He Trade of The Gulf of Aden Ports of Africa

Institute of Ethiopian Studies
The Trade of the Gulf of Aden Ports of Africa in the Nineteeth and Early Twentieth
Centuries
Author(s): RICHARD PANKHURST
Source: Journal of Ethiopian Studies, Vol. 3, No. 1 (JANUARY 1965), pp. 36-81
Published by: Institute of Ethiopian Studies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41965718
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The Trade of the Gulf of Aden Ports of
Africa in the Nineteeth and Early
Twentieth Centuries*
by RICHARD PANKHURST
The foreign trade of most of Eastern and Southern Ethiopia was in the main
traditionally carried on through the ports of the Gulf of Aden. The most important
of these in the first part of the nineteenth century were Zeila and Berbera. Subse-
quently, in the latter part of the century, Tajurah and later Jibuti also rose to con-
siderable importance.
ZEILA
The trade of Zeila in the first part oí the nineteenth century was based, Rochet
d'Héricourt says, on a daily bazaar, i where according to lsenberg and Krapf,
commerce was "conducted chiefly by barter". Thus cloth would be purchased with
money and then exchanged for corn or other producer The principal exports, most
of which came via Harar, were coffee, gum, hides and skins, and durrah.3 Other
exports included ivory, civet, cattle, sheep, honey, antelope horns, butter, guns and
slaves. The imports comprised textiles and rice from India, the latter commodity
being eaten in the port.4
Zeila was in the early nineteenth century the principal Somali port for the
highlands of the interior. Krapf stated that there was "considerable intercourse"
with Harar and that some of the persons he met at the port understood and spoke
Amharic,s while Burton noted that Zeila was "the northern port of Aussa ... of
Harar, and of southern Abyssinia ... It sends caravans northwards to Dankali, and
south-westwards, through the Isa and Gudabursi tribes, as far as Ifat and Gurage.
1. C.E.X. Rochet d'Héricourt, Voyage sur la côte orientale de la Mer Rouge , dans le pays ďAdal et
le royaume de Choa (Paris, 1841), p. 340.
2. C. W. lsenberg and J. L. Krapf, Journals detailing their Proceedings in the Kingdom of Shoa
(London, 1843), p. 5.
3. D'Héricourt, op. cit., p. 340. Vide also lsenberg and Krapf, op. cit., 5.
4. lsenberg and Krapf, op. cit., p. 5 ; G. W. Forrest, Selections from the Travels and Journals preserved
in the Bombay Secretariat (Bombay, 1906), p. 219; R. Burton, First Steps in East Africa (London,
1893), I, 16 n.
5. lsenberg and Krapf, op. cit., p. 3.
♦Articles on the trade of Northern and Central Ethiopia appeared in the two previous issues
- 36 -
It is visited by Cafilas from Abyssinia, and by the different races oí Badawin, extend-
ing from the hills to the seaboard."« Conditions, however, were by no means fully
secure. Christopher, for example, was told by one of the traders oí the area that the
Gallas "never go to Zeila through fear".7 Half a century later later Paulitischke
observed that the port of Zeila was the main outlet to the sea for Southern Shoa,
Gurage, Harar, much of the Galla country, as well as lands inhabited by the Danakil,
and the Issa and Gadabursi Somalis ;s while a British consular report for 1891-2
stated that the trade of Zeila was "really dependent on Harar and its districts" - a
phrase which must be taken to include Shoa and ' even lands further west" - as the
Gadabursi and Issas who lived near the port "produced but little and required no
more.'*9
The port had sea contact with many parts of the East. Burton, who records that
he saw in the harbour "about twenty native craft, large and small", of which ten
belonged to the Governor, said they traded with Berbera, Arabia and Western India,
and were navigated by "Rajput" or Hindu pilots. 10 Halí a century or more later
another Englishman, Major Rayne, noted that the port's trade in the early twentieth
century included the import of dates, bags, sweets and ropes from Monkulla, dates,
grain, carpets and sweetmeats from Basra, matting, tents and dum palm leaves from
Assab, and grass mats from Berbera. n
After the occupation of the coast by the Egyptian and later by the British
Government, commerce developed on more modern lines and a number of large
trading concerns established at Aden took over the greater part of the foreign trade
of Zeila. Paulitschke, writing of the year 1885, stated that the trade of Zeila, like
that of all the Gulf of Aden ports of Africa, was "completely dependent" on that of
Aden which he described as the "commercial Mecca of North East Africa".« He
explained that the export of ivory from Zeila was mainly controlled by Menahim
Messa, a Jewish firm at Aden, while Bienenfeld and Co., an Italian firm at Aden,
handled much of the trade in Harar coffee, which it shipped out to London, Marseilles,
New York and to a lesser extent Trieste. Another Italian firm, Gentili and Co.,
exported skins to Vienna, while slaves, a very special type of export, were handled
by the local sultan of Zeila, Mohamed Abubekr. The import of textiles and rice was
dominated by Menahim Messa, while the retail trade was run partly by his agents
and partly by small Arab traders, the sale of tobacco, preserved food, matches and
certain other luxuries being to a considerable extent in the hands of Greek traders.13
There were at that time, again according to Paulitschke, perhaps 3,000 camels
engaged in the inland trade from Zeila, some 200 caravans travelling each year to
6. Burton, op. cit., I, 16 n.

7. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society (1844), XIV, 101 .
8. P. Paulitschke, Harar (Leipzig, 1888), pp. 52-3.
9. Great Britain, Report for 1891-2 on the Trade of the Somali Coast Protectorate , pp. 6, 8.
10. Burton, op. cit., I, 16 n.
11. H. Rayne, Sun, Sand and Somais (London, 1921), pp. 79-80.
12. Paulitschke, op. cit., p. 52.
13. ibid, pp. 55-6, 337.
- 37 -
and from the port and visiting either Shoa or Harar, while about 50 sambuks, each
of around 50 tons, plied between the port and Aden. These figures, he believed, were
considerably less than in earlier times as high taxes at Zeila were causing much trade
to be diverted to the rival port of Tajurah.14
The position in the twentieth century may be illustrated by a British report for
1904-5 which indicates that the five principal merchants were each of a different
nationality. They were: is
Abdullabhoy and Joomabahoy Lalljee Indian
Max Klein German
Menahim Messa Jewish
Sayed Abdullah Aibar Arab
Liviérato brothers Greek
The export-import-picture obtains quantitative accuracy only in the last quarter

or so of the nineteenth century as may be seen in the figures reproduced below. Data
for Zeila and other ports are here quoted sometimes in pounds sterling and some-
times in Indian rupees. For convenience the pound may nonetheless be very approx-
imately taken as the equivalent of 10 dollars and the rupee as Is. 4d. or slightly over
half a dollar.
Estimates for the period of the Egyptian occupation as prepared by the British
consul, Major F. M. Hunter, are as follows :i6
Foreign trade of Zeila , in rupees
Year Export Import
1879-80 553,370 725,485
1880-1 689,997 725,336
1881-2 724,016 585,932
1882-3 835,783 690,053
1883-4 641,640 579,248
Subsequent British estimates put Zeila's exports for the trade year 1883-4
nearly all of which came from Harar, at 570,000 rupees, or excluding livestock,
562,000 rupees; imports at the same period were given as 618,390 rupees."
Later statistics are as follows :is
Zetta trade in £ Sterling

Year Export Import
1887-8 105,118 63.109
1888-9 141,806 104,435
1889-90 142,149 80,778
1890-1 210,708 104,313
1891-2 151,721 101,598
1892-3 132,145 94,680
1893-4 145,885 106,203
14. ibid, pp. 54. ,377

15. Great Britain, Colonial Reports, Somaliland , Report for 1904-5, p. 16.
17. India Office, Political and Secret Letters from Aden, 1881-4, Hunter, 24.11.1884.
18. Report for 1891-2 on the Trade of the Somali Coast Protectorate , p. 7; Report for 1893-4 on the
Trade of the Somali Coast Protectorate, p. 4. Vide also Foreign Office, .403/206, Sealy, 19.12.1893;
L. De Salma, Obock (Paris, 1893), pp. 73-4.
- 38 -
Trade for the period 1896-7 to 1901-2 is given as follows in rupees:i9
Z e ila trade in rupees
Year Exports Import
1896-7 46,80,093 34,58,578
1897-8 27,23,982 23,78,332
1898-9 33,23,261 28,09,939
1899-1900 30,13,712 34,71,904
1900-1 32,89,919 30,70,577
1901-2 26,90,813 25,45,200
1902-3 17,61,076 15,40,939
1903-4 15,52,659 16,14,453
1904-5 12,07,645 11,55,137
1905-6 - -
1906-7 - 11,69,715
1907-8 - 6,54,227
1908-9 - 6,69,690
1909-10 - 7,63,087
1910-11 _ 10,05,132
1911-12 11,27,533 11,33,224
1912-13 13,89,448 12,62,233
1913-14 13,45,177 11,78,897
1914-15 11,25,169 7,99,099
1915-16 12,36,770 7,16,044
1916-17 - -
1917-18 10,79,381 9,15,590
1918-19 9,49,674 11,56,621
1919-20 8,07,733 10,99,600
Later statistics are given according to calendar year as follows:

