Hostory - Jubaland and its inhabitants

Illyria · April 2, 2013

It seems the conversation from coast to coast is all about Juba these days, so this document might be helpful for reference. Some might have already seen, but if not, here it is.

JUBALAND AND ITS INHABITANTS.

By F. ELLIOTT, A.S.P. 1913

Source: The Geographical Journal, Vol. 41, No. 6 (Jun., 1913), pp. 554-561Published by: Wiley on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1778081

Thr north-western boundary of Jubaland is a line drawn from the Lorian

swamp, passing through the districts of Wajheir and Eil Wak, and

terminating at Dolo, on the river Juba. Its south-eastern boundary is the

Indian ocean. Its eastern boundary is the river Juba, whose eastern

bank is within the Italian sphere of influence. The western boundary is

an imaginary line from the Lorian swamp to the Barjun settlement of

Kiunga on the coast. Off the coast is a series of coral reefs and small

islands, partly inhabited, which makes the approach by vessels somewhat

difficult.

The available harbours are two in number, Kismayu and Port

Durnford; the latter can only be entered by vessels of light draught.

The mouth of the river Juba is blocked by a sand-bar, which can be

crossed by vessels not requiring more than 6 feet of water. There is, in

addition, the large creek of Arnoleh (place of milk), which is navigable by

dhows, and extends some 20 miles inland. Along the shore there is a line

of sandhills stretching inland for about a mile. Their heights average not

more than 200 feet, and they are clothed with bush and mimosa thorn.

Immediately behind the sandhills lies a flat country, thick with thorn

and other bushes, but which possesses here and there open or park-like

plains whereon cattle, camels and goats are pastured. As we proceed

north-westward the belts of bush become denser and more difficult to

penetrate, while in the more southern districts the open plains are larger

and more numerous.

The general view of the country is uninteresting from lack of hills,

and depressing from want of variety ; yet it possesses great possibilities as

a grazing country.

Along the whole of the western bank of the river Juba lies a belt

of what is called " black-cotton "

soil, the fertility of which, under irrigation,

may be compared to that of the Nile valley. It is already producing

crops of cotton equal to the best Egyptian, and in the future might become

a district of considerable commercial importance. The Juba, locally

called the Webbe Ganana, rises in the mountains of southern Abyssinia.

Its course is southward, but it winds in many directions. Its only

tributary in Jubaland is the Daua. The local drainage is very small,

and there are numerous swamps on either bank. The river is lowest

from December to March, it then rises slowly until May. After this

month the river again falls, and this fall is followed by its greatest rise,

which occurs between August and November. The banks are well defined

and clothed with vegetation and bush. The swamps lie beyond these

banks. The river is navigable all the year round to Yonti. During the

floods steamers can even reach Serenleh. The tsetse fly haunts the banks

and swamps.

Illyria · April 2, 2013

The Lorian swamp in the north-west corner of the country is in the

rainy season for the most part a morass with a circumference of about 60

to 70 miles, but having moderately deep pools of water surrounded by

reeds. In the dry season it is a mud flat with a permanent supply of

water in its midst. This swamp is supplied from the slopes of the

Aberdare mountains and Mount Kenya with water which enters it by the

E. Uaso Nyiro river. There is a clearly defined river-bed, called the Lak

Dera, connecting the Lorian swamp with the Wama lake. This river-bed

is now dry, but the natives report that water has been known to flow down

it as far as Afmadu (black mouth), which is a district about 30 miles from

the river Juba.

The general direction of the above-mentioned Lak Dera (long stream)

is east until it reaches the Afmadu district, where it is joined by the

Lak Jera river-bed, and this has a stream of water during the season of

heavy rains. After passing Afmadu the united river-bed turns almost

due south until it reaches the Deshek Wama (Wama lake), a lake

which formerly had permanent water extending 16 miles in length by

about 2 miles in breadth. This lake was formerly fed by a stream proceeding

from the river Juba at a point about 50 miles from its mouth, and

it was drained by another stream entering the Juba 20 miles from its

mouth, near the town of Yonti (noisy place).

