Page:First Footsteps in East Africa, 1894 - Volume 1.djvu/157

 saying, "Let us obey him, he is near his end!" The mules arrived, but when I looked for the escort, none was forthcoming. At Zayla it was agreed that twenty men should protect us across the desert, which is the very passage of plunder; now, however, five or six paupers offered to accompany us for a few miles. We politely declined troubling them, but insisted upon the attendance of our Abban and three of his kindred: as some of the Bedouins still opposed us, our aged friend once more arose, and by copious abuse finally silenced them. We took leave of him with many thanks and handfuls of tobacco, in return for which he blessed us with fervour. Then, mounting our mules, we set out, followed for at least a mile by a long tail of howling boys, who, ignorant of clothing, except a string of white beads round the neck, but armed with dwarf spears, bows, and arrows, showed all the impudence of baboons. They derided the End of Time's equitation till I feared a scene;--sailor-like, he prided himself upon graceful horsemanship, and the imps were touching his tenderest point. Hitherto, for the Abban's convenience, we had skirted the sea, far out of the direct road: now we were to strike south-westwards into the interior. At 6 P. M. we started across a "Goban" [35] which eternal summer gilds with a dull ochreish yellow, towards a thin blue strip of hill on the far horizon. The Somal have no superstitious dread of night and its horrors, like Arabs and Abyssinians: our Abban, however, showed a wholesome