A MARKET 



must inevitably die of thirst. In deciding which 

 course to pursue, the leader cannot help remembering 

 that his men trust in him with implicit confidence 

 to bring them back safely home. 



Such are the problems that face the traveller 

 every day in Jubaland ; and at Gulola I was con- 

 fronted with them in a particularly aggravated form. 

 For as I have said I could obtain no guides, I was 

 ignorant of the position and number of the water-holes, 

 or even if there were any at all, and I knew that the 

 Mohammed Zubheir and the Talamuga Somali were 

 at war. At all times turbulent and insubordinate, a 

 party of their warriors would be now even more 

 dangerous to encounter than at other times, whether 

 they were elated by victory or embittered by defeat. 

 But I had set my heart on reaching the Lorian, so 

 after considering the question of success very carefully, 

 I decided to go on. 



After Mohammed Ali had left me I sent word 

 down to the " rer " (village) to say that I wished to 

 hold a market that afternoon, at which I desired 

 chiefly to buy ghee for my men, that I would pay in 

 the form of trade goods preferred by the seller, and 

 that my stock would be exposed to view before my 

 tent. At first no one would come, but at length a 

 very aged woman, wrinkled and bent beyond belief, 

 came in carrying a little ghee in a pot. After naming 

 her price, the headman gave her the choice of a 

 corresponding value of cloth, coffee, beads, "tusbah" 

 (rosaries), perfumes or tobacco. She hesitated for a 

 long time, muttering to herself the while, but finally 

 chose a brightly coloured loin-cloth, of the kind worn 

 by young warriors, and amidst shouts of laughter 

 from my men, retired to the village clutching it to 

 L i6i 



