material.

Like nearly all places within the tropics, beyond the equatorial rainy
zone, this country is visited by regular monsoons, or seasons in which
the winds prevail constantly in one direction; consequently vessels
can only come into the harbours of the northern coast when the sun is
in the south, or during five months of the year, from the 15th
November to the 15th April, to trade with the people; and then the
Somali bring the products of their country, such as sheep, cows, ghee,
mats made by the women from certain grasses and the Daum palm, ostrich
feathers, and hides, and settle on the coast to exchange them in
barter with the outer merchants, such as Arabs and men from Cutch, who
bring thither cloths, dates, rice, beads, and iron for that purpose.

Of all the trading places on the coast, the most important is Berbera;
it is, in fact, the great emporium of Somali land, and we must call
the reader's particular attention to it, since it forms the chief
point of interest in these pages. It is on the same meridian as Aden,
and only divided from it by the gulf of that name. Although it is of
such great importance, it is only inhabited during the five months of
the favourable monsoon, when great caravans come up from the rich
provinces which lie to its south and south-west, the principal ones
being those from Ugahden and Harar.

Having now given a general sketch of the country, we shall enter upon
the objects of the expedition. It was obvious, by the lay of the land,
that the richest and most interesting part of the country must be that
which lies between the Jub and Webbe Shebeli rivers, and it was the
most accessible to inspection, as large and powerful caravans,
travelling southwards through Ugahden, much frequent it. Seeing this,