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Among the ancients, this country was known as that of the Avalites; in which word may perhaps be recognised, Affah, the present native name of the Dankalli tribes, living on the western coast of the Red Sea, but which formerly had a far more extensive application, and included the numerous Soumaulee tribes, who inhabited the country to the south of the Sea of Babel Mandeb as far as Cape Guardefoi, and from thence southward along the eastern coast of Africa as far as Malinda.

Another name for these Affah tribes is Adal; given to them by the Abyssinians inland, and which, according to some recent authorities, has arisen from the circumstance of the principal tribe with whom the Abyssinians have any intercourse being the Adu Alee, living in the immediate vicinity of Massoah, which name has gradually become to be used as the designation of the whole people. I confess that I do not see the propriety of this derivation, as it appears more natural to derive the Abyssinian name from that of the chief part of this country at an early period, when a powerful Egyptian monarch made the Affah port, Adulis, the capital of an extensive country. The terminal letter of this proper name, I have been informed, may be the usual Grecian affix to adapt it to the genius of their language; and I think the probability is, that the ? has been thus added, and that the word Aduli was the origin of the Greek Adulis, and of the modern name Adal.

It also appears to me that the word Dankalli connects the history of these people with the empire of the true Ethiopia, or Meroe, which was situated between the branches of the Tacazze and the Assareek, or the Red Nile, for it may be that in the Odyssey, where Homer conducts Neptune into Ethiopia, and places him between two nations of blacks, perfectly distinct from each other, the poet alludes to the two very different people, the Shankalli and the Dankalli, inhabiting the low countries of Africa within the tropics; the former living to the west of Abyssinia, the latter towards the east. This will be more evident when, in a future chapter, I connect the elevated table-land of Abyssinia with the scene of the annual festivities of the gods in Ethiopia.

Respecting the numerous savage tribes, known in Europe under the general term Galla, I will not anticipate the results of my subsequent journey, which afforded me better opportunity of forming an opinion as to the real character of these people, and of comparing them with others, who seemed to me to have one common origin, but who differ very materially in the historical circumstances which have marked the period of their long separation. I shall, therefore, return for the present to Aden, which we reached early in the morning of the first of March, three days after having left Tajourah.

From Back Bay, a joint report was immediately forwarded to Capt. Haines by Lieut. Young and Mr. Hatchetoor, announcing the return of the brig, and the ill success that had attended their endeavours to forward the stores and myself to Shoa. Fortunately, I was not long permitted to remain at Steamer Point, off which the Euphrates was anchored, for before noon of the same day we arrived, I received fresh instructions from Capt. Haines to embark again in the evening, and proceed in company with the assistant political agent, C. J. Cruttenden, Esq., to Berberah, where the great annual fair was then being held; from which place it was arranged a native boat should be engaged to take that gentleman, his two servants, and myself back to Tajourah. Capt. Haines rightly supposing that some little jealousy had been excited on the previous occasion by the appearance of the brig before the town which might have implied that compulsion would be resorted to, should the inhabitants refuse their required assistance to communicate with the Embassy in the interior. One great benefit had resulted from the voyage--my health having considerably improved. The sea air, fresh scenes, and above all, the considerate kindness with which I was treated on board the Euphrates confirmed the restorative reaction which had commenced in Aden. The depressing influence that for several months had held me in sick durance, yielded before the excitement of hope, and a new principle of life seemed to reanimate my nearly worn-out frame.

Arrival at Berberah.--Description of the Town and Fair.--Departure for Zeila.--The Town of Zeila.--Second Visit to Tajourah.--Time, from the 1st to the 6th of March.

BERBERAH is situated on the same coast of the sea of Babel Mandeb, but about 130 miles to the eastward of Tajourah. It is remarkable for having been a mart for the exchange of African and Asiatic products between the merchants of either continent, from the earliest antiquity.

For the greater part of every year, during the S. W. Monsoon, from September to March, this place is the busy scene of an extensive commerce, and a deserted wilderness for the remaining months; after which interval, again the ships of foreign and the caravans of native products begin to arrive. Another temporary town rises as if by the wand of some magician, and thousands of huts and mat houses are erected upon the beach, where but a few weeks before nothing was to be seen but bare sands; nothing to be heard save the howling of numerous wild beasts, as they prowled in search of food, amongst the heaps of filth and animal remains collected during the preceding fair.

