84 
THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap. 
attacked that night, and that I was to make a strong zertba, 
and not leave camp myself nor allow any of the men to do so. 
There was plenty of game in the Eil A nod plain, and as I 
thought, if I followed Samanter’s advice, the Habr Gerhajis 
would be strengthened in their belief that we meant harm, I 
decided to fortify the zerlba, and leaving fifteen men inside, to 
sally out myself with the ten others, and beat the jungle for 
game. We made a circuit of the bush within two miles of camp, 
and obtained a mixed bag of three hares and six Sakdro antelopes. 
At dusk, carrying our game, we returned to the zerlba, on the 
way passing a large tree where about a hundred and fifty men 
were collected, all having spears, and a few saddled ponies were 
grazing round the tree. These people took no further notice 
than to scowl as we passed. 
♦ After we had reached the zerlba I came out again with two 
sepoys and the interpreter, and walking up to the tree where 
the tribesmen were collected, I called out, “ Salaam aleikum ” 
(Peace be with you). There was no answer for some time, and 
then an old man with a white beard and a wicked-looking, clean- 
shaven skull, treated me to a surly stare and mumbled, “Salaam.” 
Then he looked down and spat on the ground, and began absent- 
mindedly scratching the earth with a bit of stick, and then 
smoothing out the marks with his hands. The rest of the crowd 
remained silent, all looking sulky and mischievous. Some were 
gazing at us with a rude stare, others were shading their eyes 
with their hands, or hiding behind their tobes. My interpreter 
harangued them, asking why I was received so coldly by the 
tribe. There was a long pause till two old men cleared their 
throats and looked at each other, and without rising one of them 
spoke. “ Wary a ninki Frinji” (I say, foreigner) was the be- 
ginning of his speech, and it was translated into Hindustani by 
Samanter as the old man went on. 
The gist of his remarks was that the tribesmen wanted to 
know why I had brought all these soldiers into the Habr 
Gerhajis country, and whether we had come to steal cattle, for 
if so, we had better go back again, as they had none. There 
was plenty of cattle among the other tribes. 
We had come, my interpreter said, on a peaceful mission, to 
report upon the trade routes, and to ascertain whether they 
were safe for caravans coming to trade in Berbera and Bulhdr. 
There was a good deal of loud discussion among the assembled 
men, and then the old man who had first spoken, becoming more 
