ADMINISTRATION 



Boni guide it would be inadvisable to take him out 

 of the tribal district. Their marriage customs are 

 simple, and depend upon whether the man can 

 provide sufficient cloth to satisfy the girl's father. 

 If he can, she immediately becomes his wife. The 

 Boni language, according to Mr. F. Elliott, is at 

 present unwritten, but resembles Somali to a certain 

 degree, though the differences are too great for 

 mutual understanding. 



The administration of the natives in Jubaland 

 represents an extremely difficult problem. The chiefs 

 of the tribes naturally profess friendship, since the 

 Government pays them a monthly salary of from 

 Rs. 65 to Rs. 75, and supplies them with a few 

 rifles and cartridges. Whenever their followers 

 openly disobey, and the chiefs' pay is stopped 

 temporarily in consequence, they put all the blame 

 on the young men, saying the latter have acted 

 without their knowledge, and so the affair is smoothed 

 over. The interior of the country, especially in the 

 south, is unknown and unsafe, and will be for some 

 time no doubt. 



This state of affairs is, of course, very unsatis- 

 factory, but no blame can be attached to the officials, 

 for they are handicapped by lack of men and money, 

 and are hampered by red tape. There are two main 

 difficulties that face the administration. When it 

 is necessary to punish offenders it is exceedingly 

 difficult to find them, inasmuch as being nomads, 

 the natives wander widely through an unknown 

 country ; secondly, since there are no roads, and the 

 bush is generally very dense, it is far too risky to 

 send out a small expedition, while the expense of a 

 large one is too heavy. Therefore the offenders, 



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