We came in sight of Berberah on the afternoon of the 4th of March. As the brig rounded a low sandy point, and entered the narrow harbour, several of the natives, who had been long watching our slow advance, the wind being very light, leaped into the sea, and swam on board. I could not avoid noticing immediately the apparent difference in disposition between them and the people of Tajourah; for a most sullen and distrustful bearing seemed to characterize the latter, while the Soumaulee on the contrary, at least those of Berberah, seemed confident that no violence or injury would be offered to them, they seized the ropes thrown over the sides of the vessel to assist them as they climbed up, and in high glee they passed along the deck and on to the poop, laughing, arranging their wet waist-cloths, and shaking hands, as if they were among old friends.

We anchored within a short distance of the town, and several of the leading people came immediately on board. The business connected with my journey to Berberah was transacted at once in the cabin, the principal native authority, Allee Shurmalkee, being requested by Mr. Cruttenden to provide a boat and other necessaries, which he readily consented to do. As it was late, we none of us went on shore; although I do not believe any danger would have been incurred by so doing, a very friendly feeling evidently existing on the part of the natives towards the English, without that abundant protestation of friendship pressed upon you, as it is by the people of Tajourah, which you cannot help feeling is altogether feigned.

During the earlier part of the next day, I amused myself upon deck, making observations on the temporary town, and speculating on the different national characters of the mixed multitude which inhabit it.

The mere appearance of Berberah is most uninteresting, except, certainly, the harbour, which, if not a very prominent feature, is still a most singular one for its peculiar construction and admirable convenience. A long low spit or raised bank of sand and coral extends nearly a mile into the sea towards the west, parallel with, and at the distance of about half a mile from, the real line of coast. Within the enclosed space of water good anchorage in four or six fathoms is found nearly up to the town, which is situated around the bite of this little narrow inlet. The rise and fall of the tide is sufficient to admit of very large bogalows, as the native boats are called, to be beached for repair, or other purposes; and, in fact, during the fair, a great number of these vessels do lie upon the shore, or in the shallow water close up to the town, giving to the whole a regular, dock-like, appearance.

So apparently accordant with the rules of art is the direction of the outer sea-wall, and its position so admirably convenient, that even a reflecting observer cannot altogether divest himself of the idea, that it is not a pre-concerted work of art rather than the casual production of nature. This was certainly my first impression; and for some time I considered it to have been constructed in a remote period of antiquity, when the whole of this coast was the busy scene of an extensive and lucrative commerce, but that in the revolution of time and the everchanging pursuits of man, the origin of this sea-protecting mole had been forgotten, and the only remembrance of the people who raised it was to be found in its name, which certainly recalls to the mind that of a long-lost nation, the Berbers of Africa. This was theory, of course, and my opinion soon changed, when I found that no other evidence of man's residence existed in this neighbourhood; no traces whatever of that industry and wealth which must have characterized the people who could have projected and completed such an extensive marine defence for their navy and commerce. Subsequently also, geological examinations, and comparison with other older reefs of sand and coral, now forming part of, and which extend some distance inland, enabled me to establish its identity with them in structure and mineral composition. Finally, therefore, I became convinced that this was another of those beautiful and benevolent works that Nature--"our kindest mother still"--has provided for the security of her favourite, man; for with an anticipating care she has here constructed for him, by a curious yet simple economy, a safe retreat whenever in his frail bark he might be exposed to the violence of the winds and waves, on this otherwise inhospitable and dangerous coast.

In the afternoon a party, consisting of A. Nesbitt, Esq., First Lieut. of the Euphrates, the Purser, Mr. Powell, and myself, was formed for the purpose of more closely examining Berberah and its curiosities. One of the brig's boats was ordered alongside, and we soon found ourselves carefully threading a winding course, amidst the numerous fleet of bogalows moored along-shore, greeted as we passed beneath their huge misshapen sterns, by the joking salutations and laughing faces of numerous alm?, or slave-girls, who crowded the cabin windows, and the most striking features of whose dark countenances were rows of pearly teeth. The boat grounded about thirty yards from dry land, and we were obliged to be carried upon the shoulders of the crew over a black muddy beach, being set down amidst heaps of dirt; the rotting debris of the sea and of the land, drift wood, loose spars, the bones of animals, and excrements of man, formed a barrier of filth, over which it was impossible to choose a path, so we at once struck boldly across to the narrow entrance of what we imagined must be a street, and entered the town of Berberah.

I should suppose there were at least from four to five thousand huts placed closely together, uniform in size and elevation, being generally of an oblong form, about six feet broad, by nine feet in length, and five feet in height. They consisted of a roof of mats, made of the doom palm leaf, or of a long dried grass, or else merely half-dried skins badly preserved, stretched over the usual stick skeleton of a wigwam. There was not much architectural display, for being all roof, they did not well admit of it. Nor does convenience appear to be consulted in laying out streets, or even regular passages, only in so much, that a small spot on one side of the entrance of each hut is left vacant for purposes that may be imagined, and a succession of these sweet and pleasant places make a narrow lane, into which all doors open, and thus a convenient but dirty street is formed by which alone the visitor is enabled to perambulate this justly celebrated aromatic yielding fair.

