At halting places he told his company tales from The Arabian
Nights; they laughed immoderately at the adventures of the little
Hunchback; tears filled their eyes as they listened to the sad fate
of Azizah; [154] and the two fat Somali women were promptly dubbed
Shahrazad and Dunyazad. Dunyazad had been as far as Aden and was
coquettish. Her little black eyes never met Burton's, and frequently
with affected confusion she turned her sable cheek the clean contrary
way. Attendant on the women was a Zeila lad, who, being one-eyed, was
pitilessly called "The Kalandar." At their first halting place, Burton
astonished the natives by shooting a vulture on the wing. "Lo!" cried
the women, "he bringeth down the birds from heaven." On their way
through an ochreish Goban, or maritime plain, they passed huge hills
made by white ants, Gallas graves planted with aloe, [155] and saw
in the distance troops of gazelles. They were now in the Isa country,
"Traitorous as an Isa" being a Zeila proverb. Though the people were
robbers and murderers, Burton, by tact, got on excellently with them,
and they good-naturedly offered him wives. At every settlement the whole
population flocked to see him, the female portion loudly expressing
their admiration for him. "Come girls," they cried one to another, "come
and look at this white stranger." According to Raghi, the fair face of a
French lady who had recently landed at Berbera, "made every man hate his
wife, and every wife hate herself." Once they were attacked by Bedouin,
who, however, on hearing the report of Burton's revolver, declared that
they were only in fun. Others who tried to stop them were shown the star
sapphire, and threatened with "sorcery, death, wild beasts," and other
unpleasantnesses. At a place called Aububah, Raghi relinquished the
charge of the caravan to some men of the Gudabirsi tribe, who led
the way to the village of Wilensi, where they were the guests of the
household of a powerful chief called Jirad Adan. Here Burton left
Shahrazad, Dunyazad and the Kalandar, and proceeded to Sagharrah, where
he met and formed a friendship with Jirad Adan. For several days he was
prostrated by fever, and some Harar men who looked in tried to obtain
him as a prisoner. The Jirad acted honourably, but he declined to escort
Burton to Harar. "No one," he said, "is safe in the Amir's clutches, and
I would as soon walk into a crocodile's mouth as set foot in the city."
"Nothing then remained," say