XI 
WITH BRITISH MISSION TO KING MENELIK 285 
often roused by the feet of the camels padding close to my head 
as they filed by. The best spots to sleep in were the patches of 
deep sand where the path crossed the river-beds ; but near 
Hensa, coming up by moonlight, I was at first surprised and 
then overjoyed to find several stacks of compressed hay, sent 
from Zeila for our mules by Harrington, the Assistant Resident 
in charge. I was 'deeply grateful, and halted at least three 
hours extra to do full j ustice to them ! 
We certainly had a good lot of Somalis on this trip, and 
Adan Yusuf, my interpreter, who was headman over all the 
SomMi followers employed by the Mission for pitching tents or 
any hard work, surpassed all his former services. It will be 
long before I forget Adan’s cheerful leading of the chorus war 
fililigo , ivar feraldgat (“ Oh, pick it up, it isn’t heavy, it won’t 
hurt you,” or something of the kind), which always burst out at 
5 a.m., rain or fine, as the tents were struck. He first came to 
me from the back of the Mahomed Dolbahanta country in the 
Nogal ; and with two fellow-clansmen and three rough ponies, 
sailed with me in 1888 to Mombasa, and worked in the wilds 
of Ukambani for the East Africa Company. He has been with 
me as headman on a dozen trips since, as well as with others. 
When not managing caravans for Europeans, he goes back to 
his tribe, and invests in camels ; apparently leading an active 
life there, since he always comes back lean and fit. He is 
slightly lame in one foot, which does not reduce his activity in 
the least ; and he has a grave, quiet, dignified manner, and a 
cheerful knack when dealing with camelmen. Without an atom 
of conceit, he is at present far and away the best Somali headman 
I know. As regards the Somali character I find my opinion 
totally at variance with that of a recent traveller, with whom 
the notoriously objectionable tribes of the dreary South-Eastern 
Haud seem to have distinguished themselves. That gentleman, 
of course in good faith, records, in print, a most sweeping 
condemnation of the whole race. Personally I am bound to say 
that, after many short journeys in the wilds alone with natives, 
spread over sixteen years, in different parts of Africa, as well as 
in Arabia, India, Kashmir, and Burma, I cannot recall, on the 
whole, having been better served, or experiencing fewer of the 
inconveniences of travel, than in Somaliland. 
In all these countries the bad was mixed up with the good ; 
but a great deal must be put down to the superiority of camel 
transport over that by coolies. There is, however, another reason, 