The residences of the few foreign merchants, principally Banians and Arabs, are exceptions to this general style in the construction of the houses, and have some pretensions both to appearance and convenience, usually having mat walls to the height of four or five feet, with a long slanting roof of grass securely fastened down by sticks of bamboo laid transversely. The entrance is a kind of hall, opening into the centre of a room at right angles, and which extends to the right and left, perhaps ten or twelve feet on each side; its breadth is about ten feet. Behind this room is another apartment of equal dimensions, which serves as a store or warehouse, and one end partitioned off by mats, contains the secluded inmates of the harem.

One of the objects we had in view in visiting the fair was, to procure some few additional articles I required for my journey into the interior, namely, a bed carpet, two Arab frocks of yellow nankeen, and a black camaline or cloak. We accordingly bent our steps towards the quarter where lived our native friend, Shurmalkee, who was to assist us in making our purchases, but whose residence we should never have found but for the crowd of armed idlers who soon surrounded us, and led us with a kind of barbarous state into the presence of their respected chief.

We rested ourselves upon the only piece of furniture in the mat-walled room, a rude couch of wood with a bottom of interlaced palm-leaf rope, covered with a coarse Arab carpet of as many colours as Joseph's jacket. We refused to take any refreshment, and sent immediately for the articles we wanted. As usual, the Islam spirit of despoiling the Christian exhibited itself in the exorbitant demands of the Arab merchants, but which in this case was defeated by the prompt interference of Shurmalkee, who dismissed them very summarily as much to ours as to their surprise. As soon as they were gone, however, he explained the cause, and promised to obtain the things himself, before we went on board, at half the price that had been demanded, desiring us not to take any farther trouble about them, but to proceed at once to view the town, at the same time supplying us, as is the custom of these people, with two natives for guides, and also as sureties for our safety and freedom from molestation during our walk.

The appointment of these sureties, or Abbahn, as each calls himself, to every stranger who enters the town, is a singular but very necessary characteristic of the social condition of the inhabitants of Berberah, and is deserving of particular notice. Convenience on the one hand and enterprise on the other, have here brought together the Hindoo Banyan, the Mahomedan Arab, and the Pagan Soumaulee; for even now scarcely one half of this latter people profess the Islam faith. With no generally acknowledged superior, no established law, each inhabitant depends upon his own keen knife, or that of his Abbahn, for personal safety and the security of his property. All are equally ready to resort to a bloody appeal upon the least cause of dispute, so that every day is marked by some fatal quarrel, and every night by some robbery and violent death. Even the murdering Danakil shakes his head when he speaks of the Fair of Berberah, denouncing it as being "shatan, shatan;" whilst the wisest and the best men of every nation or tribe, who are here assembled, speak openly their desire, that some powerful Islam, or even Feringee Government, should take actual possession, both of this port and of Zeila also. Under such circumstances, the foreign merchant, accustomed in his own country to the protection of law, or of some regularly established authority, consents but reluctantly, and then only from the prospect of immense gains, to risk his person among a people so violently barbarous as are the Adal tribes occupying this portion of Africa, who have lost none of their ancient character significantly recorded in the Periplus, as being "uncivilized, and under no restraint." To protect himself in some measure the trader has recourse to the system of procuring the constant attendance of one or more of the natives, whose duty it is to guard their employer from molestation. Two-thirds of the Soumaulee population of the town are engaged in this manner. No sooner does a stranger arrive than he is surrounded by natives, each soliciting to be employed as his Abbahn, and are almost as importunate and as troublesome as the hotel-barkers who infest the piers of our watering-places. The important privilege of supplying strangers with Abbahns is monopolized by one tribe living in the neighbourhood of Berberah, called Raree-good-Had?, but not without considerable opposition from another tribe called Raree-Abdullah, with whom serious conflicts sometimes take place within the town, when all business is suspended for three or four days in consequence.

Every ship, or bogalow, arriving at the port is boarded, at least a mile from the shore, by a crowd of Soumaulee Abbahns, and on the occasion of the Euphrates approaching Berberah, a number of these naked visitors, as I have before mentioned, swam from shore a very long distance and were taken on board.

