1844.] Note on the Mijjertheyn Somalees. 333 



perfectly free from the disagreeable smell that distinguishes the ghee 

 from Kurachee, though the major part of that originally comes from 

 Berbura. The banians from Pore Bunder, who regularly attend the 

 Berbura fair, carry back immense supplies of ghee for the Indian mar- 

 ket, and as the Somahs are celebrated for melting down sheep's tails 

 and mixing the fat with the ghee to increase the quantity, the dis- 

 agreeable odour that attends "ghee, Kurachee 1st sort," may perhaps 

 be accounted for. 



Of the countries to the South and West of the Mijjertheyn tribe, no- 

 thing is as yet known, and as what little information I have been able 

 to pick up would only swell the mass of hearsay evidence that already 

 exists without establishing any fact, I refrain from making any remark 

 on the rivers, &c. that have afforded such field for discussion. Of the 

 practicability of exploring the course of these rivers, I have no doubt, 



Since this was writ- nor should I apprehend any hostility on the part 



tl^Mr .TngXo'f ° f the nativeS > if the traveller waS ^ d ^ ^ 



Zanzibar, who has re- tended by a Mijjertheyn chief. Repeated offers 



cently sailed above 200 J . . 



miles up the Jub, and were made to me to visit the stream generally called 



suffered no ill-treat- , , „ T , . „ /T _, , . ,,_ , , . . 



ment. the " Wabi, ( Wabi or Webbi in the Somal language 



means a river,) and I only regretted that I was unable to do so. 



A most interesting journey might be made from a few miles South- 

 west of Hafoon, along the Wadi Nagal to Kurrum on the Berbura coast. 

 In this valley the best kinds of myrrh grow, and as the inhabitants are 

 of the Mijjertheyn tribe, no danger need be apprehended. 



My principal reason for offering this brief memoir to Government 

 is to point out the advantageous trade that might be carried on with 

 this hitherto imperfectly known country, and I much regret that I was 

 unable from other duties to visit the interior. I would wish to make one 

 concluding remark. Though the general character of the Somalis is 

 by no means good, I much doubt if a vessel were wrecked on any 

 other coast inhabited by perfect savages, such as the Mijjertheyn, 

 whether the crew would have fared as well as that of the steam frigate 

 Memnon. During a residence of six months amongst them we experi- 

 enced no opposition, and were finally allowed to quit the coast on our 

 own terms, and in perfect friendship with all. 



(Signed) C. J. Cruttenden, Lieutenant, 



Assistant Political Agent, Aden, 



