[4] About seven years ago the Hajj Sharmarkay of Zayla chose as his agent at Harar, one of the Amir's officers, a certain Hajj Jamitay. When this man died Sharmarkay demanded an account from his sons; at Berberah they promised to give it, but returning to Harar they were persuaded, it is believed, by the Gerad Mohammed, to forget their word. Upon this Sharmarkay's friends and relations, incited by one Husayn, a Somali who had lived many years at Harar in the Amir's favour, wrote an insulting letter to the Gerad, beginning with, "No peace be upon thee, and no blessings of Allah, thou butcher! son of a butcher &c. &c.!" and concluding with a threat to pinion him in the market-place as a warning to men. Husayn carried the letter, which at first excited general terror; when, however, the attack did not take place, the Amir Abubakr imprisoned the imprudent Somali till he died. Sharmarkay by way of reprisals persuaded Alu, son of Sahlah Salaseh, king of Shoa, to seize about three hundred Harari citizens living in his dominions and to keep them two years in durance. The Amir Abubakr is said on his deathbed to have warned his son against the Gerad. When Ahmad reported his father's decease to Zayla, the Hajj Sharmarkay ordered a grand Maulid or Mass in honour of the departed. Since that time, however, there has been little intercourse and no cordiality between them. [5] Thus M. Isenberg (Preface to Ambaric Grammar, p. iv.) calls the city Harrar or Ararge. [6] "Harar," is not an uncommon name in this part of Eastern Africa: according to some, the city is so called from a kind of tree, according to others, from the valley below it. [7] I say _about_: we were compelled to boil our thermometers at Wilensi, not venturing upon such operation within the city. [8] The other six were Efat, Arabini, Duaro, Sharka, Bali and Darah. [9] A circumstantial account of the Jihad or Moslem crusades is, I am told, given in the Fath el Habashah, unfortunately a rare work. The Amir of Harar had but one volume, and the other is to be found at Mocha or Hudaydah. [10] This prince built "Debra Berhan," the "Hill of glory," a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary at Gondar. [11] A prince of many titles: he is generally called Wanag Suggad, "feared amongst the lions," because he spent the latter years of his life in the wild. [12] Yemen submitted to Sulayman Pasha in A.D. 1538. [13] "Gragne," or in the Somali dialect "Guray," means a left-handed man; Father Lobo errs in translating it "the Lame." [14] This exploit has been erroneously attributed to Nur, the successor of Mohammed.