Year Exports Imports
1920 6,45,585 6,85,740
1921 4,67,205 5,16,540
1922 8,04,506 10,63,725
1923 10,65,825 10,86,930
1924 10,44,030 13,86,086
1925 10,56,850 19,63,295
1926 10,43,190 14,65,485
1927 15,57,980 18,36,250
1928 25,84,573 24,90,241
1929 8,15,684 11,71,614
1930 7„47,339 6,60,813
1931 5,38,179 6,28,814
1932 4,62,944 5,15,407
1933 5,10,838 6,23,601
1934 5,80,710 6,34,008
1935 4,99,979 5,49,540
19. Report for the Year ending March 31, 1899, on the Trade and Commerce of the Somali Coast
Protectorate , p. 3; Report for the Year ending March 21, 1900, on the Trade and Commerce of the
Somali Coast Protectorate , p. 3; Report for the year ending March 31, 1901, on the Trade and
Commerce of the Somali Coast Protectorate , 3; Report for the Year ending March 31, 1902, on
the Trade and Commerce of the Somali Coast Protectorate p. 3. Vide also P. H. G. Powell-Cotton,
A Sporting Trip through Abyssinia (London, 1902), p. 511 ; G. Angoulvant and Vignéras, Djibouti ,
Mer Rouge, Abyssinie (Paris, 1902), p. 404; E. A. Pease, Travel and Sport in Africa (London, 1902),
I, 214
- 39 -
Exports
The export structure was first discussed in detail as early as 1810 when a British
traveller, Stuart, noted that exports during the three years prior to March 1810 had
included 6,000 pots of ghee from the Somali country, 11,622 kilos of coiFee from
Harar and Gerri despatched by the Sultan of Harar, 4,358 kilos of ivory from the
Issa Somalis and the Galla countries as well as Harar and Baskola, also sent by the
said Sultan, 725 kilos of myrrh, 436 kilos of ostrich feathers, brought by the Gadabirsi
and Isa Somalis, 5,160 measures of juwarry and 4,000 measures of wheat brought by
the Gadabirsi and Issa Somalis, as well as from an unstated number of hides irom
Harar, and 900 slaves, male and female, a certain amount of gum arabic and myrrh
brought by the Gadabirsi Somalis. 20
Apparently more accurate figures become available in 1882, the year of the
British occupation of Egypt and hence of Egyptian territories in the Gulf of Aden.
Shipments from Zeila to Aden in Khedival steamers between 1882 and 1884 were
as follows :2i
Shipments from Zeila to Aden in Khedival steamers
1882 1883 1884
Commodity quantity value quantity value quantity value
Sheep and goats 71 head 305 469 head 2,192 842 head 3,743
Cattle 2 head 50 1 head 20 - -
Horses 7 head 665 14 head 1,230 19 head 1,210
Other animals 5 head 270 17 head 630 17 head 760
Coffee 8,789 kilos 7,864 171,704 kilos 195,447 115,316 kilos 102,199
Feathers - - 4 kilos 580 6 kilos 760
Gum arabic 1,740 kilos 552 102 kilos 44 5,639 kilos 2,846
Hides 11,100 kiloj 23,215 11,400 hides 29,445 9,360 hides 22,670
Skins 2,000 skins 1,000 6,900 skins 6,500 20,540 skins 15,065
Ivory 76 kilos 1,020 407 kilos 3,950 1,831 kilos 21,010
Ghee - - - - - -
Shells 2,845 kilos 3,870 - - 152 kilos 100
Other - 40 - 3,153 - 3,538
Treasure - 1,100 - 7,860 - 2,971
Totals 39,951 251,051 176,872
Exports in the 1880's were estimated as follows by Paulitschke on the basis of

British and Egyptian records and by Alamanni who does not quote his sources '.22
Exports of Zeila in kilos
Paulitschke Alamanni
Incense 30,000 kilos 85,000 kilos
Ghee 600,000 kilos
Skins 200,000 kiloi
Coffee 20,000 kilos
Gum arabic 50,000 kilos 17,400,000 dollars
m
20. H. Salt, A Voyage to Abyssinia (London, 1814), p. lxx.