The feeding stream has been lately blocked by an artificial bank, and

the lake is now dry except in the rainy season.

Towards the south-west of Jubaland exists a plateau of slight elevation.

From this in the rainy season a considerable amount of water flows into a

series of swamps, drained by two creeks entering the sea by a common

mouth at Port Durnford. These swamps are called by the general name

of Wama Eidu.

The climate in general is healthy even for Europeans, for although the

heat is often intense,1'it is a dry heat very different to that of places to the

south. The average coastal temperature is 80?, but inland it is greater.

The seasons are as follows :?

Gu, The heavy rains (March to July).

Hagar, Dry season (July to August).

Dair, Lesser rains (September to November).

Dirar, Dry season (December to February).

The two dry seasons are sometimes also called Jilal, and the two rainy

seasons Barwargo.

The rains fall inland first, and are often accompanied by severe

thunclerstorms. On the coast the rainfall is less than in the interior.

The two monsoons are equally divided into periods of six months each;

the south-west, blowing from April to August; and the north-east from

September to March. Between the two monsoonscomes a calm, when the

heat is excessive.

The country may be ronghly divided into the following districts :

Bama-adi, Barjun, Kismayu, Juba river, Afmadu, Serenleh, Eil Wak,

Wajheir, Lorian.

Illyria · April 2, 2013

The district of Bama-adi, including the sub-district of Joreh, contains

a group of flat-topped low hills on which a fairly plentiful quantity of rain

usually falls during the year. This water, draining into the swamps

mentioned above, causes the country to possess valuable feeding-grounds

for cattle. Port Durnford is the natural harbour for this district, but at

present the trade is undeveloped. Much valuable wild-vine rubber could

be obtained from this neighbourhood, but the trade is hindered because the

Somali, who dominate the country, are too supine to gather the rubber,

and will not suffer the coast tribes, who are not Somali, to collect it.

Three sub-tribes of the Ogad3n Somali dominate the Bama-adi

district, namely, the Abd Wak, the Magharbul, and the Abdullah. They

possess large herds of cattle, but they do not breed camels.

The Barjun district coEsists of Port Durnford, the sub-district of

Arnoleh, and a series of small islands adjacent to the coast. The natives

include the Barjun, the Boni, and the Gala tribes.

The Barjun are a race quite distinct from the Somali, and they have

their own language and customs. Their local name is Wa-Tikuu. They

obtain a living by fishing and marine trading. They claim to be descended

from Persian settlers; this is corroborated by the existence in their district

of ruined stone houses of distinctly Persian architecture, and also by their

light complexion and regular features.

The Boni tribe formerly lived in the Gurreh country on the borders of

Abyssinia, where their sole occupation was that of hunting. Gradually

they spread southward until they reached that part of Jubaland then

inhabited by the Gala, who are locally termed the Wurday. With this

tribe they made an agreement that they should be allowed to live and hunt

in the districts of Afmadu and Deshek Wama, under condition that one

tusk of every elephant killed should be handed to the Gala.

When the Somali and the Gala began fighting the Boni were neutral,

but when the former proved victorious the Boni retired into the thick

bush, where for two years they lived on game. Subsequently they made

with the Ogad3n Somali a similar arrangement to that which they had

formerly made with the Gala, and this arrangement is still carried out.

They now have settlements in Arnoleh and the hinterland of Port Durn?

ford. In physique they are in no respect like negroes. Oppressed and

persecuted by the young Somali, they have become extremely timid and

shy of strangers. If a traveller approaches one of their villages, the whole

population takes refuge in the thorn bush, where it is quite impossible to

track them. Their weapons are bows with poisoned arrows. This poison

they obtain from a scarce tree called Wabaiyu, which is a species of

Euphorbia. Of late years this tribe has begun to collect the wild rubber

around Arnoleh and to barter it with the Barjun in exchange for cloth.

