348 THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA 
it can be carried by one of the hunters. It is very convenient to have 
in addition half a dozen flat water-bottles made to contain a gallon each, 
of tin covered with thick leather ; one of these could be carried on the 
camel which is ridden. 
On the Webbe Shabeleh a little jowciri grain can generally be 
purchased at the villages, though the natives, I believe, only grow it for 
home consumption and not for export. I should never count on getting 
either jowdri or ghee in the interior, as every purchase of this kind 
means a delay, and exorbitant prices are demanded. Milk is obtainable 
in abundance at every karia ; and, as a special favour, if it is asked for, 
the natives will produce fresli butter as good as that sold in England 
when not tainted by the wooden cup. It soon becomes sour, and should 
not be counted on as a suppl} T . I always keep two goats to supply milk 
for my own use. Somali cow’s milk is generally allowed to get sour and 
much tainted by the bark vessels. Good milk may be got by having the 
cow milked into a clean bucket. 
Besides the tobes mentioned in the estimates for Example I, the 
following are useful minor presents in Somaliland : — 
Looking-glasses. 
Beads. (These should be chosen by a Somali and bought in Aden or 
Berbera. ) 
Clasp knives. 
Red shawls. (These are very much in request, and are picked to 
pieces and made into tassels for saddlery ornaments. They can be 
bought in Aden for J rupee each.) 
Korans or Mahomedan Bibles, which cost from 1 rupee to 3 rupees in 
Aden, are good presents for mullahs. 
Tusbas , or praying chaplets, of ebony or sandalwood, J rupee to 1 rupee, 
procurable in Aden. 
Files for sharpening spears. 
Coloured handkerchiefs. 
Red blankets or coloured plaids. (These and common brown blankets 
make good presents for important natives, and are always useful to have 
about the tent.) 
In choosing presents it must be remembered that Somalis will not be 
burdened iti their nomad life with unnecessary articles, and will not be 
satisfied with glittering but useless things which might pass among 
negroes. Each present must be good and useful. A Somali will examine 
a gift blanket critically. 
Presents and trade articles for Gallaland can be got in Aden, and 
should be chosen by a Somali or Galla expert, who knows something of 
the districts to be visited. Wildyati (European) cotton cloth, something 
similar to Merikdni (American), but narrower and half the price, is the 
most useful kind. 
If it is intended to cross the Webbe, a rope (say 2 to 3 inches in cir- 
cumference and 60 fathoms long) should be taken to be stretched across 
the river. At Karanleh the river is some 90 yards wide, except in flood 
time. When this rope has been stretched across the river, the native 
rafts can be attached to it by running loops made of bruised creeper, and 
the rafts pulled to and fro hand over hand. The rope enables a caravan 
to cross in one day, whereas without it the passage might occupy seven 
days. Such a rope is easily obtainable in Aden, and weighs 40 to 60 lbs. 
