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Still did he not neglect the main chance: whatever he saw he asked for; and, after receiving a sword, a Koran, a turban, an Arab waistcoat of gaudy satin, about seventy Tobes, and a similar proportion of indigo-dyed stuff, he privily complained to me that the Hammal had given him but twelve cloths. A list of his wants will best explain the man.
The great men, and indeed all those that can afford it, despise the simple Kailouee costume, and indulge in all the rich dresses which are so much liked by the Moors of the coast, burnouses, shasheeahs, turbans, veneeses, caftans, tobes of silk, &c. The dress of the women whom we see about is a simple cotton tobe, covering them from neck to heels.
Of the different coloured tobes worn by the men, none looked so well as those of a deep crimson colour on some of the horsemen; but the clear white tobes of the mahommedan priests, of whom not less than a hundred were present on the occasion, were extremely neat and becoming. The sport terminated without the slightest accident, and the king dismounting was a signal for the people to disperse.
Preparations in the mean time had been going on for the race, and the horses with their riders made their appearance. The men were dressed in caps, and loose tobes and trousers of every colour; boots of red morocco leather, and turbans of white and blue cotton.
That evening there was great joy amongst the Somal, who had been alarmed for the safety of my companions: they brought them presents of Harari Tobes, and a feast of fowls, limes, and wheaten bread for the stranger. On the 11th of January I was sent for by the Gerad and received the second mule.
The colour of these tobes is generally blue-black, dyed with indigo; some are glazed with gum. Many, however, are white, and ornamented in front about the neck with silken embroidery, a costume which gives them a very chaste and elegant appearance. Sometimes the tobes are variegated in colour, as are the trousers; but the sombre, or pure white, are the most popular.
One, a sort of chamberlain, habited in eight or ten tobes, or shirts, of different colours, carried an immense staff, and on his head was a turban of prodigious size, though but a trifling one compared to those they were destined to see at the audience on the following morning. A large marquee was pitched for their reception, which they found luxuriously cool.
The sheikh received his submission; and, when he really expected to hear the order for his throat to be cut, he was clothed with eight handsome tobes, and his head made as big as six, with turbans from Egypt. This matter being settled, the army returned to the capital. Major Denham soon after this visited a caravan which had come from Soudan, on its way to Fezzan.
About half a mile eastward of the town appears a burn called Jalah or the Coffee Water: the crowd crossing it did not prevent my companions bathing, and whilst they donned clean Tobes I retired to the wayside, and sketched the town. These operations over, we resumed our way up a rough tranchee ridged with stone and hedged with tall cactus. This ascends to an open plain.
They come in by dozens, no man having apparently any business to occupy him, doff their slippers at the door, enter wrapped up in their Tobes or togas , and deposit their spears, point- upwards, in the corner; those who have swords the mark of respectability in Eastern Africa place them at their feet.
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