Following Shurmalkee's advice, we started, but certainly not to see the town, though we passed through it; for with eyes bent upon the ground, we carefully picked our way along the narrow street, not four feet wide, the tops of the stinking skin wigwams and mat-huts presenting one uniform dark level, just the height of our noses. The outskirts of the town were equally offensive, but more particularly marked by the vast quantity of bones of all eatable animals strewed about, and the vestiges of numerous cooking fires, everywhere telling of the sites of former houses, and that a few weeks before the fair must have been even more extensive. About half a mile to the left of the town, on a slightly elevated mound of sand and coral, was a ruined mosque, the only appearance of a stone building in the neighbourhood. To this we proceeded, our conversation turning upon the dirtiness of the town, its low flat appearance from every point of view, the singular character of its inhabitants, and the great importance Berberah might assume in the possession of some highly civilized country, as one point from whence to spread through Africa the benefits arising from science, and the happiness attendant upon a knowledge of the Christian faith.

Around the mosque were numerous graves, each consisting of a low heap of stones in a line six feet long, enclosed in a large circle of single stones, the diameter of which sometimes exceeded twenty feet. The direction of the graves were due east and west, and a small space or opening in the circle invariably to the south, formed a kind of entrance into its area. They differed from the strictly Islam tomb in not having the two little flat stones at the head and foot, in their less conical form, and in the circular enclosure. Their vicinity to the ruined mosque told, however, of the profession of the Islam faith during the life of the deceased, whilst in the manner of the burial it appeared that surviving friends had still adhered to the customs of their forefathers. I might, too, have been mistaken in the real character of the building, and that which I hastily concluded to be a mosque, may have been some remains of a temple of the ancient faith professed by the Affah nation, and which I believe was Sabianism.

From the burial-place looking towards the south-east, we had a view of the town and shipping of Berberah, situated at one extremity of a spacious triangular plain, which we were told extended one hundred miles one way in the direction of Zeila, and inland towards Hurrah nearly the same distance. On our return to Shurmalkee's house, we walked along the beach in front of the town, where were numerous women drying sheep-skins, by stretching them in the sun, pinning them down upon the hot sands by broken pieces of bones in the absence of sticks. Tobes, or the large cotton cloths worn by the natives over the shoulders and around the body, were also bleaching upon the beach after a careless wash in the sea. As we came nearer to the town we disturbed, as we passed, several large bodies of men squatting upon the ground in deep conversation, each armed with a large heavy knife and a spear. We were also continually being jostled by busy native porters, who were conveying loads of gum and coffee on board the bogalows, or else laden with their return burdens of cotton and cotton goods for the stores of their employers.

We had taken our guns with us, having started with the intention of proceeding some short distance inland, but the sun was so very powerful, and the prospect so apparently hopeless, of either instruction or amusement being derived from the walk, that it was resolved, as I started on the morrow for Tajourah, that we should proceed immediately on board the brig, from the deck of which we had a more extensive view of the town and surrounding country, than any point afforded on shore, and from our numerous visitors, Arab and native, had excellent opportunities of deriving information respecting the manners and customs of the Soumaulee population.

The appearance of the surrounding country seems to indicate that at a period not very remote, the whole of it has either been upheaved from beneath the sea, or that the retreat of the latter has left the plain, extending to the westward and southward of Berberah, the dry land we now find it. At one time the coast about here must have been of a somewhat similar character to that which is now presented by the harbour of Zeila, deep narrow channels existing between extensive coral reefs, which, at the distance of three miles from the town, have not one fathom in depth of water over them. At the time of such submersion of the plain of Berberah, the sea must then have come up to the nearly regular line of low volcanic hills, which, commencing a few miles distant from the town, stretch in a south-western direction for many miles inland. This portion of the then sea of Aden included a considerable part of the country between Zeila and Hurrah, for the present coast-line, from the former town to Berberah, assumed as a base, whilst Hurrah may represent the apex, will give some idea of the triangular form of this now habitable tract, which, I conclude, has been raised above the level of the sea by the operation of some vast upheaving force. Whatever testimony is required for this opinion is presented by the geological character of the numerous small hills to the south of Berberah: old coral reefs studding the place with eminences about twenty-five feet high as far as the eye can reach. If these formations are considered as insufficient authority for my founding an opinion upon the submarine origin of this country and its recent elevation, I can only excuse myself upon the plea of endeavouring to give a better idea of its appearance by this allusion to its geological character, and which will at least, I hope, assist the reader in forming a more complete picture of Berberah and its environs.

The next day was occupied in placing the boxes and packages of the Mission into the native boat, hired from Shurmalkee. This was effected by noon, and after a parting dinner with our kind friends on board the brig, Mr. Cruttenden and myself proceeded to take possession of our fresh berths in the bogalow.