21. India Office Political and Secret Letters from Aden, 1885-88, Hunter, 9.1.1885. Vide also Pearce,
op. cit., p. 9.
22. Paulitschke, op. cit., pp. 54, 56. Vide also L Esplorazione Commerciale uööö), p. 00; ü. M.
Alamanni, La colonia Eritrea ei suoi commerci (Torino, 1891), pp. 409-10, 413-14.
- 40 -
Ivory 2,000 kilos; 600 tusks 60,000 dollars
Ostrich feathers 400 kilos 300,000 dollars
Gold 30-40 kilos
Civet 500 kilos 80 000 dollars
Rhinoceros horn 80 kilos 7,000 dollars
Myrrh 2,000 kilos
Wars 5,000 kilos
Cattle, goats, horses 50,000 head
The following statistics refer to 1889-1889 and 1892-2, two typical years
Principal exports of Zeila in 1888-9 and 1892-3
1889-1889 1892-1893
Commodity Quantity Value Quantity Value
(kilos) (rupees) (kilos) (rupees)
Coffee 545,084 5,33,715 687,629 8,37,750
Ivory 447 49,162 820 12,188
Wars 4,649 17,096 3,202 13,135
Civet 255 56,120 133 21,770
Gold 230 tolas 4,653 1,049 tolas 26,161
Totals 6,60,746 9,11,004
The relative value of the principal exports in the next decade or two may be
seen in the following tables
Zeila exports for 1891-2, in £ Sterling
Principal exports
Coffee, Harar 103,566
Skins 24,278
Hides 8,016
Civet 2,115
Ghee 1,082
Goats and sheep 2,086
Gum arabic 2,187
Hides (ox) 2,016
Ivory 1,537
The detailed position ten years later was as follows us

Zeila exports in 1900-1 by quantity
Commodity Quantity
Coffee, Harari 1,205,941 kilos
» Abyssinian 101,092 kilos
Ostrich feathers 184 kilos
Gum Arabic and resin 342 kilos
Hides 124 kilos
Skins 70,316 pieces
Ivory 40,679 kilos
Butter 55,219 kilos
Shells, mother of pearl 66,599 kilos
Wars 3,695 kilos
23. F.O., 403/206, Sealy, 19.12.1893.

24. Report for 1891-2 on the Trade of the Somali Coast Protectorate , pp. 7-9.
25. Exports for the British Ports for the Year 1900-1, pp. 16, 43.
- 41 -
Tallow 45 kilOo
Civet 645 kilos
Wax 31,648 kilos
Pearls 71/2 tolas
Gold 11,368 tolas
Charcoal 508 kilos
Salt 26,873 kilo*
Grain 32,055 kilos
Sheep and goats 4,293 head
Bullocks 91 head
Donkeys 2 head
Mules 10 head
Horses 3 head
Skihari game 1,286 head
Other animals 10 head
Zeila, it should be emphasised, was the main port handling the trade of Shoa and
central Ethiopia. Such exports as coffee, ivory, civet and slaves came indeed mainly
from the Ethiopian interior.26 The position in the early nineteenth century may be
illustrated by the report of the French scientific mission which estimated that Zeila,
together with Tajurah, exported only 300 mule loads of ivory compared with 940 mule
loads handled by Massawa, 200 hornfuls of civet as against almost 1,000 at Massawa,
and 10,000 dollars worth of coffee as against 25,000 at the more northerly port. 27
The position in the later nineteenth century may similarly be illustrated by the
quantity of Ethiopian produce exported via Zeila, which was considerable, as may
be seen from British estimates for the years 1888-9 to 1892-3. This data suggests that
the percentage of goods of Ethiopian origin exported through the port varied between
45% and 71 %.m
Proportion of Ethiopian ( including Harari) goods in Zeila exports

