[14] It may appear strange that these men would not accept anything from me in payment except such things as they were accustomed to; and many of the pretty baubles which I brought from Calcutta, and considered would allure them by their beauty, proved of no use here as a medium of exchange. [15] Tug, in the Somali language, signifies a periodical river, or water-course, the same as Wadi in Arabic, and Nullah in Hindustani. [16] _Durbar_--Eastern Court. [17] Lions, as well as other large animals, are said to come into the Nogal during the rainy season, when water and grass are abundant. [18] Unfortunately, when sent on this mission, I was not furnished with a chart, and had never seen any works written on the subject. [19] For the advancement of future investigations, I would here notice the reported existence of a large reptile like the armadillo--probably a Manis--which the Somali think a very remarkable animal. It is said by them to be common in Haud, is very slow in motion, has a hard scaly exterior coating, invulnerable to their spears, and capable of supporting the weight of a man without any apparent inconvenience to the creature who bears it. [20] From the presence of these crosses, it would appear as though in ignorance they had adopted the emblem of their Christian predecessors. [21] _Ras_ means point or headland. [22] This interesting little animal has since been compared by Mr Blyth, curator of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, and determined to be a new genus, and was named by him _Pectinator Spekei_. [23] Then changed to Colonel Coghlan. [24] These notes were reported in an Appendix in the 'First Footsteps in East Africa,' by Lieutenant Burton, with his other reports of this expedition. [25] To say the least of it, this was a very dangerous policy to play with a people who consider might right, and revenge to death. [26] Since this was written I have asked Lieutenant-Colonel Playfair his opinion on this matter, and the subjoined is the reply:--"In this Lieutenant Burton erred; and this was the _termina causa_ of all the mishaps which befell the expedition. The institution of Abbanage is of great antiquity, and is the representative amongst a barbarous people of our customs laws, inasmuch as every trader or traveller pays to his Abban a certain percentage on the merchandise he buys or sells, and even on the food he purchases for his own use. "A traveller who hopes for success in exploring a new country must accept the institutions he finds in existence; he can hardly hope, by his simple _fiat_, to revolutionise the time-honoured and _most profitable_ institutions of a people, amongst whom precedent is a law as unchangeable as that of the Medes and Persians."