From what I could learn, Zeila was held by Arab and native merchants; the Dowlar, or governor, being appointed by the Sheriff of Mocha, who formerly received some small tribute from the town. Allee Shurmalkee has since my visit either seized or purchased this town, and hoisted independent colours upon its walls; but as I know little or nothing save the mere fact of its possession by that Soumaulee chief, and as this change occurred whilst I was in Abyssinia, I shall not say anything more upon the subject.

The officer who visited us in our boat, carried rather ostentatiously at his belt, two large and very rudely made wooden keys, with projecting bits of iron wire, which formed a kind of apology for wards. From their appearance, I should suppose that the locks they fitted were not either of a very intricate or very substantial character, and not such as were calculated, without other aids, to effect the exclusion of unwelcome visitors. I had not an opportunity of examining the defences of Zeila, beyond a sight of its wall, twenty or thirty feet high, over which could be seen certain whitewashed and grey stone houses, with flat roofs. Besides two old guns, which we could see from the boat, lying dismounted upon the sands, I was told there were a very few others placed on that part of the wall looking inland.

Mr. Cruttenden forwarded to the governor some few pounds of gunpowder in return for the sheep, but declined on this occasion his polite invitation to visit him, promising to see him on his return to Berberah, which he hoped would be in a few days, after settling affairs for me in Tajourah. During the night, we took advantage of the land breeze, and made Tajourah by the middle of the next day. The difficulty of fixing upon our anchorage was not so nice an affair as with the brig. The narrow and confined opening on the sunken coral reef forms a kind of submarine haven, directly in front of Tajourah, in which is the only secure anchorage. It was easily found by our vessel, whose light draught of water admitted of its going over the reef in search of it; and when found, allowed of our bringing up within a very few yards from the shore. This was no little convenience, for our bogalow only carried for communication with the land a small canoe made out of a single tree, and barely able to carry two persons. Mr. Cruttenden's sword was trusted to the hands of one of the crew, an excellent swimmer, who took rather a novel mode of conveying his bright burden to the shore, swimming the whole way completely immersed, save the hand and arm bearing the sword, which was thus carried perpendicularly to the body, with an intuitive knowledge of the mechanical relief to the muscles of the arm afforded by a weight being carried in that manner.

Mr. Cruttenden trusted himself into the frail and ticklish canoe, which bobbled upon the surface of the water as if its ill-adjusted centre of gravity would upset itself. He, however, was placed, not without a certain degree of wetting, safely upon the land; and the dexterous paddler of this tiny craft returned for me. I really do not know how I managed to convey myself into it, nor can I account reasonably for its doing so much for me to the shore; but I recollect very well that I considered it a regular escape, for had I been upset in my then weak state from my previous illness, I should certainly have finished my African travels in the Bay of Tajourah.

Reception in Tajourah.--Arrangements for our stay.--Occupation.--Amusements.--Geological character of the country.--Engaging camels for the journey.--Customs of the townspeople.--Public buildings.--Religious ceremonies, law, and justice.

I JOINED Mr. Cruttenden at the house of the Sultaun, being directed on my way by a party of little slave children, who formed a rather troublesome train, as they kept importuning me for buttons and beads. The younger girls and infants, however, could not by any inducement be prevailed upon to come near me; and what with the shouting plaguing boys, who followed behind, and the screaming flying children before me, I began to think myself more of a curiosity than I had before believed myself to be.

The Sultaun of Tajourah with considerable politeness placed us, immediately on our arrival, in possession of the elevated cabin before mentioned, and the room below, and then left us to hasten forward the preparation of a meal, consisting of boiled rice, which was soon after brought in. It was placed before us in a large saucer-like dish, with a quantity of milk in a curious kind of basket, made of the larger nerves of the doom palm leaf, sewed very closely together with a finer description of the same material; the inside was overlaid by some black vegetable matter, but of what character I could never properly understand.

Having arranged our legs as decently as we could around the table, which was merely a large mat of the palm leaf, we had nearly satisfied ourselves before the arrival of some promised lumps of meat, which, strong and tough, challenged the integrity of our teeth, in the vain endeavours we made to do justice to this part of our host's hospitality, for we might almost as well have attempted to devour the piece of round leather upon which it was brought. The latter piece of furniture, at all events, afforded some degree of pleasure, for I saw immediately an explanation of the obscure passage in AEneid, where the Harpy Celaeno is made to say--

... "Ambesas subigat malis absumere mensas,"

In accordance with the usual custom in Arabia, and which custom has probably been imported from that country with the Mahomedan religion, the first day of our arrival was spent in friendly conversation with the people of the town, who were acquainted with Mr. Cruttenden from previous intercourse. All allusion to the business we had come upon was carefully avoided, the established etiquette of hospitable politeness leaving to the stranger the first day of arrival for rest after his journey, and for making him welcome on the part of his entertainers.