Zeila exports Ethiopian goods exported
Year Total in rupees) via Zeila {in ripees) %
1888-9 14,18,060 6,60,746 47
1889-9 14,21,490 6,37,040 45
1890-1 21,07,080 14,00,626 66
1891-2 15,17,210 10,78,834 71
1892-3 13,21,210 9,11,004 69
The importance of Ethiopian exports may also be judged from the statistics of
the port's coffee, ivory and civet exports, most of which must have originated in
Ethiopia :29
26. Report for the Year ending March 31, 1899, on the Trade, Commerce and Navigation of the Somali
Coast Protectorate , p. 7.
27. T. Lefebvre and others, Voyage en Abyssinie (Paris, 1845-9 II, Part II, 33-4, Vide also C. Johnston,
Travels in Southern Ethiopia (London, 1844), I, 33; G. Douin, op. cit., Histoire du règne du
Khedive Ismail (Cairo, 1936-41), III, pt. III A. 584; Rayne, op. cit., p. 71.
28. F.O., 403/206, Sealy, 19.12.1893.
29. Report of the Year ending March 31, 1899, on the Trade , Commerce and Navigation of the Somali
Coast, passim. Vide also subsequent reports in this series for years ending 1900, 1901 and 1902;
Pearce, op. cit., 1, 215 ; G. Jaja, "Etiopia commerciale", Bollettino della Società Geografica Italiana
(1909), 23-4; Robecchi-Bricchetti, Neil9 Harrar (Milano, 1896), pp. 311-13.
- 42 -
Exports of Ethiopian produce {coffee, ivory and civet) through Zeila
Commodity
in kilos 1896-7 1897-8 1898-9 1899-1900 1900-1 1901-2
Coffee, Harari 1,556,360 916,127 1,426,108 1,164,234 1,205,941 902,005
Abyssinian 1,847,952 762,000 607,720 38,760 101,092 74,778
Ivory 8,307 13,186 26,383 36,236 40,679 13,616
Civet 124 94 94 - - -
Coffee exports via Zeila reached a value of 71,169 rupees in 1910, but fell to
29,823 rupees in 1911-12 as the trade had by then largely shifted to the Jibuti railway.
The following figures were published for coffee exports via Zeila and other British
Somali Protectorate ports in the first decade or so of the twentieth century.3o
Coffee exports through British Somaliland
Year Value in rupees
1905-6 19,107
1907-8 37,569
1908-9 27,531
1910-11 85,578
1911-12 41,360
1913-13 58,471
1914-15 31,277
Imports
Our earliest estimates for the break-down of imports were recorded by Stuart
who stated that in the three years prior to 1810 these had included 200 bales of coarse
cloth from Cutch and 60 of tobacco from Muskat.3i
Subsequent Egyptian figures for the early 1880's are as follows :32
Shipments from Aden to Zeila in Khedival steamers
1882 (rupees) 1883 (rupees) 1884 (rupees)
Cotton piece goods 677,830 yards 90,532 1,283,437 yars 151,266 845,440 yards 95,252
Cotton piece goods 8,554 pieces 9,584 21,736 pieces 21,183 18,328 pieces 17,237
Grain 254,762 kilos 21,944 136,195 kilos 11,991 67,361 kilos 6,768
Metals 2,997 kilos 713 2,642 kilos 691 1,270 kilos 504
Oils 114 gallons 157 94 gallons 112 153 gallons 207
Dates 6,502 kilos 730 8,585 kilos 703 1,372 kilos 108
Flour 11,532 kilos 1,820 17,678 kilos 2,774 26,670 kilos 3,961
Other provisions 813 kilos 389 4,420 kilos 2,665 1,829 kilos 1,203
Spices 305 kilos 114 1,168 kilos 548 914 kilos 387
Sugar 3,962 kilos 1,135 9,042 kilos 3,108 6,452 kilos 2,084
Tobacco 305 kilos 140 152 kilos 38 508 kilos 149
Timber 5,080 kilos 260 1,524 kilos 125 - -
Woollen piece goods - 45 - 2,105 - 528
Other goods - 5,950 - 14,037 - 4,616
Species - 100,000 - 57,210 - 7,438
Total 233,513 268,556 140,442
30. Colonial Reports, Somaliland , 1905-6, and subsequent reports for the years to 1914-15.
31. Salt, op. cit., p. lxx.
32. I.O., Political and Secret Letters from Aden, 1885-8, Hunter, 9.1.1885.
- 43 -
The following estimates for the 1880's are provided by Paulitschke whose
figures are based on British and Egyptian sources :33
Imports of Zeila
Durrah 8,000,000 kilos
Rice 2,000,000 kilos
Dates 600,000 kilos
Salt 60,000 kilos
Cotton 1,200,000 rupees
Glassware £15,000
Metal £4,000
Coin 2,000 rupees
The above imports, it should be emphasised, included commodities brought in

for the large Egyptian garrisons, which, as Paulitschke explains, were accompanied
by their wives and children and therefore represented much greater purchasing power
than the subsequent small British forces of occupation which in any case were largely
supplied from the commissary at Aden.34
imports of cotton cloth, according to Paulitschke, had increased considerably
in the last few decades, almost all textiles being supplied either by Richardson Smith
and Co. of New York, the suppliers of the so-called amerikani cloth, or by Colabaland
Mill and Co., of Bombay, whose product was popularly known as hindi. 35
Rice imports were valued by Robecchi-Bricchetti at this time at around £30,000
a year.
The character of Zeila's imports may be further judged from the following
British estimates for the next few decades^
Zeila Imports for 1891-2, in £ Sterling

Principal Imports
Piece goods 12,508
Rice 31,827
Shirting, American 17,941
Indian 10,057
Jowari {Sorghum holcus) 8,763
Cloth, cotton, European 1,323

