THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES THROUGH JUBALAND TO THE LORIAN SWAMP A Typical Bush Somali These people wander through the interior of Jubaland in endless search of water and pasture for their stock. Wild and warlike at heart, the true Somali finds peace only in strife, and freedom only in a restless life. Frontisjtiece. THROUGH JUBALAND TO THE LORIAN SWAMP AN ADVENTUROUS JOURNEY OF EXPLORATION &- SPORT IN THE UNKNOWN AFRICAN FORESTS &- DESERTS OF JUBALAND TO THE UNEXPLORED LORIAN SWAMP BY I. N. DRACOPOLI FELLOW OK THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY WITH 44 ILLUSTRATIONS *• 2 MAPS SECOND EDITION LONDON SEELEY, SERVICE ^ CO. LIMITED 38 Great Russell Street 1914 :^(Eff' A* %ECENT 'BOOKS In Far New Guinea. A Stirring Record of Work and Observati ,n Amongst the Wedauan People of New Guinea, with a Do- tcripiiun of their Manners, Customs, and Religions, <5r'c. fi^c. By Hbnrt Nkwtok, B.A. (Oxon.). With 47 Illus. iSr'aMap. Demy 8vo, 16s. net. Secofid Edifion. Pennell of the Afghan Frontier. The Life of Thtodore Leighton Pen- nell, C.S.I. , M.D., B.Sc, F.R.C.S. By Alice M. Pknnki.l, M.B., B.S. (Lond.), B.Sc. With 21 lUustrationi fir* 2 Map.s. With an Introduction by FieM-Marshal Earl Roberts, V.C, K.G. Demy 8vo, los. 6d. ntt. The Ways of the South Sea Savagre. A Record of Travel and Observation Amongst the Savages of the Solomon Islands and Pi imitiv* Coast and Mountain Peoples of New Guinea. By Robert W. Williamson, M.Sc, Member of the Council of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Author of "The Mafulu Mountain People of British New Guinea." With 40 Illus. A* a Map. Demy 8vo, i6s. net. The Land of the New Guinea Pysrmies. An Account of the British Expedition despatched to Dutch New Guinea for the purpose of Exploration and Zoo- logical Research. By Captain C. G. Rawling, C.I.E., F.R.G.S., Somer- set Light Infantry, Author of "The Great Plateau," &»€. With 48 Illui- trations fs' Map. Demy 8vo, i6s. net. "A peculiarly vivid account of ona of the least known regions of the <iiQi\A."—Globe. Among the Primitive Bakongo. An Account of the Life Work, Cus- toms, and Religions of the Peoples of the Upper and Lower Congo from careful Observations extending over Thirty Years of Intimate Intercourse with the natives. ByJoHNH.WESKS, Authorof" Among Con^o Cannibals," b'c. VVith 40 Illustrations &* a Map. Stcond Edition. The Tailed Head- Hunters of Nigeria. An Account of an Official's 7 Years* Experiences in the Northern Nigerian Pagan Belt, &• some Description of the Manners, Habits <5^ Customs of the Native Tribes. By Major A. J. N. Trkmbarne, B.A. (Cantab.) r.R.G.S., F.R.A.I. With 38 Illuf.' A* Map. Demy 8vo, i6s. net. "Brilliant. Written by a scholar who knows how to handle a magic p^n."—StaHdard. A Turkish Woman's European Impressions. Giving the Experiences of a Turkish woman of good family and high cul- ture, who fled from the Monotony and Intolerable Spying System which makes the life of such Turkish women aburden. Edited by Grace Ellison With a Portrait by Auguste Rodin, and 23 other Illustrations from photo- graphs. Extra crown 8\o, 6s. net. "A fascinating . book. The re- viewer has read nothing so inform- ing and illuminating for a long time."— Prof. Sir Wm. Ramsay in the Manchester Guardimn. SEELKV. SERVICE *• CO. LTD. THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO MY MOTHER TO WHOSE ENCOURAGEMENT AND HELP I OWE EVERYTHING. 1C57734 : ! " Alors il se rappela de ces strophes du pofete " Pars, ami, quitte tout et pars ! Tu trouveras bien d'autres amis que ceux que tu laisses. Va sors des maisons et dresse tes tentes. Habite sous la tente. C'est Ik, et rien que Ik, qu'habitent les delices de la vie. " Dans les demeures stables et civilis^es, il n'y a point de ferveur, il n'y a point d'amiti^. Crois- moi ! fuis ta patrie, et enfonce-toi dans les pays du lointain profond." Histoire du beau Hassan Badreddine. PREFACE In a few years the days of adventurous exploration in Africa will have passed, and the darkness that enshrouded that continent at the end of last century will have melted away. With the spread of civiliza- tion, which ultimately, no doubt, brings peace and prosperity, the interesting customs and habits of the primitive tribes must change, giving place to new, and so brief is this period of transition, that within a short space almost all traces of the old are obliterated. Jubaland is an unexplored country. Its inhabi- tants are living to-day in the same fashion that their forefathers lived centuries ago. Its wild animals roam undisturbed over its wide and silent plains, or lie unmolested in the shadow of its bush. But this