haughtily, he was displeased at my trying to force him into compliance, as if I had the power to make him move unless he chose. It was impossible to keep one's temper under such constant provocation; so I abused him vehemently, and warned him off the camp, again repeating he had abused his commission, as well as the Government authorities who engaged him, and entreated he would "get away," and let me take my chance of proceeding how I could, for his presence simply made my position one of purgatory. He laughed in scorn, wishing to know if I thought I could do anything without him,-and said he had only to turn his back an instant, and the Dulbahantas were ready to devour me. I still persisted; and then he said, "If you say go once more, I will take you at your word; and see you to the consequences." My resolution was fixed; for I plainly saw I could not by any possibility be worse off. He now tried frightening me by assembling the Dulbahantas to confirm his words, making them say they only permitted my residence there out of the love they bore to their brother Samater, and that they certainly would kill me if he once left the place. They did not fear guns. The English could not reach them; besides, their fathers had driven Christians from these lands; and if an army was to attack them, they would assemble so many cavalry, and ride in such rapidity around them, that their gunners could take no aim in consequence of the clouds of dust which this feat would occasion. In addition to this, they thought the English only efficacious behind walls;

else, why did they not take revenge upon the Arabs at Lehaj, two years ago, for the murder of an officer? They had often heard of their threatening and preparing to do it, but somehow they never carried their intention into execution. I treated these vain bombastic words with the contempt which they deserved,-but said, I only wanted Samater to take me on, or otherwise to leave me to my fate. They then tried weakening my party by bribing Farhan to side with them and leave; but the noble-hearted Seedi disclosed their treachery, and gallantly said he would share misfortunes with me, and fight, if necessary, to the last extremity. Imam, tame-hearted Indian, got in a dreadful fright, and implored I would compromise the matter; for by this time all the camels had been driven away; and the Warsingalis moved off with Samater, saying I brought the rupture by my obstinacy on my own head; and as soon as they were out of sight, the Dulbahantas would walk in and kill us all in a heap. I then loaded all the guns, and, giving one to each of the servants, sat on the boxes waiting to see the upshot. I was clearly outmanœuvred unable to move or get anything-but still was, to use their own expression, "obstinate." After proceeding a certain distance, the retiring band, with Samater at their head, sitting fully equipped with spear and shield on his war-steed, came to a halt, and invited the interpreter to meet them, presuming, they said, there might be some mistake, and therefore wished to open negotiations afresh. Samater then gave me back my own words, saying, "If the Sahib would only say he wished me to take him to Berbera, I will give some small presents to the Agils of the Dulbahantas as a passport for him, and proceed at once;" for they were only endeavouring to feel my disposition towards them, and did not intend desertion, if I was not irredeemably incensed against them. They then came back, and work began afresh, by the distribution of presents, which, as is usual when no man can bear to see the smallest trifle slip from his grasp to be given to another, was a

matter of no small difficulty in adjusting. If the Dulbahantas did not succeed in skinning me of all my effects, they naturally thought the next tribe would; and a whole day was consumed in wrangling and disputing how much they should get. This ended by my giving one musket, thirteen tobes, and my reserve silk turban; and now I was at liberty to quit Jid Ali.

11th. At 10 A.M. we were loaded, and commenced the journey westward; whilst the Abban said he would bid his friends adieu at home, and bring five horses with him to Biyn Hablé, where he would meet us on the following day. The track led us across a flat alluvial plain, still in the valley, which was well covered with a thick growth of acacias, and dry short grass, nipped short by cattle. After walking five miles, we arrived at our destination, not far from a well, and made a ring-fence of prickly boughs.

Here for the last time I boiled the thermometer, to ascertain the altitude of the plateau along my line of march, and found its average height was 3913 feet the minimum, at Rhut Tug, being 3077 feet-and the maximum, at Yubbé Tug, 4498 feet.

The following day two Dulbahantas paid us a visit, and demanded to know by whose authority we had come upon their grounds; we were trespassers, and must pay our footing. The ground was theirs, and they recognised no authority over them. What I had given at the last place was no concern of theirs, but I must give them also a quantity of cloth equivalent to it. This being refused as a preposterous imposition, they turned hastily away, and, tossing their heads, said, I might soon expect to see them again in larger numbers, when they would help themselves. Moreover, for my satis faction, they could assure me that a number of men, who had learned which road I was bent on travelling, were fast gathering on ahead, to oppose my advance. In the evening the Abban arrived, bringing only two ponies with him.

