[21] Generally it is not dangerous to write before these Bedouins, as they only suspect account-keeping, and none but the educated recognise a sketch. The traveller, however, must be on his guard: in the remotest villages he will meet Somal who have returned to savage life after visiting the Sea-board, Arabia, and possibly India or Egypt. [22] I have often observed this ceremony performed upon a new turban or other article of attire; possibly it may be intended as a mark of contempt, assumed to blind the evil eye. [23] Such is the general form of the Somali grave. Sometimes two stumps of wood take the place of the upright stones at the head and foot, and around one grave I counted twenty trophies. [24] Some braves wear above the right elbow an ivory armlet called Fol or Aj: in the south this denotes the elephant-slayer. Other Eesa clans assert their warriorhood by small disks of white stone, fashioned like rings, and fitted upon the little finger of the left hand. Others bind a bit of red cloth round the brow. [25] It is sufficient for a Bedouin to look at the general appearance of an animal; he at once recognises the breed. Each clan, however, in this part of Eastern Africa has its own mark. [26] They found no better word than "fire" to denote my gun. [27] "Oddai", an old man, corresponds with the Arab Shaykh in etymology. The Somal, however, give the name to men of all ages after marriage. [28] The "Dihh" is the Arab "Wady",--a fiumara or freshet. "Webbe" (Obbay, Abbai, &c.) is a large river; "Durdur", a running stream. [29] I saw these Dihhs only in the dry season; at times the torrent must be violent, cutting ten or twelve feet deep into the plain. [30] The name is derived from Kuranyo, an ant: it means the "place of ants," and is so called from the abundance of a tree which attracts them. [31] The Arabs call these pillars "Devils," the Somal "Sigo." [32] The Cape Kafirs have the same prejudice against fish, comparing its flesh, to that of serpents. In some points their squeamishness resembles that of the Somal: he, for instance, who tastes the Rhinoceros Simus is at once dubbed "Om Fogazan" or outcast. [33] This superstition may have arisen from the peculiarity that the camel's milk, however fresh, if placed upon the fire, breaks like some cows' milk. [34] "Bori" in Southern Arabia popularly means a water-pipe: here it is used for tobacco. [35] "Goban" is the low maritime plain lying below the "Bor" or Ghauts, and opposed to Ogu, the table-land above. "Ban" is an elevated grassy prairie, where few trees grow; "Dir," a small jungle, called Haija by the Arabs; and Khain is a forest or thick bush. "Bor," is a mountain, rock, or hill: a stony precipice is called "Jar," and the high clay banks of a ravine "Gebi."