X 
JOURNEY TO WEBBE SHABELEH RIVER 
243 
sentry. The moonlight was so bright that everything had a 
distinctive colour, the sky being of a deep blue, studded with 
stars in the regions farthest from the moon. I went to the river- 
bank and looked out on the water gliding by, in streaks of silver 
and dark brown, across the shadows of the tall trees, which rose 
one hundred and twenty yards away on the opposite bank. 
Several of the trunks had fallen, and lay aslant upon the steep 
bank of the river. Now and then a gust of wind swept with a 
peculiar roaring sound through the feathery tree-tops, and ruffled 
the surface of the water with broad patches of silver as it blew 
across to our camp. Sometimes monkeys chattered, or squirrels 
shrieked, disturbed by prowling animals in the dense evergreen 
bush bordering the river. Each movement I made was the 
signal for the splash of one or two crocodiles as they regained 
the water. 
We marched to Maaruf, a landing-stage exactly opposite to 
Karanleh, which was on the south side of the river. We passed 
through numbers of the Gilimiss people, who said they had 
come to the north bank for fear of the Gallas, who were out 
raiding. The camels had been late in getting off from Sen 
Morettu, so I walked on with the two shikaris. We found 
several of the Gilimiss elders at the landing-stage, and had a 
long talk about the means of getting across, while sitting under 
some very large trees which gave a welcome shelter from the 
mid-day sun. The Webbe was rather low, the width being only 
ninety yards. The people occupying the banks were Gilimiss 
Somfflis and Adone, or Webbe negroes. 
The Gilimiss cultivate on both sides of the river when not 
in fear of the Arussi (Genre) Gffllas, who live in the hills ten 
miles away to the south, and often raid along the south bank. 
The G411a name for the Webbe is Webbe Sid&ma ; no one calls 
it Webbe Shabeleh here. As mentioned on page 212, Shabeleh 
(“ the place of leopards ”) is merely the name of the district 
farther down to the south-east. Since 1884 no Englishman had 
visited the Webbe till the previous spring, when my own caravan 
and that of Colonel Paget reached it simultaneously, as I found 
on my return to Berbera in June. 
I sent one of the Gilimiss into Karanleh to call Hussein-bin- 
Khalaf and Nur Bbbleh, and present my Arabic letter. The 
first chief was sick, but Nur Bbbleh sent word to say he would 
come over to see me in the evening. Meanwhile I went to 
look for bushbuck in the thick belt of forest along the margin 