In hunting they have remarkable skill, and their knowledge of the bush is

wonderful. When water fails them in the bush they watch the birds, and

when they see the birds sitting on yak trees in any numbers, their expe?

rienee tells them that water will probably be found in the hollows of some

of the trees.

These yak trees have thick stunted trunks in which large cavities are

often to be found. The branches of the trees spring from the circle of

living wood round the cavities.

Illyria · April 2, 2013

The marriage customs of the Boni are very simple. When a young

man wants a wife he goes hunting until he kills an elephant, of which the

one tusk is for his Somali superio* and the other he exchanges for cloth.

The cloth is given to the girl's father, and if it is sufficient in quantity

she becomes his wife.

In intelligence the Boni are superior to the Barjun, but not equal to

the Gala or the Somali. Their language, which is at present unwritten,

somewhat resembles that of the Somali, yet the difference is too great for

mutual understanding.

It is noteworthy that a small settlement of Boni, living on the banks

of the Juba, have begun to cultivate maize. It is difficult to estimate

the number of Boni now living in Jubaland, but probably they do not

exceed a thousand. This interesting tribe, who may possibly be the

aborigines of the country, are rapidly decreasing in numbers, and in a

few years will probably be extinct or merged among the Somali, whose

missionaries are busily employed in converting them from Paganism to

Mohammedanism.

At Arnoleh is the only settlement of the Gala tribe in Jubaland,

though they are to be found scattered among the Somali throughout the

whole country. Monseigneur Taruin Cahaigne, of Harrur in Abyssinia,

has suggested, according to Oolonel Swayne, that this tribe had their

original local habitation in Tanaland. It would appear more probable,

from inquiries made from the Gala themselves, that their tribe came from

the north of Italian Somaliland, whence they were driven by the more

powerful Somali; and that they first took refuge in Jubaland and after?

wards in Tanaland, where a large settlement of them still exists.

Northern Somaliland can show many cairns of Gala origin, but in

Jubaland I have found not one. It appears that, after being driven across

the Juba by the Somali, the Gala took possession of the country to the

west of that river. About 1842 the Somali crossed the Juba, attacked

the Gala, and were defeated with great loss. These attacks were con?

tinued until 1845, when tbe Somali offered peace on condition that they

should be allowed to inhabit Jubaland side by side with the Gala. The

Gala foolishly consented to this. In 1848 the Somali treacherously broke

the agreement, and drove the Gala south ward and westward. Many of

them were starved into servitude under the Somali, and are now employed

in considerable numbers as herdsmen in the Ogad3n country. The Gala

are mostly Pagans, but lately a considerable number of them have become

converts to Mohammedanism. Their marriage customs do not include the

giving of a dowry, and their conjugal morality is very lax. In intelligence

they compare unfavourably with the Somali; nevertheless they are a

courageous and usually self-restraining race, yet subject to violent fits of

excitement when sufficiently provoked. As traders and hunters they are

more skilful than a Somali, but not equal to the Boni.

The Kismayu district may be said to extend from the coast northward

to the Deshek Wama lake, and on the east it is bounded by the Juba river.

Illyria · April 2, 2013

Kismayu, which may be considered as the capital of Jubaland, possesses a

well-protected roadstead. It contains about 4000 inhabitants?consisting

of Somali, a few Indian traders, and Barjun. ? It exports hides, maize, and

cotton; it imports manufactured articles, especially cotton cloth of all

descriptions. The trade at present is mostly in the hands of Khojas from

Bombay. The goods are principally made in Hindustan or America.

Very few British-made articles reach the country. As the seat of the

Government, it is the residence of a few English officials.

Gobwein (" large plain "), 2 miles from the Juba mouth, is a village of

about 2000 inhabitants. Yonti, 12 miles from Gobwein, is also situated

on the Juba river. It is a military cantonment. Near this village an

English company has commenced the cultivation of cotton.