Dates 4,473
Flour 2,464
Sugar 1,235
Tobacco 1,054
BERBERA
Berbera was a major port of considerable antiquity which traded, with Shoa,
Harar and the country of the interior, as well as with Jeddah, Mocha, Aden and
other ports of Arabia and lands to the east even further afield. Early in the nineteenth
33. Paulitschke, op. cit., pp. 378-9. Vide also V Esplorazione Commerciale (1888), p. 86.
34. Paulitschke, op. cit., pp. 378-9.
35. ibid, p. 56.
36. Robecchi-Brichcetti, op. cit., p. 291.
37. George, Viscount Valentia, Voyages and Travels in India , Ceylon , the Red ¡Sea and tgypt (London,
1811), III, 155.
- 44 -
Century Salt stated that Berbera, together with Zeila, supplied not only much of
Ethiopia, but also adjacent lands as far as Ras el Fil on the western side of the
Takazé where caravans from Senaar stopped to make their purchases, the Ethiopians
being thought to make a 100 % profit on this trade with the Sudan.37
Berbera held an annual fair during the cool rain-free months between October
and April. This long drawn out market handled immense quantities of coffee, gum
Arabic, myrrh and other commodities. These goods in the early nineteenth century
were almost exclusively handled by Somalis who, Salt says, had "a kind of navigation
act by which they exclude the Arab vessels from their ports and bring the produce
of their country either to Aden or Mocha in their own dows."38 "From the fair of
Berbera," he adds, "Arabia draws her supplies of ghee, and a great number of slaves,
camels, horses, mules and asses ; but the profit on these articles is much less than on
the sale of India goods, which is the return made to the inhabitants for the whole
produce of the country thus brought to Berbera."39 The first caravan from the
interior, which was always the largest, brought down each year some 217,900 kilos
of gum and 29,000 kilos of myrrh. The former sold for about 15 dollars per bahar
of 145 kilos, the latter for 22 dollars per bahar. The greater part of these articles went
up the Red Sea to Egypt and were consumed either in that country or in Persia, while
a small amount found their way to Bombay and thence to Europe.40
The Berbera fair, which was a remarkable centre for the exchange of European,
Asian and African products, was a market for all kinds of African produce, including
slaves, cattle, sheep, myrrh, frankincense, aloes, coffee, gold, civet, ivory, gum skins,
incense, cardamom, butter and wax, hides and skins of lions, leopards and panthers,
as well as imported goods, such as cotton cloth, copper, antimony and silver. 41
The market, which was vividly described by several nineteenth century observers,
was one of the most remarkable of its kind. Harris thought it might be attended by
no less than 50,000 people, though Cruttenden, who was less prone to exaggeration,
put the figure at 20,000.42 Johnston estimated that the visitors to the market were
housed in four or five thousand temporary houses, while Paulitschke half a century
later, when the market had declined somewhat at importance, estimated the floating
population at only three or four thousand.43
An impressive feature of the market was the manner in which it caused the town
to come to life almost overnight and then to die again at the end of the season. "The
annual fair", wrote Cruttenden, "is one of the most interesting sights on the coast,
if only from the fact of many different and distant tribes being drawn together for a
38. ibid, II, 354.

