THE HAWEYAH 



to be prepared for them, and while waiting for it I 

 began questioning tthem about the country and so on. 

 By their answers I soon discovered the cause of their 

 uneasiness. They took me for the Game Ranger, and 

 were afraid I was going to punish them, although they 

 declared they had not killed anything for months. 

 They were obviously very much relieved when they 

 found out their mistake, and agreed willingly enough 

 to act as my guides during the next few days, although 

 they said they had never worked for a white man before. 

 They refused to name any price for their services, 

 preferring to trust to my generosity when we parted. 

 After they had drunk the " buni," I had a most in- 

 teresting talk with them through my interpreter. 



The Haweyah, though not true Somali, resemble 

 them very closely, and it would be difficult for a 

 stranger to detect any difference. They are inhabitants 

 of the Benadir coast, and the northern parts of the 

 interior of Italian Somaliland. It was to them that 

 Ismail Juberti, the ancestor of the Somali, first applied 

 for shelter and protection, according to native accounts, 

 when he was wrecked along their inhospitable coast, 

 and, his requests being refused, he was obliged to 

 wander southwards until he met the Dirr, another 

 tribe inhabiting those regions. This may partly 

 account for the contempt displayed towards the 

 Haweyah by the Somali. Many of them have been 

 driven westwards from the Benadir coast and have 

 taken refuge among the Borana and the Gabra, but 

 whatever their present position is, it is almost certain 

 that Somali and Haweyah are descended from a 

 common stock. 



I questioned them about the Maanthinle, that 

 mysterious tribe known by hearsay to all the dwellers 

 Q 241 



