'Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society, from January 1847 to May 1849. Edited by the Secretary. Volume VIII.' [‎196] (305/496)

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by comparing one with the other, no very serious error can arise in a
journey of twenty days, when the country, after the first ranges are sur
mounted, presents a level for several days.
Amongst the Edoor tribes, as with the descendants of Darrood, there
exists a class of men who never carry the spear and shield, but whose
sole arms are the bow and poisoned arrow. With a couple of arrows in
his mouth, and half a dozen more dangling from his long tangled hair,
the “ Kahini” is feared alike by man and beast, and in all forays is look
ed upon as an invaluable ally. Inferior in caste, and not ranking with
the gentle blood of the Somali aristocracy, the “ Rahini” approaches in
every respect to the freedman of the Romans. They are expert and dar
ing hunters, crippling the elephant by a blow on the back sinew with a
heavy knife, # and attacking even the stately African lion with no better
arms than the tiny though unerring “ nishab,” or arrow.
The tree from which the poison is made I found in the mountains of
the Ahl Oor Sungeli, and at Aden I had a small quantity of poison pre
pared by a cunning Rahini, in my own house. Its effects on an animal
are instantaneously fatal, and I have been repeatedly assured that on a
human being the poison has equal power, causing the hair and nails to
drop off, and the sufferer to die in less than half an hour. The only cure
is immediate excision of the part wounded, and the number of ghastly
scars visible on the bodies of the Somalis amply testifies to the dread in
which the poisoned barb of the arrow is held amongst them.
This poison I imagine to be the same as that described by Major Sir
W. Cornwallis Harris, in his work on South Africa, when speaking of the
arms of the a Burhman,” except that amongst the Rahinis the juice of the
euphorbium is not made use of.
The last branch of the western tribes is the Haber-tel-Jahleh, who
possess the sea ports from Seyareh to the ruined village of Rukudah, and
as far as the town of Heis. Of these towns, Kurrum is the most impor
tant, from its possessing a tolerable harbour, and from its being the
nearest point from Aden, the course to which place is N. N. W.,—con
sequently the wind is fair, and the boats laden with sheep for the Aden
market pass but one night at sea, whilst those from Berber a are generally
three. What greatly enhances the value of Kurrum, however, is its proxi
mity to the country of the Dulbahanta, who approach within four days
* This was seen by Commander Campbell and myself when inland fi°in
Berbera j and Bruce again has spoken only the truth.