I now assumed the dress which had been recommended as the most appropriate for my journey. Over a pair of loose drill trousers, I donned a long yellow frock of nankeen, with sleeves narrowing to the wrist, of a kind which has been used by the Arabs from the time in which the Periplus was written, for among the articles of the commerce of the Red Sea there enumerated, are these very frocks, and the material of which they are made was then principally imported by Indian vessels, as at the present day. A large straw hat, of the double Manilla kind, with a thick layer of cotton wool between the two walls, formed a very light covering for the head, and being quite impenetrable to the direct rays of an almost vertical sun, was a sufficient protection against the evil most to be feared, "a coup de soleil."

The morning after our arrival, a survey was taken of the stores which, during the past night, had been brought from the bogalow, and placed, part in the lower room of our house, and part in the little court adjoining, so that they might be under the eye of Nassah, one of the Arab servants of Mr. Cruttenden, who was appointed to watch over, and who in fact slept among and upon, the boxes and packages. The apartment occupied by Mr. Cruttenden and myself was the elevated cabin, immediately adjoining the residence of the Sultaun. It was rather a long room, with a sloping roof, the centre of which was a few inches above our heads, but at the sides was only two feet high from the floor. The walls consisted of frames, in which were sliding shutters of most irregular construction, and of every dirty colour that can be conceived. The floor of the upper end was raised about a foot into a kind of dais, or, as Mr. Cruttenden styled it, a spare bed, not being more than five feet in its longest direction, and upon which had been spread his sleeping carpets for the night. The entrance into our novel residence was a square hole in the farther corner of the floor, through which we ascended and descended, like stage ghosts, carefully inserting our toes in any little crevices we could see among sundry dry and rotten sticks, which assisted the mats in forming the wall of our lower apartment.

Besides Nassah and a young man named Abdullah, a native of Mocha, who officiated as cook, we had another attendant, a slave who had been lent to us by Shurmalkee, on account of his acquaintance with the Arabic and Dankalli languages, and who was of considerable use to us as our private interpreter.

Whilst we staid in Tajourah, our daily occupations were not of a very varied character, yet still they were such that did not fatigue us with their sameness. Every morning at sunrise, attended by Nassah, we strolled down to the beach, and indulged ourselves in the health-giving bath. Towards evening, accompanied by some of the chief men of the town, we amused ourselves and astonished them by our dexterity with the rifle. The Tajourah people themselves only boasted the possession of a solitary matchlock, and the daring proprietor of this not unfrequently joined us, trying his piece with a new silver mounted one which we had brought with us as a present from Capt. Haines to Izaak, but as no inducement could prevail either upon him or his son to discharge it, Nassah was always called upon to relieve these gentlemen from the danger and honour of firing.

Our rendezvous on occasions of these shooting matches, was generally on the summit of a low cliff of coral limestone, which stood a few hundred yards in rear of the town, and which extended two miles inland to the base of a gravel bank, perhaps 100 feet high, capped by a thin stratum of coarse black lava. The undermining of this bank is very rapid and considerable during the rainy season, so that large masses of the superincumbent lava are continually breaking off and rolling into the beds of numberless temporary torrents below. The period of the first appearance of this lava cannot have been more than a few hundred years ago, and volcanoes have certainly existed on this coast within the recorded history of the earth. A few miles in the interior, between Raheita and Tajourah, is still a range of hills evidently of igneous origin, called by the natives Jibel Jann, or Demon Mountains. The same name is also given to a more recently active, but very small volcano situated on the road to Shoa; and which was represented by the natives to be the residence of some turbulent genius confined there by Soloman, in accordance with some of the commonly received Arabic traditions.

This coral reef, however, afforded the most interesting proof of the raising of the coast having occurred during the present existing state of things, as regards the direction of winds and currents in the surrounding sea, as also of its being constructed by the same species of Zoophites, who are now producing its counterpart in the present bay. I have stood on this old inland reef during the afternoon, when the reflection of the sun's rays from the surface of the present immersed bed of coral, in front of Tajourah, has plainly showed the parallelism of its outer edge with that of the reef upon which I was standing, and a separation or indenture in the latter also corresponded exactly with the narrow channel in which anchorage is now found near to the present shore, and which must have been produced, in both cases, by the operation of similar natural causes, acting under exactly similar circumstances. More alteration in this part of the world has been produced by volcanic action than can be conceived by endeavouring to form an idea of it by comparison with the changes effected by the occasional outbreaks of Vesuvius or Etna. Convulsions of the earth, and ejection of molten lava upon a most extensive scale, can only account for the great alteration which has evidently, in modern times, taken place in the physical geography of the whole country of Arabia, the eastern shore of Africa, and probably over a considerable portion of the bed of the Indian Ocean in this neighbourhood.

