Somali people

“ The Somali is a born fighter, and his weapons are never very far away from him. The Somalis are an old Hamitic people, akin to the early inhabitants of Egypt and the races of the Mediterranean coasts of Africa. There is also a later admixture of Arab blood, due to the nearness of Arabia and the spread of Arab power in the Middle Ages all along the eastern coast of Africa. ”

“ Many of our countrymen have made shooting expeditions into the interior, and all have reported that they have met with kindness and courtesy; that the natives are intensely fond of sport, and enjoy the pursuit of wild game, with which the country abounds. I remember having a long chat with one of these great hunters, and he told me that the Somali people are entirely different from the 'Fuzzy-Wuzzy,' as the natives of the Soudan are jocularly known. They are more like playful children, and are extremely excitable. ”

“ Their feet were bare, their veil was confined by a narrow fillet, and the body-cloth was an indigo-dyed cotton, girt at the waist and graceful as a winding sheet. I never saw them eat; probably, as the people say of cooks, they lived by sucking their fingers.
And here a few words about the Somali, amongst whom we were to travel. These nomads were not pure negroes; like the old Egyptians, they were a mixed breed of African and Arab. The face from the brow to the nostrils is Asiatic, from the nostrils to the chin showed traces of negro blood. The hair was African ”

“ Not far away at the Upper Sheik is a large Somali village, a Mullah settlement, and the Sheik there, a very enlightened person indeed, told us that the remains of the city are not really very antediluvian, and is the site of the homes of the early settlers from the Yemen. As we neither of us knew anything about such influx we kept silent, to conceal our ignorance. Quite a lot of the tracery on the stones which satisfied un-archæological people like ourselves is nothing but decorative work carved by the shepherds trying to kill time! ”

“ 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. ”

“ The Somali people can scarcely be said to have a common racial type, so great is the diversity in the physical appearance of the different tribes and nalionH, a difference which is itself mainly due partly to the differences in the social habits, partly to the v.jrying climatic conditions and ethnical interminglings. ”

“ In the north these people are largely of Arab or Hamitic stock, such as the Beni-Amer, but include various negro tribes. Afar and Somali form the population of the southern regions. The inhabitants of the plateau are Abyssinians. The nomads are Mussulmans and are, as a rule, docile and pacific, though the Danakils are given to occasional raiding. The Abyssinians are more warlike, but they have settled down under Italian rule. Among the native industries are mat-weaving, cotton-weaving, silver-working and rudimentary iron and leather working. (See Afars; Somaliland and Abyssinia.) ”

“ These legends should perhaps be interpreted as pointing to a series of Arab immigrations, the last two of which are referred to the 13th and 15th centuries. But these intruders seem to have been successively absorbed in the Somali stock; and the Arabs never succeeded in establishing permanent communities in this region. Their influence has been very slight even on the Somali language, whose structure and vocabulary are essentially Hamitic, with marked affinities to the Galla on the one hand and to the Dankali (Afar) on the other.
The present Somali peoples are possessed of no general type. ”

“ In order not to disarrange the head-dress, they sleep with the neck resting on little wooden blocks or pillows, like those commonly met in Japan and amongst most people of Central Africa. A great number of the Somali have also their ears pierced in the Bantu fashion, although the lobe is seldom distended by the insertion of heavy wood, mother-of- pear, ivory, bone or metal ornaments. ”

“ But it should be remembered that not so very long ago the villages along the west coast of France and south coast of Englund not only prayed for such contingencies, but set up false beac ns to allure their victims to destruction. The Somali of the coastlands, and notably the Mijertin people, would consider themselves degraded by cultivating the land. They are shepherds, fishermen, sauors, or traders, but not husbandmen. ”

“ The future of the Somali peoples living in the territories bordering on Ethiopia under the rule of the three powers has been the object of speculation in some foreign newspapers lately. While some appear to have grasped the problems that have to be dealt with in the future, they often make it appear as if the only solution lies in the permanent division of these territories which is undoubtedly detrimental to all concerned in this region. ”

