Page 401 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

374
berbera. [CH.

ear to detect any irregularity in their voices,

or in the tune, and the effect, as it came
over the waters mellowed hy distance, is de­
1 scribed to have been peculiarly romantic and
-
pleasing.
These battles and disturbances become the
more frequent among the Sum&lis at Berbera,
from the absence of any general or supe­
rior authority; every tribe obeying the dic­

tates of their own will and judgment; but at
a town called Hurra, at a distance of eight
days’ journey from the coast, where the Sul­
tan of all the tribes resides, there is said to
be a regular government, and the people are
described as being more peaceable and civi­
lised. They reside in large houses construced
of stone, and cultivate numerous plantations
and gardens.
During the fair, the Sfimalis are much
annoyed by hordes of robbers, who con­

tinually hover round the town, only waiting
an opportunity to dash into it. Little infor­
mation could be gleaned respecting these
robbers, though their number is supposed to
amount to twenty or thirty thousand fighting
men . They are at war with all the surround-