STAGES OF SOCIETY IN EASTERN AFRICA

 1. EASTERN AFRICA extends from Abyssinia to the Zoolu Country on the Atlantic coast, a distance of 3000 miles. Scarcely any other part of the world is so little known as the interior of this region.

2. The east coast of Africa, down to 10° south latitude , is inhabited in the north by the Somaulies, and in the south by the Suwahillies . They are of dark complexion; the Somaulies are the lightest and most intelligent.

3. The COUNTRY OF THE SOMAULIES extends from Abyssinia to Zanguebar. The Somaulies trade with the Arabs, Hindoos, and the interior tribes. The surface is hilly and fertile ; it is the native region of incense, myrrh, and sweet-smelling gums .

4. BER'BERA and ADEL ( ah- del' ) are the chief States on the northern coast ; the principal towns are Berbera and Zeyla (zayʻlah). HURRUR is an independent State in the interior. The capital is a walled town of the same name. The people are bigoted Mohammedans.

5. AJAN (ah-zhahn' ) extends south from Cape Guardafui. It is sandy, hilly, and, except in the northern parts, barren. Magadoxo, once an important State, belongs to Zanzibar. Its chief town, Magadoxo, has some commerce.

6. ZANGUEBAR extends along the coast from Juba River to Cape Delgado. The Suwahillies are the most numerous people. They trade with Uniamesi (oo-ne- ah-may'se) and other interior countries in slaves, ivory, gum-copal, and ostrich- feathers.

7. The city of Zanzibar' , on the island of the same name, is the chief commercial port of Eastern Africa. The sultan, whose power extends over the coast from Cape Delgado (del-gah'do) to Cape Bassas, and those who compose the ruling race, are Arabs originally from Muscat.

8. The native commerce of this region is carried on by means of vessels called dows, the planks of which are sewed together. The ports of Zanzibar, Mombas, Lamoo, and Juba are visited by American ships.

9. MOZAMBIQUE ( mo-zam- beek' ) belongs to Portugal ; it extends from Cape Delgado to Delagoa Bay. This colony was once important for its trade, but is now much decayed . The inland tribes are independent.

10. The city of Mozambique is the residence of the Portuguese governor. Quilimane (ke-le- mah'nay) , Sofala, and Inhambane (een- ahm-bahn' ) are the other chief towns on the coast ; those in the in terior are Sena (say'nah) and Tete ( tay'tay) . The trade is chiefly in slaves, gold, coffee, ivory, and manna.

CENTRAL AFRICA.

1. CENTRAL AFRICA comprises the interior countries south of Sahara and north of the region explored by Dr. Living. stone. The chief divisions are Soudan and Ethiopia.

2. SOUDAN (Soo-dahn') , sometimes called Nigritia (ne-grish'-yah), is an extensive region , bounded north by the Sahara, east by Darfur and the White Nile, south by Ethiopia and Guinea, and west by Senegambia.

3. The river Niger flows through a considerable portion of the territory into the Gulf of Guinea. Lake Tchad (chahd) is a large lake in Soudan. Other lakes are Fittre ( fit'tray ), east of Lake Tchad, and Debo, an expansion of the Niger River.

4. The region along the Niger was explored first in 1795, and again in 1805, by Mungo Park, and the lower portion in 1830 by the brothers Lander.

5 Between the years 1822 and 1826, Denham and Clapperton, two British travellers, crossed the Sahara from Tripoli to Soudan, and explored the kingdoms of Bornou and Houssa (how'sah) . They were the discoverers of Lake Tchad.

6. From 1849 to 1856, Dr. Barth, and Messrs. Richardson, Over- weg, and Vogel, crossed the desert through Fezzan and Air, travelled eastward to Lake Tchad, and, like their predecessors, explored the kingdoms of Houssa and Bornou. Dr. Barth visited Timbuctoo on the west, Begharmi on the east, and Adamaua on the south.

7. The people of Soudan consist of negroes, Fellatahs, and Shouas. They commenced their conquests on the Niger about the year 1800. Their dominions extend from Sahara southward to the river Tsadda, and from Senegambia to Darfur. They are Mohammedans. The Shouas of Bornou are of a light olive complexion.

8. Soudan consists of numerous kingdoms, of which little is known. The soil varies in fertility. Indian corn, cotton, and indigo seem to be everywhere cultivated . The climate is hot, and unhealthy for whites. The principal countries are Kaarta (kar'tah), Bambar'ra, Timbuc'too, Kong, Borgoo' , Houssa, Bornou (bor-noo' ) , Begharmi (bay-gar'me) , and Bergoo or Waday. There are also various petty states. The population of Soudan is estimated at 10,000,000.

9. ETHIOPIA was the name given by the ancients to the region south of Egypt. As discoveries have been made, the territory has become more and more restricted . At present the name is applied to the unexplored region of Central Africa on both sides of the equator.

10. It is the field of the explorations of Beke, Petherick, and others, who entered it fromthe north. Petherick explored the country to Mundo, near the equator, and made important discoveries.

11. Between the years 1857 and 1859, Captains Burton and Speke, of the British East India army, travelled inland from Zanzibar Island until they reached Uniamesi, or the Land of the Moon.

12. Here, in 1859, Burton discovered Lake Tanganyika ( tan-ganye'kah), due west from Zanzibar. To the northeast, 200 miles distant, Speke, the same year, discovered Lake Victoria Nyan'za. These are fresh-water lakes of considerable size.