17th. It would be needless to recount all the varied incidents of the next five days which were wasted

here, by the thousand and one stories which the Abban produced to fritter away my time near his home, and filch me out of my property. The time had now arrived when by appointment I should have been at Berbera; and as I was not then aware at what time the fair usually broke up, I felt much afraid of being too late to join my companions. Sometimes Samater raised my hopes by saying he would certainly proceed on a certain date; and when that day arrived, it was deferred again, but not without severe rows, so much in accordance with the past ones as to be unworthy of repetition. One day we were ready, and I was to pass through any people that might fall in the way by giving large credits on Aden under his security, when the tide was turned again in another moment by the arrival of some accomplices, who dropped in like unexpected evils, to say the southern Dulbahantas had gained a great victory, slaughtering men and cattle, and the road to Berbera would be thronged with people, so that advance would be impossible for the present. This was a settler to my westward march; and now I thought of escaping from this land of robbers by turning northwards, and marching over the hills to Bunder Heis, where I could either ship off, or march along the coast to Berbera.

Negotiations were then set on foot with the Rer Hamaturwa, and several of their agils came at my bidding, but were as implacable about obliging a stranger as any of their neighbours. The whole distance was not three days' travel; still they said I should not see their country, and acknowledged themselves a lawless band, who would take everything from me if I ventured there: adding, if the Warsingalis and Dulbahantas, who were stronger than themselves, would only withdraw from me one day, they would come down at once, and demolish my whole camp. They then demanded cloths for the trouble I had given them, but, not receiving any, retired in huge disgust.

18th.-In final despair I faced about, and marched north-easterly, by a new route, to reach Bunder

a steep winding footpath up one of its ridges, which, in respect to its barrenness and soil, resembled the descent I had from Yafir. After completing eleven miles' march, the caravan crested the hill opposite Ras* Galwénee, travelled a short way on the flat of the summit, and encamped in the evening amongst some thick jungle on its north or seaward side, at a kraal called Gobamiré. Immediately on arriving, as we commenced to unload the camels, a number of men who were occupying that district-the Urus Sagé section of the Habr Gerhajis tribe -seized the camels by their heads, and demanded their customary fees, at the same time boisterously gesticulating that they would help themselves if their request was not complied with. Farhan enjoyed the row in the boisterous characteristic manner of a seedi, began dancing frantically the negro war-dance, cocking his gun, and pointing it at everybody by turns, whilst Samater and the other Warsingalis began thumping them with their clubs, and swearing a fearful vengeance would be wrought upon them by their tribe, who were living within an hour or two's call, should they not desist. The fact was, my men knew their power here, and, guided only by animal passions, enjoyed showing it. The poor discomfited Urus Sagé now slunk off like defeated dogs, or schoolboys returning from a fight, just wishing to know if they were only to be considered in the light of women, who could not maintain their own right, and, snarling and snapping, threatened they would return again in stronger force before the morning. We then unloaded, and lay-to for the night. Immediately on reaching the top of this range, a most interesting and novel sight was presented to our view. We stepped in one instant from constant sunshine into constant clouds, and saw what accounted for the dense verdure of the north, as well as the extreme barrenness of the south side of the hills. For two months we had not seen the vestige of a cloud, or felt a drop of rain, and now we were at once launched into

the middle of the "Dairti" or northeast monsoon, which had been pouring for some time previously against the north face of the mountain, and was arrested there by it. It reminded me at once of that marked phenomenon with which all travellers in the Himalaya Mountains, who spend their "hot-weather" season at Chini, on the banks of the Sutlege river, to escape rain, must be acquainted, when the clouds of the great Indian monsoon envelop all the mountain-range for months together on the weather or south-west side, and hang suspended on the top of a high hill in sight of that place, but never pass over, looking as if the mountain was too high to be surmounted by them, when trying to reach the dry plateaux of Tibet. The clouds were rolling in thick successive volumes at our feet, and obscured the view below us.

25th. We were detained until noon in consequence of the Abban's ponies, which had gone astray, and until then could not be found. In the meanwhile the Urus Sagé came again, and tried to prevent us loading, on the same plea as yesterday, but without effect; but when we were starting, a compromise was effected on condition they would escort us down the hill and guide the way. The road was steep and very slippery, so that the camels could hardly get along, and this was further increased by the thick strong green jungle-bushes, as well as rocks and other difficulties incidental to mountain travelling with such large and ungainly animals as laden camels. At the fourth mile we found a large roomy cave under a rock, and put up for the night. Sheep had been kept here, and the place was so full of fleas that the ground was literally browned with them. I never saw such an astonishing quantity congregated in one place; but we soon disposed of them by burning certain boughs, which the Somalis justly said was a specific remedy against them.

26th and 27th.-During these two days we descended by a tortuous winding footpath under no mean