39. ibid, II, 358.
40.
.
ibid, II, 353-4.
. - « . - - . - . « » . * •» -w- -w- . f » • /t' • 4 rt /"rt' _ _
41. A. d Ab badie, Douze ans de séjour dans la Haute- ¿miopie izaris, iöööj, pp. d /?-õu; u nericuun,
Voyage, p. 341 ; Forrest, op. cit., pp. 219-28.
42. C. W. Harris, The Highlands of Aethiopia (London, 1844), I, 39; Cruttenden, Memoir on the
Western or O door Tribes inhabiting the Somali Coast of N.E. Africa (London, 1848), pp. 186-7.
43. Johnston, op. cit., I, 22; Paulitschke, op. cit., p. 374.
- 45 -
short time, to be again scattered in all directions. . . . The place from April to the
early part of October was utterly deserted, not even a fisherman being found there;
but no sooner did the season change, than the inland tribes commenced moving down
towards the coast, and preparing their huts for their expected visitors."44 Johnston,
describing this same phenomenon, says that in the winter the port was "the busy
scene of an extensive commerce, and a deserted wilderness for the remaining months;
after which interval again the ships of foreign and the caravans of native products
begin to arrive. Another temporary town rises as if by the wand of some magician
and thousands of huts and mat houses are erected upon the beach, where but a few
weeks before nothing was to be seen but bare sands; nothing was to be heard but the
howling of numerous wild beasts, as they prowled in search of food, amongst the
heaps of filth and animal remains collected during the preceding fair." He adds that
the huts seen during the fair were temporary erections : they were made of sticks upon
which palm leaf mats, long grass or cheap half dried skins would be stretched; the
residences of the richer Banian and Arab merchants, though made of the same
materials, had "pretentions both to appearance and convenience" and would have
neat mat walls and long slanting roofs of grass securely fastened down with bamboo
sticks.45
Cruttenden, describing the close of the market season, declares, "By the end of
March the fair is nearly at a close, and craft of all kinds, deeply laden, and sailing
generally in parties of three or four, commence their homeward journey. The Soori
boats are generally the last to leave, and by the first week of April, Berbera is again
deserted, nothing being left to mark the site of a town lately containing 20,000
inhabitants, beyond bones of slaughtered camels and sheep, and the framework of a
few huts, which is carefully piled on the beach in readiness for the ensuing year.
Beasts of prey now take the opportunity to approach the sea: lions are commonly
seen at the town well during the hot weather; and in April last year, but a week after
the fair had ended, I observed three ostriches quietly walking on the beach."46
Such descriptions of the complete evaporation of the town were written in the
first part of the nineteenth century before the establishment of a more permanent
port in the second half of the century. By 1885, when Paulitschke visited the place,
a certain evolution had in fact occurred, for he estimates that there was by then a
more or less permanent population of two thousand Somalis, as well as a handful of
Arabs and Indians, living in 700 to 900 huts.47
Throughout the nineteenth century and after, the market was visited by traders
from many lands bringing a wide variety of produce. Harris describes the arrival of
the "purse proud" merchant from Harar with his "drove of comely slaves newly
44. Cruttenden, op. cit., pp. 186-7. Vide also pp. 195, 197.
45. Johnston, op. cit., I, 18, 22-3. Vide also d Hericourt, Second voyage sur ks deux rives de la Mer
Rouge , dans le pays des Adels et le royaume de Choa (Paris, 1846), pp. 285-7.
46. Cruttenden, op. cit., pp. 186-7.
- 46 -
exported from the highlands", and "wandering savages from all parts of the interior" ;
"wild pagan, displaying coffee, peltries, and precious gums from beyond Gurague;
and, punctual as ever . . . the Kafilah from the distant . . . Amin and Ogaden, a
nomad band, laden with ivory and ostrich plumes, and stained from head to foot,
both in person and in garment, by the impalpable red dust peculiar to the countries
they have traversed during their long march from the south". Cruttenden, describing
these caravans, writes of "long strings of camels . . . arriving and departing day and
night", adding that "an occasional group of dusky and travel-worn children marks
the arrival of a trade Calila from Hurrur [Harar] and Efat [Ifat]".48
Two other British officers, Stroyan and Herne, add to the account, declaring,
"Large caravans from Ogadayn . . . bring slaves from the Arusa (Arussi) country :
cattle in great quantities, gums of all sorts, clarified butter, ivory, ostrich feathers,
and rhinoceros horns to be made into handles for weapons. These are bartered for
coarse cloth of three kinds, for English and American sheeting . . ., black and indigo-
dyed calicos . . ., nets or fillets worn by the married women, iron and steel in small
bars, lead and zinc, beads of various kinds, especially white porcelain and speckled
glass, dates and rice".49
Ships came to Berbera from many parts of the East. D'Abbadie tells of the
arrival of vessels from Persia, India, Muscat, Zanzibar and Arabia, while Cruttenden
records that in the autumn "small craft from the ports of Yemen, anxious to have an
opportunity of purchasing before vessels from the Gulf could arrive, hastened across,
followed about a fortnight to three weeks later by their larger brethren from Muscat,
Soor and Ras el Khyma, and the valuably freighted Bagalas from Bahrein, Bussorah
and Graen. Lastly, the fat and wealthy Banian traders from Porebunder, Maldavie,
and Bombay, rolled across in their clumsy Koitias, and with a formidable row of empty
ghee jars slung over the quarters of their vessels, elbowed themselves into a permanent
position in the front ties of craft in the harbour, and by their superior capital, cunning
and influence, soon outdistanced their competitors. "so
The Indians enjoyed a predominant position. Cruttenden states : "The principal

traders with Berbera are the Banians, and the chief of these reside at Aden". Harris,
a less sympathetic observer, wrote of the "rapacious Banians" and declared that these
"subtle" traders had "enjoyed, silently and unobserved, the enormous profits accru-
ing from the riches annually poured out from the hidden regions of Africa." Describ-
ing the activities of these traders with his vivid, if malicious, pen he says that "the
curious stalls of the fat Banians from India were thronged from morning until night
with barbarians from the adjacent districts, who brought peltries and drugs to be
exchanged; and the clamour of haggling and barter was hourly increased by the
48. Harris, op. cit., I, 38-40, 277.

