First Footsteps in East AfricaBurton, Richard Francis, Sir
History
First Footsteps in East Africa
Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
Harar -- Description and travel; Harari language; Horn of Africa -- Description and travel
We shook off our slumbers before dawn on the 27th. I remarked near our
resting-place, one of those detached heaps of rock, common enough in the
Somali country: at one extremity a huge block projects upwards, and
suggests the idea of a gigantic canine tooth. The Donkey declared that the
summit still bears traces of building, and related the legend connected
with Moga Medir. [7] There, in times of old, dwelt a Galla maiden whose
eye could distinguish a plundering party at the distance of five days'
march. The enemies of her tribe, after sustaining heavy losses, hit upon
the expedient of an attack, not _en chemise_, but with their heads muffled
in bundles of hay. When Moga, the maiden, informed her sire and clan that
a prairie was on its way towards the hill, they deemed her mad; the
manoeuvre succeeded, and the unhappy seer lost her life. The legend
interested me by its wide diffusion. The history of Zarka, the blue-eyed
witch of the Jadis tribe, who seized Yemamah by her gramarye, and our
Scotch tale of Birnam wood's march, are Asiatic and European facsimiles of
African "Moga's Tooth."
At 7 A.M. we started through the mist, and trotted eastwards in search of
a well. The guide had deceived us: the day before he had promised water at
every half mile; he afterwards owned with groans that we should not drink
before nightfall. These people seem to lie involuntarily: the habit of
untruth with them becomes a second nature. They deceive without object for
deceit, and the only way of obtaining from them correct information is to
inquire, receive the answer, and determine it to be diametrically opposed
to fact.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account