state of affairs cannot last. In a few years all will be different, and Jubaland will be unrecognizable. In the following pages I have attempted to record my impressions of the lives and habits of its people and its game, before the Somali and the Borana become civilized and the wild animals are driven out and finally exterminated. The explorer who enters for the first time an unknown country about which there is nothing but native information on which to depend, is at once 7 PREFACE faced by a variety of problems as interesting as they are generally complex ; he can only hope, by record- ing the plain and sober facts which he has collected, to create some kind of foundation, as it were, upon which future travellers may build, until our knowledge of such regions is complete. I have not attempted in this book to deal with many of these problems, interesting though they are, since I do not feel qualified to do so. But as far as time and circum- stances permitted, I paid special attention during my journey to the geography, the natives and the natural history of the country I traversed, and my object in presenting the results of my observations in the following pages, is the hope of adding something, however small, to the sum of human knowledge. My best thanks are due to Captain R. E. Sal- keld for the valuable assistance he gave me in Juba- land ; to the Hon. K. R. Dundas for his kindness and hospitality ; to the Director of Surveys at Nairobi for providing me with the latest maps and valuable geographical data concerning Kismayu and the adjacent country ; to the Council of the Royal Geographical Society for the loan of scientific instru- ments ; to Mr. F. Elliott for giving me much infor- mation as regards the Somali language and the meaning of native names ; and to my brother-in-law, Mr. Eric Corbett, for reading and correcting my manuscript. In Chapter II., I have drawn freely from Captain Stigand's book, The Land of Zinj, for information concerning the early history of Lamu, and I have 8 PREFACE constantly referred to Mr. R. Lydekker's Game Animals of Africa in writing the chapters on Hunter's Hartebeeste, and the big game of Jubaland. All the photographs, from which the illustrations were made, were taken by myself, except the three on page 138, which were given me by Mr. F. Elliott. I should indeed be ungrateful if I did not mention my great indebtedness to Mr. E. A. Reeves, the Map Curator and Instructor to the Royal Geo- graphical Society. It is to his tuition and constant help and encouragement that I owe whatever measure of success I may have obtained in geographical surveying. I. N. DRACOPOLI. London, 1913. CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE British East Africa ...... 17 CHAPTER II By Sea to Lamu ....... 28 CHAPTER III Kismayu and the Juba River . .38 CHAPTER IV A Short Expedition across the Dibayu Plains . 49 CHAPTER V Final Preparations and Start from Kismayu . 60 CHAPTER VI A Chapter of Accidents . .71 CHAPTER VII A New River ....... 81 CHAPTER VIII The Arrola, or Hunter's Hartebeeste . .94 CHAPTER IX Hunting in Joreh . .... 103 CHAPTER X More Arrola and a New Zebra , . , .114 II CONTENTS CHAPTER XI PAGE Across the Wilderness . .126 CHAPTER XII Some Notes on the Somali . , . .137 CHAPTER XIII Further Notes on the Somali. .147 CHAPTER XIV The Discovery of Gulola Swamp . , . .159 CHAPTER XV Into the Unknown . .171 CHAPTER XVI The Lak Dera . , .182 CHAPTER XVII From the Haryel Plains to the Lorian Swamp , . 192 t CHAPTER XVIII Plain and Swamp ....... 202 CHAPTER XIX A Land of Mirage ...... 213 CHAPTER XX The Borana . .225 CHAPTER XXI Marti Plateau ....... 236 CHAPTER XXII The Big Game of Jubaland and the Lorian . 247 12 CONTENTS CHAPTER XXIII PAGE The Uaso Nyiro between Marti Plateau and Archer's 258 Post ........ CHAPTER XXIV Some Notes on the Camel . .269 CHAPTER XXV Back to Civilisation . .279 CHAPTER XXVI Hints on Outfit . .287 APPENDIX A Summary of the Geographical Results of the Expedition 300 APPENDIX B Climate ........ 307 APPENDIX C List of Trade Goods ...... 308 APPENDIX D The Native Names of Animals .... 310 Index. .,,.,... 313 13 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS A Typical Bush Somali , Frontispiece FACING PAGE Natives at Mazeras Station 22 A Native Bazaar in the Highlands . 32 KiSMAYU ..... 40 Ancient Ruins at Gondal 40 A Flat-topped Conifer . 50 Swimming my Camels across the Juba River 64 Our Guide ..... 72 The Lak Guran at Shimbirleh 82 An Ogaden War Dance . 92 The Arrola ..... 98 Oryx Beisa ..... 104 A Water-Hole in Joreh . 108 Topi ...... 120 A Marabou Stork .... 132 Loading a Camel with the Water Tanks 132 A Somali Woman ...