body, using Berberah as a base of operations, westwards to Harar, and
thence in a south-easterly direction towards Zanzibar.

But the voice of society at Aden was loud against the expedition. The
rough manners, the fierce looks, and the insolent threats of the Somal--
the effects of our too peaceful rule--had pre-possessed the timid colony
at the "Eye of Yemen" with an idea of extreme danger. The Anglo-Saxon
spirit suffers, it has been observed, from confinement within any but
wooden walls, and the European degenerates rapidly, as do his bull-dogs,
his game-cocks, and other pugnacious animals, in the hot, enervating, and
unhealthy climates of the East. The writer and his comrades were
represented to be men deliberately going to their death, and the Somal at
Aden were not slow in imitating the example of their rulers. The savages
had heard of the costly Shoa Mission, its 300 camels and 50 mules, and
they longed for another rehearsal of the drama: according to them a vast
outlay was absolutely necessary, every village must be feasted, every
chief propitiated with magnificent presents, and dollars must be dealt out
by handfuls. The Political Resident refused to countenance the scheme
proposed, and his objection necessitated a further change of plans.

Accordingly, Lieut. Herne was directed to proceed, after the opening of
the annual fair-season, to Berberah, where no danger was apprehended. It
was judged that the residence of this officer upon the coast would produce
a friendly feeling on the part of the Somal, and, as indeed afterwards
proved to be the case, would facilitate the writer's egress from Harar, by
terrifying the ruler for the fate of his caravans. [6] Lieut. Herne, who
on the 1st of January 1855, was joined by Lieut. Stroyan, resided on the
African coast from November to April; he inquired into the commerce, the
caravan lines, and the state of the slave trade, visited the maritime
mountains, sketched all the places of interest, and made a variety of