VIII 
JOURNEY TO WEBBE SNA BE LE II RIVER 
211 
to the north. I found it difficult to make them understand the 
difference between a British officer on duty and one on leave, 
and a subdued buzz of disapproval showed that they were not 
half satisfied with my reply. 
An Adone elder pointed to our mule, and asked where we 
had got it ; and on hearing it was a present from B4s Makunan, 
he said, “Ah ! it is as we feared ; you English have sold us to 
the Amhara ! ” I said the English had done nothing of the 
kind. I also told the elders that the English would be pleased 
if more caravans came trading to Berbera, and that Government 
would assist such caravans in every way possible. Gabba Oboho 
then led me, through an avenue of high palm-trees, to the nearest 
village, and into a dirty courtyard occupied by two cows and 
some goats, in the corner of which his own huts stood. He had 
turned out of the largest and caused it to be swept for my use ; 
and he gave my followers a raised platform of wicker-work, 
outside the hut, to sleep upon. 
I remained in the village all the evening, receiving the visits 
of the leading natives ; and a dense crowd of men, women, and 
children constantly pressed round the hut, old Gabba now and 
then angrily whipping them off with a cowhide whip. The 
elders of line were very friendly indeed ; and the climax was 
reached when one of them, pointing to his hut in the distance, 
said I might have it if so disposed, and his best wife into the 
bargain ; and he patted one of the surrounding females on the 
head. She was by no means a beauty ; and turning to him and 
smiling blandly, I answered, “ Labadi donei-mayu ” (I don’t 
want either of them), much to the amusement and delight of his 
second-best wives. 
The headmen asked me many questions about Europe ; and 
whether I thought the Italians could conquer Abyssinia if so 
disposed ; and which was the greatest nation in the world. To 
this poser I replied, “Allah knows; we are all strong,” whereat 
they exclaimed to one another, “ He tells the truth ; if he were 
a liar he would say the English were the strongest.” It speaks 
well for the management of affairs on our North SomAli coast, 
that although these people were so far in the interior that they 
had hitherto never seen one of my countrymen, yet they knew 
and felt respect for the English name. 
The Adone living at line have been great cultivators of 
jowdri , which they eat ; but they declared that the Abyssinians 
had been there some months before my visit, had shot several 
