HAERAE AND ZEILAH. 203 



possess the seaboard, are the heirs to Egypt, have already taken the necessary steps 

 to secure this prize, which Burton was the first Englishman to visit, in 1855. On 

 withdrawing the Egyptian garrison they hoisted the British flag on the walls. 

 The kino- of Shoa who was also desirous to obtain this town, had not sufficient 

 strength to struggle against such rivals. 



Harrar, whose shape may be compared to that of a pear, lies on a granite hill 

 which gradually tapers to the west. To the south Mount Hakim commands the 

 town from a height of some 660 feet, giving birth to many streams, which water 

 the gardens of Harrar and become lost in the marshes before reaching the Wabi, a 

 tributary of the Indian Ocean. The nimierous grottoes of Hakim are inhabited by 

 long-tailed yellow monkeys, with thick manes. Contrasting with the scattered 

 dwellings of other Abyssinian cities, the nine thousand five hundred terraced 

 dwellings of Harrar, covering a space of only 120 acres, and built of calcareous rock 

 full of vegetable fossils, are crowded together within a rampart of stones flanked by 

 embattled towers. The houses have few openings on the narrow, winding, steep 

 lanes, whilst the few irregular squares usually open on the mosques ; the largest 

 public space, called the Meidan, occupies the summit of the hill. The Harrari, 

 nearly all merchants, are fanatic Mussulmans of the Shiah sect, like the Persians 

 and several tribes of Southern Arabia. From these countries probably came the 

 missionaries who converted the Somalis and Gallas to their faith, and whose des- 

 cendants constitute the present population of the city. When the Harrari meet 

 together to chew the leaves of the kat [celastnis edulis), which is as highly prized 

 by them as by the natives of Yemen as a stimulant, they begin and end the evening 

 with readings from the Koran and acts of thanksgiving, " because this holy plant 

 enables us to prolong our vigils longer into the night, in order to worship the 

 Lord." 



The society of Harrar differs from the rest of the Mussulman world in the 

 respect that is shown to women. Before the arrival of the EgyjDtians, the emir, 

 alone of all the inhabitants of this country, had more than one wife, whilst divorces, 

 so common in other Mohammedan countries, are here of rare occurrence. Besides, 

 the women are unveiled, and sell the products of their gardens in the bazaar, the 

 men taking on themselves all the hard work ; and this town is also distinguished by 

 its love of letters. According to Mohammed Mukhtar, all the children read and 

 write Arabic, although it is a foreign language differing greatly from their own, 

 which is either of Galla origin, or according to Burton and Miiller, of Semitic stock. 

 But they WTite the letters vertically, instead of from right to left. They have a 

 certain literature, and their writers do not restrict themselves to mere comments on 

 the Koran. One of the local industries is bookbinding. Although essentially a 

 commercial town, Harrar has scarcely any industries, excepting that of its highly 

 prized potteries, and its manufactories of togas, the black robes and mantillas worn 

 by the women, and the red garments reserved for the young girls. Most of the 

 other manufactured articles are imported from Arabia, and the chaplets worn by the 

 Harrar people are made by immigrants from Hadramaut. Since the people have 

 exchanged their independent state for the Egyptian rule, they have lost much of 