The Juba river district reaches from the junction of the Juba and the

Daua rivers to Yonti. The right bank is under British rule; the left is

in Italian territory. From the village of Dolo, where the Daua and Juba

unite, as far down the river as Serenleh (a British military post), the

district is wild and uncultivated. From Serenleh to Mfudu the bank

immediate to the river is covered by a dense forest. The timber, how?

ever, is not of a valuable kind, though here and there rubber-vine may be

found. From Mfudu to Yonti the bank is under cultivation by the Wa-

Gosha tribes. The productions are maize and simsim. In this neighbourhood

the Government have established an experimental farm. The

Juba river district, with its richly fertile soil, should have a great future

as a cotton-growing country.

The Wa-Gosha are a confederacy of several tribes bound together for

mutual protection against the Somali. The most important of the tribes

are Wa-Zugoa, Yao, Wa-Swaheli, Wa-Gendu, and Mushunguli. All these

tribes consist of fugitive slaves from the Somali, and they have taken

refuge from their masters in the thick bush on the river-bank. Here at

first they lived among the Boni tribe, to whom they gave presents as a

kind of tribute. When the Wa-Gosha became more in number this tribute

was refused and a fight ensued, in which the Boni were beaten and their

chief killed. The Wa-Gosha then settled down, in spite of constant

warfare with the Somali. This district under English supervision has

an increasing population of agricultural people. They are Mohammedans.

They do not attempt to keep any stock except a few goats; this is owing

to the large number of tsetse fly in the bush aroimd the swamps which are

formed when the river rises in flood.

The district of Afmadu, sometimes called Bhoji, lies to the north-west

of Kismayu at a distance of about 100 miles. It is a plain having

thickets of bush separating grassy park-like spaces. The only permanent

water-supply is at the Somali settlement of Afmadu, where there are 114

wells, many of which are now disused. The wells are in the dry riverbed

of the Lak Dera, but by whom they were constructed cannot be

determined. Certainly they were not made by the Somali who now use

them. The heavy rains flood the country during October and November,

leaving numerous small swamps, and thus a greater part of the district,

where it is not covered with bush, is able to support vast herds of cattle

even during the two dry seasons. This tract of country is the headquarters

of the powerful Ogad3n Somali, many of whose chieftains are

wealthy in cattle and camels. Ox-skins are the principal trade, and are

sent to Kismayu for shipment.

The district of Eil Wak and of Wajheir have been lately described by

Lieut. Aylmer. They lie on the northern boundary of Jubaland. Eil Wak

(Demon Well or Well of Wak) is occupied by the Tufi Borana. Wajheir

has numerous wells, and is peopled by a mixture of Borana, Gurreh, and

Somali. Caravans of camels from Kismayu pass through these districts on

their way to the Abyssinian border. It is from these caravans, returning

from Abyssinia, that the Somali obtain modern rifles and ammunition.

As in the Afmadu district, so in the Wajheir district, there are iminense

herds of cattle.

The Lorian district is populated by the Talamuga Ogad3n Somali, and

the Borana, yet thinly owing to want of rain and the number of places

abounding in tsetse fly. In other respects it is similar to the Afmadu

district.

Illyria · April 2, 2013

Of the tribes in Jubaland the Somali are by far the most important.

In the whole of East Africa there are two branches of the Somali, the

Darud and the Ishaak. The former only is represented in Jubaland.

The Dirr and Haweyeh tribes, largely represented in Italian territory

and slightly in Jubaland, though called Somali are really the aborigines of

the Benidir coast, and are in no way co-tribal with the Somali, with whom

they seldom intermarry.

The Somali report that about 700 years ago an Arab sheik, Ismail

Juberti by name, having been outlawed, fled from his country in a dhow.

He landed on the Benidir coast near Hobia (or Obbia), but the Haweyeh,

who then lived in the neighbourhood, refused him hospitality, so

eventually he joined the Dirr tribe. From this tribe he married a wife

by whom he had five sons. From one of these, named Darud Juberti,

the Darud Somali are descended. The Marehxx Somali claim to be

descended from Essa, a son of the above-named Darud Juberti; while

the H3rti and Ogad3n Somali claim descent from Kablalla Darud, another

of his sons.