13. In 1864, Baker, an English traveller, discovered that the Nile has its rise in Lakes Victoria Nyanza and Albert Nyanza Lake Albert Nyanza lies about 160 miles northwest of Victoria Nyanza

14. Except the Gallas, in the northeast, the inhabitants of Ethiopia are negroes ; they are ignorant, cruel, debased, and superstitious. The Niam-Niams, lately visited by Petherick, are cannibals.

THE WA BONI HUNTERS OF JUBALAND

Notes on the Boni Hunters of Jubaland. By Captain R. E. Salkeld. 

 (Published by the courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum. )

The Waboni are the hunters of Jubaland ; they live in no settled habitations, but follow game. They are capable of extraordinary feats of endurance. From a Government point of view they are the only elephant killers, and if they could be communicated with and their confidence gained they would form the best scouts in the country. They are, however, very shy, and much afraid of their Somali masters.

They have three divisions :-

(A.) Bon Dhurrey. (B. ) Bon Aleyli. (c.) Bon Boran.

(A. ) Bon Dburrey were the Boni of the country subject to the Werdey and Gallas. Whenthe Werdey were conquered and driven back on the Tana by the Somalis their Boni followed them, and now inhabit the coast, and, it is said, the neighbourhood of the Tana river. They have fairly close relations with the Bajuns, who supply them with cloth, &c. and with whom they trade their ivory. They are the most civilised of the various Boni, having, in fact, a settlement and shambas at Anola at the head of Tovai creek.

(B.) Bon Aleyli are probably the oldest of the three divisions ; they inhabit the forests bordering the River Juba, and owe no allegiance such as other Boni do. They have certainly one village, perhaps more. They are admitted to be much more accomplished in Boui medicine than the other two sections, and are credited with a cure for gundi (tetse fly) bite ; this has been explained, but hitherto no opportunity has offered of testing the medicine. They are also supposed to possess an antidote against snakebite and wounds of poisoned arrows. The latter has been explained, but again there has hitherto been no opportunity of trying it.

(c. ) The Bon Boran or Bon Hegan are probably the largest section of the three and are subject to the Somalis. Families and their offspring being the property of Somalis are left by them in their wills. They give to their masters, when they kill an elephant, the tusk on the side which the elephant falls ; the other is their own property. There is no tribal organisation amongst these people, their disputes being settled by their old men. There is a man called Weyo Arrey amongst this section who considers himself chief of the Bon Boran, but no Boni considers that he is.

The Somalis are not unkind to these people ; on the one hand the Boni provide ivory and the hides of giraffe and oryx for shields, the most valuable local products ; on the other the Somalis give them meat, milk, and generally look after them and act as vakil for them. The Bon Boran followed the Somalis into this country when it was invaded. In those days there were many Borana living in Jubaland who were very friendly with the Boni ; the Somalis joined with the Borana to conquer the Gallas and then turned on the Borana and massacred them ; the Boni, however, took to their new masters.

The following are some of their chief customs, and are common to all sections of Boni :-

A Boni may marry any woman of his race ; it is not necessary to obtain the consent of the parents, but it is usual to give them presents, though not necessary. One curious custom is that there is no divorce among these people, all the children of one woman, by whatever father, are the property of the woman's original busband if alive ; if dead, ofhis brother.

When a lad starts hunting, at about sixteen or seventeen, and kills his first elephant, he hands over both tusks to his father and a feast is made, and with much singing and eating he is hailed as a man.

When a Boni dies he is buried lying on his side as he sleeps, his head to the north, his bow, arrows, and spear are buried with him, but economy decides that the iron heads of his arrows and spear should be kept by his relatives.

The great Boni accomplishment is, of course, the making of poison for their arrows. This poison is made from a tree called , in Northern Somaliland, Gadwayiyu. It grows commonly there, also in the hinterland of the Benadir, and in the northern parts of the Jubaland. The recipe is this : Take a piece of wood, bark it , and shred the wood into splinters ; soak bark and wood for twelve hours. It is now necessary, if the poison is being made for a white man, to kill a goat to feed the cooks. The cooks having been fed , the cooking proceeds. The wood and bark are now boiled for twelve hours, fresh water being constantly added. Towards the end of the boiling it is necessary to skim the scum of the brew, and here knowledge and experience come in. The final result is a thick black treacle-like substance, which is put on the arrows, on the detachable head behind the barb. The poison is strong. In an experiment tried, a goat was chosen, a small incision made in its shoulder and the poison inserted ; death ensued in just over five minutes. The symptoms were those of strychnine poisoning, so I am informed.

In Northern Somaliland the subject tribes are Tomal, Yibr, and Midgaan. The Tomal are the iron workers ; the Yibr the wood and leather workers and astrologers ; the Midgaan the hunters. These are supplemented in Southern Somaliland by the Waboni, and, as a matter of fact, the above-mentioned three tribes do not hold the same subordinate position as they do in Northern Somaliland. When dealing with Waboni it is necessary to be prepared for many disappointments, for they have a habit ofmwalking off into the bush and disappearing ; tobacco, cloth and, above all, food, especially meat, should be used when paying them.

These people are not without interest . When their confidence has been gained it will be found that, besides being extraordinarily good hunters and trackers, they are very good practical naturalists and botanists ; they have many interesting customs and tales, very often tell the truth , and would make the finest scouts imaginable. These notes, of course, require supplementing as opportunity occurs.

BOOK: MAN A MONTHLY RECORD OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL SCIENCE.

PUBLISHED BY THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, 3, HANOVER SQUARE, LONDON, W,

1904