The Press.
London, England, 1856-08-23 00:00:00

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counters a piece, and each places two at a time upon any
of the unocmpied angles, till all except the centre are filled
up. The player who did not begin the game must now
move a man; his object is to inclose one of his adversary's
between two of his own, in which case he removes it, and
is entitled to continue moving till he can no longer take.
It is a game of smne skill, and perpetual practice enables
the Somal to play it as the Persians do backgammon, with
great art and little reflection.
We presume that the moves arc alternate
until a man is taken, when the victorious
player has a kind of " innings" till he can
take no more, and that then the* alternation of
moves is resumed till one or the other player
is again successful in making a capture.
The account of mosque service at Zayla is
highly amusing. We can only give the
author's reflection on what he witnessed :

There is a queer kind of family likeness between this
scene and that of a village church, in some quiet nook of
rural England. Old Sharmarkay, the squire, attended by
his son, takes his place close to the pulpit; and although
the Honoratiores have no padded anti cushioned pews, they
comport themselves very much as if they had. Recognt
tions of the most distant description are allowed before the
service commences: looking round is strictly forbilden
during prayers; but all do not regard the prohibition,
especially when a new moustache enters. Leaving the
church, men shake hands, stand for a moment to exchange
friendly gossip, or address a few words to the preacher, anti
then walk home to dinner. There are many salient points
of difference. No bonnets appear in public : the squire,
after prayers, gives alms to the poor, and departs t scorted
by two dozen matchlocktmen, who perseveringly fire their
allotted guns.

All his preparations being completed, the
author left Zayla on the 29th of November,
but before quitting the city he gives a de-
scription (chapter iv.) of the inhabitants,
and of the Somal tribe, Drell worth reading.
His caravan consisted of five camels, with
some mules, tents, provisions, &e. The mode
of travelling resembled that with which all
desert tourists are familiar :

AUGUST 23, 1856.

By the side of the camels ride my three attendants, the
pink of Somali fashion. Their frizzled wigs are radiant
with grease; their Tobes are splendidly white, with bor-
ders dazzlingly red ; their new shields are covered with
canvas cloth ; and their two spears, poised over the right
shoulder. are freshly scraped, oiled, blackened, and polished.
They have added my spare rifle, and guns to the camel-
load; such weapons are well enough at Aden, in Somali-
land men would deride the outlandish tool ! I told them
that in my country women use bows and arrows, moreover
that lancers are generally considered a corps of non-com-
batants ; in vain ! they adhered as strongly —so mighty a
thing is prejudice—to their partiality for bows, arrows, and
lances. Their horsemanship is peculiar, they balance
themselves upon little Abyssinian saddles, extending the
leg and raising the heel in the Louis Quinze style of equi-
tation, and the stirrup is an iron ring admitting only the
big toe. I follow them mounting a fine white mule, which,
with its gaudily galunni Arab nad and wrapper cloth, has a
certain dignity of look; a double harrelled gun lies across
my lap ; and a rude pair of holsters, the work of Hasan
Turki, contains wy Colt's six•shooters.

One peculiarity of the caravan was the women
who formed part of it :
ly other attendants must now be introduced to you,
as they are to be for the next two months companions of
our journey.
First in the list are the fair Samaweda Yusuf, and
Avbla Farih, buxom dames about thirty years old, who
presently secured the classical nicknames of Shehrazade
and Deenarzade. They look each like three average
women rolled into one, and emphatically belong to that
race for which the article of feminine attire called, I be-
lieve, it:" bussle " would he quite superfluous. Wonderful,
truly, is their endurance ,A fatigue ! During the march
they carry pipe and tobacco, lead and flog the camels, ad-
just the burdens, and will never be induced to ride, in
sickness or in health. At the halt they unload the cattle,
dispose the parcels in a semicircle, pitch over them the
Gurgi or mat tent, cook our food, boil tea and coffee, and
make themselves generally useful. They hivouack out-
side our abode, modesty not permitting the sexes to
mingle, and in the severest cold wear no clothing but a
head fillet and an old Tobe. They have curious soft
voices, which contrast agreeably with the harsh organs of
the males. At first they were ashamed to see me ; but
that feeling soon wore off, and presently they enlivened
the way with pleasantries far more naïve than refined.
To relieve their greatest fatigue, nothing seems necessary
but the jogsi : " they lie at tall length, prone, stand upon
each other's backs trampling and kneading with the toes,
and rise like giants much refreshed. Always attendant
upon these dames is Yusuf, a Zayla lad, who, being one-
eyed, was pitilessly named by my companions the "
Kalen-
der"; he prays frequently, is strict in his morals, and has
conceived, like Mrs. Brownrigg, so exalted an idea of dis-
cipline, that, b%'t for our influence, he certainly would have
beaten the twiS female 'prentices to death. They hate him,
therefore, and he knows it.

The narrative of the journey shows the prac-
tised observation of an intelligent traveller.
It is full of admirable points ; and we must
particularly praise the author for setting forth
the particulars of each day's journey, and for
noting the whole cost of his expedition, which,
from his departure from Aden to his return—
a period of fourteen weeks—was covered by
the moderate sum of 1491. According to the
author, a considerable saving would have been
effected had the whole outfit bean purchased
at Aden.

Though not free from alarms, his journey
was safe, until he arrived within sight of
Baran Then his attendants took fright.
They were averse to entering the city, without
first asking permission of the Amir; but as
the author's plans would have been entirely
overthrown had the permission been refused,
be decided at length on taking the bold course
of resuming his real character, and of pre-
senting himself with credentials from Aden.
The result justified his courage.
liarar is a walled city of two or three miles
in circumference, with a population estimated
at 8,000 souls. On the result of the interview
with the Amir depended the author's fate. It
was an axious moment when he found himself
in the presense of the dreaded chief:—

The Amir, or, 98 he styles himself, the Sultan Ahmad
bin Sultan Abibakr, sat in a dark room with whitewashed
walls, to which hung—significant decorations—rusty
matchlocks and polished fetters. His appearance was
that of a little Indian rajah, an etiolated youth twenty-four
or twenty•tive years old, plain and thin-bearded, with a
yellow complexion, wrinkled brows, and protruding eyes.
His dress was a flowing robe of crimson cloth, edged with
snowy fur, and a narrow white turban tightly twisted
round a tall conical cap cf red velvet, like the old Turkish
headgear of our painters. His throne was a common
Indian Kursi, or raised cot, about five feet long, with back
and sides supported by a dwarf railing ; being an invalid,
he rested his elbow upon a pillow, under which appeared
the hilt of a Cutch sabre. Ranged in double line,
Perpendicular to the Amir, stood the " court," his cousins
and nearest relations, with right arms bared after fashion
of Abyssinia.
I entered the room with a loud " Peace be upon ye!"
to which H. H. replying graciously, and extending a hand,
bony and yellow as a kite's claw, snapped his thumb and
raiddle,finger. Two chamberlains stepping forward, held