First footsteps in East Africa | Page 8

Hafun to Burnt Island; unfortunately his labours
were allowed by Sir Charles Malcolm's successor to lie five years in the
obscurity of MS. Meanwhile the steam frigate "Memnon," Capt. Powell
commanding, was lost at Ras Assayr; a Norie's chart, an antiquated
document, with an error of from fifteen to twenty miles, being the only
map of reference on board. Thus the Indian Government, by the

dilatoriness and prejudices of its Superintendent of Marine, sustained
an unjustifiable loss of at least 50,000_l._
[3] In A.D. 1836-38, Lieut. Cruttenden published descriptions of travel,
which will be alluded to in a subsequent part of this preface.
[4] This "hasty sketch of the scientific labours of the Indian navy," is
extracted from an able anonymous pamphlet, unpromisingly headed
"Grievances and Present Condition of our Indian Officers."
[5] In A.D. 1848, the late Mr. Joseph Hume called in the House of
Commons for a return of all Indian surveys carried on during the ten
previous years. The result proved that no less than a score had been
suddenly "broken up," by order of Sir Robert Oliver.
[6] This plan was successfully adopted by Messrs. Antoine and
Arnauld d'Abbadie, when travelling in dangerous parts of Abyssinia
and the adjacent countries.
[7] In A.D. 1660, Vermuyden found gold at Gambia always on naked
and barren hills embedded in a reddish earth.
[8] The writer has not unfrequently been blamed by the critics of Indian
papers, for venturing into such dangerous lands with an outfit nearly
1500_l._ in value. In the Somali, as in other countries of Eastern Africa,
travellers must carry not only the means of purchasing passage, but also
the very necessaries of life. Money being unknown, such bulky articles
as cotton-cloth, tobacco, and beads are necessary to provide meat and
milk, and he who would eat bread must load his camels with grain. The
Somal of course exaggerate the cost of travelling; every chief, however,
may demand a small present, and every pauper, as will be seen in the
following pages, expects to be fed.
[9] It is described at length in Chap. III.
[10] The author hoped to insert Lieut. Berne's journal, kept at Berberah,
and the different places of note in its vicinity; as yet, however, the
paper has not been received.
[11] Harar has frequently been described by hearsay; the following are
the principal authorities:--
Rochet (Second Voyage Dans le Pays des Adels, &c. Paris, 1846.),
page 263.
Sir. W. Cornwallis Harris (Highlands of AEthiopia, vol. i. ch. 43. et
passim).
Cruttenden (Transactions of the Bombay Geological Society A.D.

1848).
Barker (Report of the probable Position of Harar. Vol. xii. Royal
Geographical Society).
M'Queen (Geographical Memoirs of Abyssinia, prefixed to Journals of
Rev. Messrs. Isenberg and Krapf).
Christopher (Journal whilst commanding the H. C.'s brig "Tigris," on
the East Coast of Africa).
Of these by far the most correct account is that of Lieut. Cruttenden.
[12] In A.D. 1825, the Government of Bombay received intelligence
that a brig from the Mauritius had been seized, plundered, and broken
up near Berberah, and that part of her crew had been barbarously
murdered by the Somali. The "Elphinstone" sloop of war (Capt. Greer
commanding) was sent to blockade the coast; when her guns opened
fire, the people fled with their wives and children, and the spot where a
horseman was killed by a cannon ball is still shown on the plain near
the town. Through the intervention of El Hajj Sharmarkay, the
survivors were recovered; the Somal bound themselves to abstain from
future attacks upon English vessels, and also to refund by annual
instalments the full amount of plundered property. For the purpose of
enforcing the latter stipulation it was resolved that a vessel of war
should remain upon the coast until the whole was liquidated. When
attempts at evasion occurred, the traffic was stopped by sending all
craft outside the guard-ship, and forbidding intercourse with the shore.
The "Coote" (Capt. Pepper commanding), the "Palinurus" and the
"Tigris," in turn with the "Elphinstone," maintained the blockade
through the trading seasons till 1833. About 6000_l._ were recovered,
and the people were strongly impressed with the fact that we had both
the will and the means to keep their plundering propensities within
bounds.
[13] The writer advised that these men should be hung upon the spot
where the outrage was committed, that the bodies should be burned and
the ashes cast into the sea, lest by any means the murderers might
become martyrs. This precaution should invariably be adopted when
Moslems assassinate Infidels.
[14] The reason of the objection is not apparent. A savage people is
imperfectly punished by a few deaths: the fine is the only true way to
produce a lasting impression upon their heads and hearts. Moreover, it

is the custom of India and the East generally,