SEVENTEEN TRIPS THROUGH SOMÁLILAND
The Author and his Escort.
From a Photograph taken at the noon bivouac, Ambal River, Habr Toljaala country, March 1891.
The exposure of the plate was carried out by a Somáli.
SEVENTEEN TRIPS
THROUGH
SOMÁLILAND
A RECORD OF EXPLORATION & BIG GAME
SHOOTING, 1885 to 1893
BEING THE NARRATIVE OF SEVERAL JOURNEYS IN THE HINTERLAND OF THE
SOMÁLI COAST PROTECTORATE, DATING FROM THE BEGINNING
OF ITS ADMINISTRATION BY GREAT BRITAIN
UNTIL THE PRESENT TIME
WITH DESCRIPTIVE NOTES ON THE WILD FAUNA OF THE COUNTRY,
BY
CAPTAIN H. G. C. SWAYNE, R.E.
FELLOW OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY
CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS
LONDON
ROWLAND WARD AND CO., LIMITED
‘THE JUNGLE,’ 166 PICCADILLY
1895
All rights reserved
I DEDICATE THIS BOOK
TO MY
BRAVE AND INTELLIGENT
SOMÁLI FOLLOWERS
PREFACE
Somáliland, the new British Protectorate, is in somerespects one of the most interesting regions of the AfricanContinent. In the present daily life of its natives wehave represented to us something of the wanderingpatriarchal existence of Biblical times. The countrycontains ruins which probably date back to a period ofvery ancient civilisation. It is, moreover, the thresholdto the mysterious nomad Gálla tribes who inhabit the landbetween the Gulf of Aden and the Great African Lakes.Somáliland is the home of most varieties of African largegame, and affords one of the best and most accessibleof hunting-grounds to be found at the present time.
In the intervening years, between 1884 and 1893,professional duties necessitated my undertaking severaljourneys in Somáliland, with the object of exploration.In the intervals between these journeys I devoted myperiods of leave to hunting in that country. Duringa period of nine years I undertook seventeen separatejourneys to the interior, and so became familiar with thechief elements of interest to be found there. At theoutset of my travels my age was twenty-five. I enjoyedabsolute freedom of movement, and at this period hadfull control of a small escort of Indian cavalry. The[x]sense of responsibility, and the prospect of exploringnew country, filled me with de