'Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society, from January 1847 to May 1849. Edited by the Secretary. Volume VIII.' [‎200] (309/496)

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Murreyhan cultivates no grain, and is separated from the Shebeyli
River by the Haweea again. Kafilas from this province annually arrive
at Berber a, bringing the best of myrrh, and the finest ostrich-feathers
and ivory. Their breed of horses is highly esteemed, and I believe that
a traveller might penetrate the country with ease, provided he took the
precaution of being passed from tribe to tribe,—a measure indispensable
amongst the Arabs, and highly desirable amongst the more savage inha
bitants of north-east Africa.
Between Murreyhan and the country of the Ahl Oor Sungeli lie the
great pasture ranges of the Dulbahanta,* a level country, abounding in
grass, water, and timber, and without a stone. Unlike their other brethren,
the Dulbahanta are a nation who fight chiefly on horseback, their arms
being two spears and a shield. Their horses are powerful and courageous,
—the breed descended, according to Somali tradition, from the stud
of Suleiman the son of David, and consequently highly valued. The
Dulbahanta, as far as I have seen of them, are a fine martial race of men,
second to none of the branches of Darrood either in conduct or appear
ance, and they are described as being courteous and hospitable to the
stranger who visits them. They have generally two Sultans, or Gerads,
the elder of whom, Mahomed Ali Harrain, governs the eastern limits of
the province; whilst his colleague, Ali Gerad, (recently deceased) guards
the N. W. frontier from the thieving Haber-tel-Jahleh in the neighbour
hood of Kurrum and from the Agahdur family of Noh Amor.
The Dulbahanta have no grain whatever, and subsist chiefly on milk
alone, save when want of rain renders it necessary to thin the countless
flocks and herds that roam over their boundless prairies. They have but
few gums, but they bring down ivory, ostrich-feathers, and ghee, m
abundance. Wild beasts are numerous—the lion especially so. The
cameleopard (Somarilice, geerhi) is found on the grassy plains trending
down to the southward from the stupendous mountain chain of the Jebel
Ahl Oor Sungeli; and the koodoo, the onyx, and the black rhinoceros,
are also common in the same neighbourhood.
North of the Dulbahanta, the country, for so great a distance level?
begins to rise gradually. The grassy plains become more rocky; sma
limestone ranges are passed ; until at last the level plateau of the Je e
Ahl Oor Sungeli is attained, when the traveller, from the dizzy brink o
Eyransid (the cloud-bearer,) looks down a steep precipice of 1500 to
* Dulbahanta—outnumbering and excelling all.
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