Sir G. M'Kenzie's description of the phenomena which have attended volcanic action in Iceland, approaches somewhat to that which may be supposed was here once exhibited, or that a succession of convulsions, similar to the great earthquake of Kutch, in Scinde, of which Sir S. Raffles gives such an interesting account, have here, at some former period, exerted the same appalling agents, and produced the extensive alterations in the previous character of this once blessed land, abounding with life and with natural beauty, but which is now, even by the Arab, wandering over his almost equally miserable desert, designated, and most appropriately, as the "deserted quarter of the world."

The day after our arrival was occupied in preparing and presenting such presents as were intended for the chief people of Tajourah, generally consisting of long robes or body-cloths of white calico, and fotahs, or finely manufactured parti-coloured waistcloth, much prized by both the Arabs and the Dankalli. After this important business was concluded to the satisfaction of all, some conferences were held respecting the number of camels we should require, to apportion fairly among the numerous owners of them, the stores to be conveyed up; for the remuneration that was determined upon being very high, plenty of applicants were found putting in their claim to be employed. The competition would have been very beneficial, could it have been brought to bear upon the price required for each camel; but the unsophisticated Adal savage was as acute upon such matters as the craftiest Chinese, and the system of the Hong merchants of monopolizing the trade was fully acted upon by the chief men of Tajourah. Mr. Cruttenden, as Wakeel of the English Government, was obliged to transact all business through the hands of the Sultaun's agents, who were Izaak, the brother of the Sultaun, and his friend and seconder on all matters of State policy, Mahomed Cassim. These worthies really deserved whatever present they received subsequently to my departure from Mr. Cruttenden, for the trouble, anxiety, and real danger they must have incurred in satisfying, pacifying, and denying the crowd of bullying murderers, who all required a share of the hard, bright dollars, which were always sure to be poured into the town in payment of those services the English Government might require from them. Calahms, or councils, were being continually held, now to settle quarrels arising out of the discussion, and then to discuss again some other subject, until another quarrel had arisen.

Nearly a month was spent in this unsatisfactory manner, when Mr. Cruttenden resolved upon immediately returning to Aden, taking with him the packages, thus putting an end to the deception and procrastination we had submitted to so long. He accordingly sent a letter to Captain Young, who was still at Berberah, requesting him to send again Shurmalkee's boat to receive us. Immediately this transpired, which it did only so soon as the messenger had departed, we observed a remarkable increase of energy on the part of Izaak and Cassim, for during that day we were disturbed by the continual succession of parties coming to examine, and endeavouring to form some judgment as to the weight of, the different boxes, favouritism showing itself in allowing friends to make these surreptitious visits by night also, to determine the choice of loads for their camels. Excuses the next day were also made for our long detention, and assurances that we should certainly start the first propitious day, which was considered to be the next Friday, at the time of the afternoon prayer.

During the four weeks we had been compelled to reside in Tajourah, few incidents occurred worthy of being recorded. Most of our time we were sitting below in the court, on a rude, cord-bottomed couch, covered with a mat. Close to the ends were placed two large pillows, belonging to Mr. Cruttenden, for us to recline upon; whilst, before us, squatting upon the ground, and ranged along the opposite wall, were generally some of our Dankalli acquaintances, who seemed to be anxious to learn something of our institutions and manners. Discussions upon the Christian religion were very frequent; and they soon were made to understand the difference between us and the Roman Catholic nations, whom they include under one name--Feringee.

