MY SOMALI BOOK 7 



reservoirs to contain a permanent water supply, and 

 this, we have the word of an engineer in Colonel Swayne, 

 is perfectly practicable ; indeed, he mentions the 

 existence of traces of ancient tanks that must have 

 been made and used long before the time of the 

 Somal. 



Whether the nature of the human element in the 

 conditions of the present day could ever justifj^ 

 expenditure on such an object was more than doubtful 

 while we still exerted a measure of control over the 

 friendly tribes. Now that we have withdrawn to the 



coast any discussion of the subject must be purely 

 academic. 



But so long as the Somali continues, as he has 

 always done, to look upon a raid on his neighbours' 

 property as the one form of recreation that is worth 

 while, the risks of tempting fortune by the growth 

 of crops of any kind would be too great for those who 

 might otherwise be disposed to make the attempt. 

 So it comes about that, except in isolated instances 

 of settlements such as Hargeisa, under an influential 

 Mullah whose holiness preserves him from molestation, 

 cultivation is non-existent. 



All the Somalis one comes across in the interior 

 are nomad shepherds or, sometimes, members of trading 