The Marehxx, Ogad3n, and H3rti Somali are all strongly represented

in Jubaland.

The Marehxx tribe occupy the north-east part in the neighbourhood

of Serenleh and Dolo. From Italian territory they have emigrated into

Jubaland during the last twenty years, and are still inclined to be

turbulent. They are possessors of large numbers of camels, and of horses

also in lesser number, but, unlike the Ogad3n, they do not rear cattle

extensively. Probably their numbers do not exceed 5000.

The H3rti Somali occupy the coast and extend inland as far as the

Deshek Wama. Of the three sub-tribes of the H3rti, the Midjertein are the

most numerous in Jubaland, while the Wasengeleh are but few in number

and the D3lbahanta still remain to the east of the Juba. The H3rti do

business as traders as well as rear cattle. Their numbers are about

3000.

The Og3den Somali are split up into ^Ye important sub-tribes, the

Mohamed Zubeir, the Aulihan, the Abd Wak, the Abdullah, and the

Magharbul. Two other sub-tribes are of less importance, namely, the

Her Mohamed and the Habr Suliman. It is remarkable that the so-called

Mad Mullah, Mohamed Abdullah Hassan, belongs to the very unimportant

tribe of the Habr Suliman. Of the Ogad3n in Jubaland the Mohamed

Zubeir are the most influential and numerous. They occupy the Afmadu

district as far south as the Deshek Wama, and own immense quantities of

cattle. The Aulihan tribe frequent the district to the west and south of

Serenleh. They are rich in camels as well as cattle, and the Juba river is

their main water-supply.

The Abd Wak and the Abdullah tribes occupy the districts of Rauiaadi

and Lorian. The latter of these tribes wander as far as the Tana

river seeking for water in the dry season. The Abd Wak are the more

numerous, and might be able to put 1000 spearmen and riflemen in the

field. Between these two above-mentioned tribes and the Mohamed

Zubeir tribe there is a constant feud which sometimes leads to a fight. The

Magharbul sub-tribe occupies the sub-district to the east of Rama-adi,

known as Joreh. Though they are not strong numerically, yet they are

rich in cattle.

It is, perhaps, necessary to repeat that only Darud Somali are to be

found in Jubaland, while the Ishaak Somali have remained east of the

Juba, and that the Haweyah, the Dirr, and some other tribes are not really

Somali, but are disowned as inferior races by the Somali.

The true Somali is an extremely lazy person, for his dignity does not

permit him to do manual work ; he generally employs himself in watching

his flocks, or he will lie for hours under a shady tree, his praying-mat and

water-bottle beside him, while he drones, to a sort of chant, songs about

his former fights and about the stock he has looted. The manual

work, meanwhile, is left to the women and the dependants. The Somali

is a Mussulman of the Shujai sect and is very religious in his own

fashion. In appearance the Somali is an Arab, and sometimes a handsome

Arab. Treat him with confidence and consideration, he is cheeri'ul,

intelligent, willing to learn, and true to his code of honesty. Treat

him harshly or unjustly, he becomes sulky, obstinate, mutinous, and

dangerous. He is an excellent scout, a wonderful marcher, and very

proud if confidence is shown in him. It would be fatal to the peace of the

country if the Somali should be treated with that contempt which is often

shown to the black races by Europeans.

Jubaland is fast filling with the Somali, who are increasing in numbers

by leaps and bounds. Their camels, herds, and flocks are also multiplying

in number. Except along the bank of the Juba, it can never be an

agricultural country, lack of rain forbids it, but there is no reason why

the trade of the country should not vastly improve if roads were made,

and especially if a light railway were constructed from Kismayu northward

through Afmadu to the Abyssinian frontier.

xiinfaniin · April 2, 2013

Interesting read. thanks for posting it awoowe

Wadani · April 2, 2013

Illyria;933605 wrote: