INTRODUCTION 



It is to be feared that the country, which has been 

 the scene of Captain Mosse's experiences, will be 

 closed for years to come. This is to be regretted 

 not only by the shikari, but also by those, and they are 

 many, who have really made friends with this 

 cheery, kindly, intelligent, and least fanatical of 

 Mahomedan races. It is to be regretted most by the 

 few who knew the country in the earlier days, before 

 it had begun to make history. 



In 1884, it was an unknown wilderness nominall}^ 

 held by Egypt, with the little Mahomedan State of 

 Harar in the south-west corner, presenting a bulwark 

 towards Abyssinia. 



We owe our first acquaintance with the Somalis 

 to Sir Richard Burton, who went to Harar, and to an 

 intrepid French explorer, Georges Revoil, who opened 

 up the hills immediately behind the Warsangali and 

 Mijerten coasts. In 1884 F. L. James explored the 

 Webbe Shabeli River, and the Government of India 

 took over Somaliland, with the exception of Harar, 

 from Egypt, as a result of the Soudan retirement. 

 In 1887 Harar fell into the hands of Abyssinia. From 

 then onwards Somaliland was peacefully developed by 

 the Indian Government. In the interior, Ogaden 

 Somali raids on coast-bound caravans were checked ; 

 and the country was paying. At this period it may 



