176 THROUGH UNKNOWN AFRICAN COUNTRIES. 
friends, but he could not do anything with them; so making 
a sudden rush, my boys succeeded in catching three power- 
ful old chiefs, the Somalis not firing a single shot, as I had 
given them strict orders not to do so unless the natives 
attacked them. 
I had a long talk with the three old chiefs, which ended 
by my sending one of them away to tell his people that if 
they would all come to the camp they could have their 
camels back, but they must trade with me. I pointed out 
the number of boxes and bundles of trading goods that I 
had with me, and the miserable condition in which my 
camels were, so that when the old man left he seemed to 
understand my condition, and smilingly said he would do 
all he could for us, and that he believed now that I was 
not the same sort of a man as the white men who had 
gone up the Ganana. 
In the afternoon about a hundred natives came to 
the camp, bringing their wives and children along to 
show their good will. I gave them back their camels, and 
now those that wished to do so began to trade briskly. 
I found these Gere Libin to be principally atheists, 
though a few of them said they believed in Wak. They 
owned many large villages about the Dawa, where they 
erow a little grain, but their principal occupation is 
raising camels, cattle, and sheep.’ 
Each village has its own chief, who is quite independ- 
ent of any more powerful king, being selected usually on 
account of his wealth and intelligence; but he dare not act 
before consulting with all the old men of the village. 
Youths, have no say whatever in state affairs, being re- 
garded as absolutely irresponsible until past thirty. 
1 Directly south of Aimola is a country and people called Sakuyu; to the 
north the Gere Libin extend some sixty miles, and are divided into the 
following “cashes,” or clusters of villages, beginning at Aimola: the Kolula, 
Rer Mogufa, Wara Meda, and the Kal Wena. 