“ Land boundaries: 2,263 km
WATER Limits of territorial waters (claimed) : 200 nm
Coastline: 3,025 km
PEOPLE Population: 6,124,000 (July 1982) , average annual growth rate 3.5%
Nationality: noun—Somali (s) ; adjective—Somali
Ethnic divisions: 85% Hamitic, rest mainly Bantu; 30,000 Arabs, 3,000 Europeans, 800 Asians
Religion: almost entirely Muslim
Language: Somali (written form instituted by government in 1972) ; Arabic, Italian, English
Literacy: 5-10%
Labor force: 965,000 (1968 est.) ; very few are skilled laborers ”

“ Yet, it is not easy to talk history with a people who confound Miriam and Mary, or politics to those whose only idea of a king is a robber on a large scale, or religion to men who measure excellence by forbidden
Diagram illustrating Somali Geography meats, or geography to those who represent the earth in this guise. ”

“ At different times they suggested that I was a Turk, an Egyptian, a Marah man, a Banyan, Ahmad the Indian, the Governor of Aden, a merchant, a pilgrim, the chief of Zayla or his son, a boy, a warrior in silver armour, an old woman, a man painted white, and lastly, a calamity sent down from heaven to tire out the lives of the Somali.
The Somali were bad Moslems, but they believed in a deity and they knew the name of their Prophet. Wives being purchased for their value in cows or camels, the wealthy old were polygamous and the young poor were perforce bachelors. ”

“ Two other Indian officers, Lieutenants Stroyan and Heme, also joined the expedition.
The Somali are Mahommedans, descendants of Arabs who have intermarried with negroes. They are a savage, treacherous race, noted for their cheating and lying propensities; in figure tall, slender, light, and agile, scarcely darker than Arabs, with thin lips and noses, but woolly heads like negroes. Their ancestors, having taken possession of the country, drove out its former Christian inhabitants, who retreated northward. ”

“ They desire his settling amongst them, appreciate the benefits of commerce and civilisation, and are not suspicious, like the plundering pastorals, of every one coming with evil intentions towards them. The Somali, about as bad a lot as any amongst the rovers, will not admit a stranger into their country, unless accompanied by one of their tribe, who becomes answerable for the traveller's actions, and even with this passport he is watched with the eyes of Argus. ”

“ Although they are Mussulmans, none wear the yashmac. Beads are not so much in request here as in other parts of Africa, though some do wear necklaces of them, with large rings of amber. This description, however, applies to the Somali in his own land. When he comes over to Aden he takes shame at his nakedness, dons the Arab's gown and trousers, and becomes the merchant complete. [7]
In consequence of the poorness of their land, almost all the Somali are wandering pastorals, which of itself is enough to account for their turbulent natures. ”

“ The winter months are almost rainless, and the smallest annual fall is on the coast.
The peculiarities of the plateau and the seasonal rainfall have been largely responsible for the shaping of the Somali. He is essentially a nomad; all his property is moveable and consists of flocks and herds and camels. It is true that there are remains of stone buildings, and deep wells in the rock, especially further inland; but these are not the work of the present-day Somali; his house is as easily moved as his cattle. ”

“ For the rest, the Somali is likely to be left in the undisturbed enjoyment of his native customs; his chief visitor will be the sportsman and the naturalist, as the land abounds in wild game and is the home of many strange plants and animals which are not to be met with elsewhere in Africa. ”

“ On night expeditions, the Somali would be disguised, sometimes as a leprous beggar, as stable-boy, again as an Arab, sometimes as a renegade sepoy from a Native Border Levy, sometimes as a poor fisherman, again as a Sidi boatman, he being, like his master, exceptionally good at disguises of all kinds, and knowing Hindustani, Arabic, and his native Somal dialect. ”

