i895. SOME NEW BOOKS. 347 



from the gifted pen to which alreidy we owe so much. When Giitke 

 penned the preface to the German edition of this work on his seventy- 

 seventh birthday, he proffered the labours of his hfe as " eine wil- 

 kommene Gabe " to his fellow naturalists. 1 1 is dangerous to prophesy, 

 but we are firmly convinced that Gatke's unique work will be enor- 

 mously useful in promoting the study of the why and wherefore of 

 avian migration. Meantime, we thank him with all our heart for the 

 dehghtful insight that he has given us into " Die Vogelwarte Helgo- 

 and." H. A. Macpherson. 



Swayne's Somaliland. 



Seventeen Trips through Somaliland. A record of exploration and big game 

 shooting, 1885 to 1893, being the narrative of several journeys in the Hinterland 

 of the Somali Coast Protectorate, dating from the beginning of its administra- 

 tion by Great Britain until the present time, with descriptive notes on the wild 

 fauna of the country. By Captain H. G. C. Swayne, R.E., C.M.Z.S., F.R.G.S. 

 8vo. Pp. XX., 386, with two maps and 56 illustrations. London: Rowland 

 Ward & Co., 1895. Price i8s. nett. 



Since the memorable expedition when the two James and Lort- 

 Phillips broke down the barrier of superstition which had so long 

 kept Europeans out of the Eastern Horn of Africa, our knowledge of 

 the country has made rapid progress. Unfortunately, however, most 

 of the work done there has been carried out by shooting parties who 

 have had no time to spare for careful scientific observation, and 

 James's " Unknown Horn of Africa " still gives the best general list 

 of the fauna of the country. We may, therefore, welcome all the 

 more cordially the book of a man who has been engaged in the 

 country for the last eight years, especially as he has been employed 

 in definite work there on behalf of the Indian Government. His 

 maps and reports, which have previously been printed (we wish we 

 could say published) by the Indian War Office, have shown that 

 Captain Swayne is a skilled cartographer and an accurate observer. 

 We therefore turn to this book expecting it to prove a most important 

 addition to the literature of Somaliland. We are not disappointed. 



Captain Swayne writes with an intimate acquaintance with the 

 country ; his first visit to it was a short shooting trip in January, 

 1885, followed during the next three years by six journeys in the 

 British Protectorate on Government service. In 1887 he made 

 his first important expedition after big game. His two most daring 

 and important journeys were carried out in 1892 and 1893. In the 

 former year he marched, via Hargeisa and Milmil, to Gildessa, in 

 order to explore the Abyssinian frontier ; he met the Abyssinians, by 

 whom his caravan was surrounded and imprisoned, and it was only 

 by great firmness and tact that Captain Swayne succeeded in 

 avoiding a conflict. He had to leave Gildessa secretly by night, and 

 safely recrossed the Haud to the coast at Zaila. He brought back 

 with him, however, most important news as to the political conditions 

 of the Abyssinian borderland. In the following year he returned to 

 Harar, where he was well received by Ras Makunan, the Abyssinian 

 in command. Later in the same year he crossed the Haud again, 

 but, keeping more to the east, reached the upper part of the Webi 

 Shabeleh (or Shabeyli), which had previously been reached by 

 James's expedition. There he met the Adone, a race of negroes, 

 apparently Bantu. On the way back from this expedition, Captain 

 Swayne, with half the caravan, turned aside into the Golis Range 

 for three weeks' shooting, securing a kudu each week. Almost 



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