'FRENCH POSSESSIONS IN THE GULF OF ADEN. COMPILED BY CAPTAIN E.J.E SWAYNE, 16TH BENGAL INFANTRY.' [‎16r] (36/76)

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Habitations.—'Yhe. Dankali’s hut resembles a dirty-brown bee-hive, and is
similar to the Somali hut. There are two kinds, the ordinary small one which is
made of camel mats, and the larger one which is left standing in central places,
and is called by the Somalis Agal. Many of the latter may be seen at Obok
Pieces of date-matting and skins are used for the roof and walls.
Whenever a tribe moves, the small huts are pulled to pieces in a few minutes,
the mats of chewed bark being placed as a pad on the camels, and the hoop-like
pliant sticks which form the frame work of the huts being lashed over the pad,
on which a few simple wooden bowls and cooking utensils are then hung.
The greater part of these huts are too low to stand upright in, and can only
be entered by crawling in on the knees.
Food .—At the coast men live comparatively well, for besides the usual fare
of camel’s milk and mutton, rice and fish are obtainable, and the diet is occa
sionally varied by thick millet cakes soaked in clarified butter.
In the interior, however, men must live on milk and meat alone, generally
on the former, for sheep are only killed when the dry season approaches and milk
dries up. Salt is plentiful.
A Dankali will, on caravan journeys where water is scarce, live on a pint of
water a day, and can on an emergency go two days without water.
Language .—The Dankali language, which is known as Afar, is related to the
Ethiopian. Oratory is a cultivated art, and, as with all people living the
life of nomads, poetry is innate in them.
The language is not written, and the only work obtainable is a dictionary
published in London in 1840 by the Reverend C. Isenberg.
At the coast the people have picked up a colloquial smattering of Arabic,
but there are only one or tw r o chiefs who can write it.
Somalis .—The only Somali tribe within the French protectorate is the Esa-
* Somalia Madoba section of the Esa tribe.*
This tribe is quite sepnrate and distinct from other Somali tribes, in its
origin, its customs, and its sympathies. It is divided into two main groups of
sub-tribes, the Ksa-Ad (or white Esa) group, and the Esa-Madoba (or black Esa)
group. The former lies entirely within the British protectorate on the east of the
Zaila-Harrar road ; the latter is generally within the French boundary, although
one or two sections, such as the Weel-Mosa and Rer-Furlabba* overlap the
boundary line and occasionally graze their flocks within the limits of the British
protectorate The Esa tribe is numerous and powerful, and enjoys a well-deserv
ed reputation for courage. The men are tall and well made, the skin being
much darker than is the case with the Barri or eastern Somalis.
Although the tribe numbers possibly 20,000 fighting men, yet it is not prob
able, owing to the want of cohesion between the various sections, that more than
a third of this number could be put into the field. The Esa-Madoba raid across
the boundary into the Danakil country ; the Esa-Ad every now and again are at
war with the Habr-Awal and Gudabirsi Somalis.
The only reason why the latter tribes are able to hold their own against the
fiercer and more uncouth Esa is that they have large numbers of mounted spear
men, whilst the Esa on the other hand are nearly all infantry, their pastures being
unsuitable to the breeding of horses, and a great part of their country being so
rocky and covered with loose trap boulders that horses are of very little use.
The Jibouti-Harrar and Zaila-Harrar roads are, as far as Gildessa, the foot
of the Harrar highlands, entirely within the territories of the Esa, from whom
an Abban, or protector, must invariably be obtained as an escort, and the tribe’s
camels and camelmen must be employed. 'I he Zaila-Harrar road has for some
time past been perfectly safe for caravans who agree to submit to the above
conditions, as the Esa are fully alive to the benefits they derive from an unin
terrupted traffic through their country. The influence of Menelek, king of Shoa,
* Note.—S ince going to Pres? inf-rmation has been received that geneological tables of the Esa and
Gudabirsi are new being printed at Aden (Vla'ch 1895)"