I also became acquainted with a singular mode of descent, or manner in which the power and title of Sultaun is transmitted to the next possessor. It appears that Tajourah is principally inhabited by two subdivisions of the great Adu Allee tribe, the same from whom it has been asserted the Abyssinian name of this people is derived. These two families have each their own Chief, who alternately assumes the supremacy of the town on the death of the other, whilst the next expectant fills the office of Vizier, or chief adviser. This mode of succession does not appear to be peculiar to Tajourah, but to be a general principle of state economy through all the important tribes; for, in the same manner, I had an opportunity of observing, was determined the possession of the chief dignity among the Debenee; and I was given to understand it was also the custom of the Wahamah, and the Muditee of Owssa. The present Sultaun of Tajourah is named Mahomed, and belongs to the Burhanto family; the Vizier, who was absent on a pilgrimage to Mecca when we first arrived, was the principal man of the Dinsarrah. He returned in time to receive a present, to prevent him interfering in the arrangements, which were then just completed, and a promise of future patronage on the next occasion of a kafila being required by our Government. His arrival accelerated, in some measure, our departure; for had we remained any time afterwards, he would certainly, with his friends, have compelled a change in the distribution of the stores, and thus have led to another detention, or perhaps would have entirely prevented their going up to Shoa. Izaak and Cassim, who had had it so far in their own hands, were therefore interested in hastening the departure of the kafila; and from the day of the Vizier's first appearance in Tajourah, I found the boxes were gradually removed from under our own care to the houses of the carriers. On occasions of counsel, it was usual for the principal men of the town to assemble in front of the Sultaun's residence, where they sat upon their heels, or upon the large stones and trunks of the date trees placed for that purpose. With his back leaning against the enclosure of his own house, the Sultaun Mahomed occupied a stone, with Izaak generally sitting on another by his side, together helping the parties present to small cups of strong black coffee. This was poured out of a long-necked, globular, earthenware vessel, of common red clay, into the mouth of which was stuffed a quantity of dried grass, to act as a strainer. The cups were of the same coarse manufacture, being exactly in form and appearance like the very smallest flower-pots in a green-house, except that the latter, without the aperture at the bottom, would, I think, be much more elegant and convenient.

The usual dress of the males of Tajourah was the fotah, or waist-cloth, and the sarree, which is an Indian term for part of a woman's dress, exactly corresponding to it in use and shape. It is a long robe, worn round the body, generally of white calico, with a red or blue border at the two extremities; it is usually among the townspeople seven cubits long--that is, seven times the length of the hand and arm from the elbow. Among the Bedouins--the people inhabiting the country--it is but three and a-half, or about the same size as a Scotch plaid, which I noticed one day, as I saw the two distinct and yet similar formed garments drying together upon the ground after a shower of rain.

The ladies wear a long blue chemise with short sleeves, and a very heavy necklace, made of beads, shells, or of large carved pieces of mother of pearl, reposes upon their delicate bosoms. Ear-rings are a very extraordinary vanity amongst them. They consist of large loops of twisted brass wire, five or six in number, placed each through its own perforation in the outer lobe of the ear; whilst depending from each of these is one, sometimes two oblong plates of tin, or pewter, at least an inch broad, and one and a-half inch in length. Bracelets and anklets of brass and pewter, large and heavy, were very common among them; and as they chanted their monotonous songs of prayer or grief, they clattered them against each other as a kind of accompaniment to their voices. They dressed their hair in a number of small plaits, which were connected round the back of the head by parallel bands of red or white cotton, interwoven with and crossing the hair transversely, and in this manner forming a kind of tippet upon the neck and shoulders. I was once a witness to the difficulty of unravelling or combing out this intangled mass, which reminded me of the hair of Samson, interwoven with the web of the loom. The lady whose hair was to be operated upon sat upon a stone in the court, beneath one of our windows, and behind her, on her knees, was a stout hale slave girl, who held in both hands a long-handled wooden fork-like comb, having four very strong prongs, which she dragged through the woolly, greasy, and black hair of her mistress with the force of a groom currying a horse's tail.

When not attired in their full dress, or are occupied in household duties, the women wear nothing else but the fotah, or waistcloth, which appears to be a garment common both to male and female Dankalli. The better kind of fotah passes twice round the body, and the ends are secured by the women by merely tucking them under a fold of the upper edge; but the men fasten it up with the belt of their never absent short knife. Sandals made of several layers of cow-skin, prepared with the hair on and sewed together by a thong of leather, sometimes in a very neat and ornamental manner, are worn by both sexes, and are secured to the foot by a loop for the second toe, and slight strips of leather crossing the ancle are attached to the heel, and to two small lappels on the sides.

The slave children, who live in the houses of their owners merely for the purpose of recruiting after their long and painful journey from Abyssinia, live happily enough whilst in Tajourah; for too young to comprehend the evils of their destiny, and their bodily wants being carefully attended to, they soon regain their lost condition and health, and are then forwarded to the markets of Mocha and other parts of the Red Sea. They are nearly all dressed in a long dirty frock of very coarse calico, which constitutes the whole of their apparel. The male inhabitants of Tajourah have no other occupation than the traffic in slaves, which they exchange for the merchandise of India and Arabia, but principally the former, whose traders they meet at the fair of Berberah.

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