“ And this discontent was increased from year to year as the caravan-drivers returned from their long journeys to Aden and told of the greatest marvel ever heard of—a righteous government and a place where justice could not be bought, but belonged to every one—even the black skinned ignorant Somali. ”

“ This is often difficult to secure when far from sources of supplies, and in consequence the equilibrium of camp harmony is sorely disturbed.
They are avaricious and money loving to a deplorable degree, but there is one thing that can be said for the Somali. He will never desert in time of danger and will cheerfully sacrifice himself for his master. He has the stamina of a higher type of civilization, and in comparison to him the lately reclaimed savage is not nearly so dependable in a crisis. ”

“ The Somali have been chiefly known to us since the time of our taking occupation of Aden, whither many of them resort with their wives and families to carry on trade, or do the more menial services of porterage and donkey-driving. They are at once easily recognised by the overland traveller by their singular appearance and boisterous manner, as well as by their cheating and lying propensities, for which they are peculiarly notorious ”

“ It was over in a moment; a cry of pain, a low groan, followed by the sound of bars dropped in their sockets, and then into the room burst three Hindoo soldiers, grimy with blood and powder.
“Sahib colonel,” cried the foremost, “we are lost. The Arabs and Somalis have revolted. Hundreds of them surround the residency. Yonder in the hall lies a dead Somali. ”

“ We have made a brief survey of British Somaliland, and though much is not yet explored, yet it is not likely to differ greatly from the part which we have seen. There will be the same red dust and monotonous stony plain with its thorn bushes and dry stream-beds. In some parts, by way of variety, the thorn will grow so dense as to be impenetrable; in others it will disappear, and we shall find pure desert. Only a Somali or a camel could live and thrive in such a country. ”

“ He was black, he was filthy, he was savage, ignorant and ugly—but he had his Pride, both personal and racial, for he was a Somali. A Somali, mark you, not a mere Hubshi or Woolly One, not a common Nigger, not a low and despicable person—worshipping idols, eating human flesh, grubs, roots and bark—the "black ivory" of Arabs.
If you called Moussa Isa a Hubshi, he either killed you or marked you down for death, according to circumstances. ”

“ The farther we travelled westwards, the broader became the maritime plain, and the richer its clothing of shrubs and grass. Besides the ordinary acacias, which were finer and more numerous, there were many patches of the bastard cypress and tall rank grasses growing on sandy hillocks, in the same way as they do in India. The Somali exultingly pointed this out as a paradise, replete with every necessary for life's enjoyment, and begged to know if the English had any country pastures like it, where camels and sheep can roam about the whole year round without exhausting it. ”

“ Here, in benighted, ignorant, savage India, the Dark Continent indeed, men knew not what a Somali was, likened him to a Negro, ranked him lower than a Hindu even—called him a Hubshi in insolent ignorance. If only the beautiful Reformatory were in Berbera, and tenanted by Africans. ”

“ Oh, if they would only treat him, Moussa Isa, as an adult, and send him to the Aden Jail to hard labour. There folk knew a Somali from a Hubshi; a gentleman of Afar and Galla stock, of Arab blood, Moslem tenets, and Caucasian descent, from a common nigger, a low black Ethiopian, an eater of men and insects, a worshipper of idols and ju-ju.
In Aden, men knew a Somali from a Hubshi as surely as they knew an
Emir from a mere Englishman. ”

“ The report of my “English brethren” being on the coast made them look upon me as a mufsid, or dangerous man. The Somali, on the other hand, in compliment to my attendants, were most attentive. It was harvest home, and we had opportunity of seeing the revels of the threshers and reapers—​a jovial race, slightly “dipsomaniac.”
Harar also was the great half-way house and resting place for slaves between Abyssinia and the coast. In making purchases, the adage was, “If you want a brother in battle, buy a Nubian; if you would be rich, an Abyssinian; if you require an ass, a negro.” ”