VII 
JOURNEY TO WEB BE SNA BE LEE RIVER 
197 
undermined by the river, leaving a perpendicular scarp of about 
fifty feet. 
Until Captain Baudi, with Signor Candeo, came this way on 
their journey to Ime, three years before my visit, only one 
European had reached either Durhi, Segag, or Ime. The Ker 
Am&den are the Og&den tribe next to the south of the Malingiir, 
and have pastures nearly as far as the Webbe Shabeleh 
river ; on the farther side of the Webbe the Galla country 
begins in the west, and that of the Aulilian Somalis in the east. 
My coast Som&lis had already begun intriguing to try and get 
me back to Berbera, as they fear the GMla border ; and my 
expedition nearly came to a premature conclusion through want 
of information and guides. 
The country for many days was uninhabited. I wanted to 
send a message to the Rer Am&den, whom I had never seen, to 
let them knovr that my intentions were peaceful, but the whole 
of the waterless bush ahead being reported empty for forty 
miles, my messengers were afraid to go forward, and we had 
no information where the Amaden were, or whether they might 
attack us. There was also a chance of the messengers being 
killed by marauding Gallas. 
My leave was drawing to a close, and my idea, long formed, of 
going to Ime and the Webbe Shabeleh seemed fated to disappoint- 
ment. The Rer Am4den were reported by the Malingur to be a 
warlike and powerful tribe, who had never yet seen an Englishman ; 
so with my small party of twenty camelmen, further weakened by 
our having to detach scouts and messengers, it seemed risky to 
make a plunge into the country ahead without information. 
After several ineffectual attempts to find out the Rer Amaden, 
or tracks of their grazing camels, I pushed on through unin- 
habited country along a good path leading southwards, and on 
27th April we halted at Enleh. Here I determined to make a 
final attempt to communicate with the Amdden, and if un- 
successful, to return by the north-eastern route to the coast, now 
distant three hundred miles, going through the Malingur, Sheikh 
Ash, Rer Ali, Rer Harun, Habr Gerhajis, and Habr Awal tribes. 
We halted at Enleh from 27th April to 2nd May, waiting for the 
scouts to return to camp. I had chosen the two Og&den guides, 
one of whom was a widad named Yunis, and had given them 
large water-bottles and dates to carry in their hands, and told 
them to look out for rain-water, and not to return for four days, 
unless they found the Amaden k arias. 