49. Burton, op. cit., II, 94-5 n. Vide. Vide also I.O., Political and Secret JLetters trom Aden, 18M,
Cogían, 6.11.1854, p. 381. Vide also D. Jardine, The Mad Mullah of Somaliland (London, 1923),
p. 21.
50, d'Abbadie, op. cit., p. 579; Cruttenden, op. cit., p. 186-7.
- 47 -
arrival of some new caravan of toil-worn pedlars from the more remote depths of the
interior, each laden with an accession of rich merchandise to be converted into
baubles and blue calico, at a clear net profit to the specious Hindoo of two hundred
per cent. Myrrh, ivory, and gum-arabic; civet, frankincense, and ostrich-feathers,
were piled in every corner of his booth; and the tearing of ells of Nils stuff and Surat
cloth, and the counting out of porcelain beads, was incessant so long as the daylight
lasted".5i
Though trade and shipping was largely in Indian hands, the Arabs and Somalis
were also active. Paulitschke tells us that in April when the Ogaden caravan, the
largest of the year, was due to arrive, some of the more adventurous Arab traders
would make their way two or three days' journey inland to purchase goods from the
interior before their arrival at the port.52
The Somalis, it appears, owed much of their position to the Hindu unwillingness
to engage in the export of cattle. Harris, for example, notes that "regligious preju-
dices" precluded "the wily Hindoo" from trafficking in livestock with the result that
"the Somouli shepherd retains in his own hand the sale of his black-headed flocks"
and "embarked ... in his frail bark of fifty tons . . . [sails] boldly across the Gulf at
seasons when the Arab fears even to creep along the coast of the Hejaz."53
The Berbera fair was thus based on commerce between peoples of many lands.
"At Berbera", writes Cruttenden, "the Gurague and Hurrar slave merchant meets
his correspondent from Bussorah, Bagdad, or Bunder Abbas: and the savage
Gidrbeersi[Gadabirsi], with his head tastefully ornamented with a scarlet sheepskin
in lieu of a wig, is seen peacefully bartering his ostrich feathers and arms with the
smooth-spoken Banian from Porebunder, who prudently living on board his ark,
and locking up his puggree [turban], which would infallibly be knocked off the
instant he was wearing it, exhibits but a small portion of his wares at a time under
a miserable mat spread on the beach. "54
The advent of traders of so many nationalities naturally created many problems.

"During the height of the fair," wrote Cruttenden, "Berbera is a perfect Babel, in
confusion as in languages: no chief is acknowledged, and the customs of bygone days
" are the laws of the place." Trading standards were often very low. "The African,"
says Burton, "cheats by mismeasuring the bad cotton cloth, and the Indian by falsely
weighing the coffee, ivory, ostrich feathers and other valuable articles which he
receives in return." Harris, who, however, can never be fully relied upon, even claims
that "the subtle Banian . . . divides the adductor pollicis of the right thumb to increase
the span by which his wares are to be measured."55
51. I.O., Political and Secret Letters from Aden, 1846-7, Cruttenden, 24.11.1847, p. 595; Harris,
op. cit., I, 38, 277.
53. Harris, op. cit., I, 39.
55. ibid, pp. 286-7; Burton, op. cit., II, 95n; Harris, op. cit., I, 39.
- 48 -
Disputes were frequent. One of the local traders, who may be suspected of
painting if anything a rosy picture, told Christopher: "The Galla never come to
Barbarah, they are afraid to." Discussing the neighbourhood of the port, he added:
"The country is peaceful; there is no danger except where there is a blood-feud.
Somalis murder each other, not strangers, or people with whom they have no
quarrel . . . Many Habashis [Abyssinians] come from Adhari [Harar] every year. "56
Foreign observers, however, were less sanguine. "Disputes between the inland
tribes," writes Cruttenden, "daily arise, and are settled by the spear and dagger, the
combattants retiring to the beach at a short distance řrom the town in order that they
may not disturb the trades." Harris tells a similar tale, observing: "No lorm of
government regulates the commerce," while Johnston, always an honest reporter,
noted that at Berbera, irrespective of nationality, "all are equally ready to resort to
a bloody appeal upon the least cause of dispute, so that every day is marked by some
fatal quarrel, and every night by some robbery and violent death. Even the murdering
Danakil shakes his head when he speaks of the Fair of Berberah, denouncing it as
being 'shatan, shatan', i.e. Satan Satan."s7
Insecurity at Berbera, as in other parts of the Somali region, was, however, kept
in bounds by the custom whereby strangers to the place chose abban, or sureties,
from among the local population. These persons combined the duties of guards and
guides; according to Johnston no less than two-thirds of the Somali population of the
town were employed in this manner. "No sooner does a stranger arrive," he says,
"that he is surrounded by natives, each soliciting to be employed as his Abbahn, and
are almost as importunate and as troublesome as the hotel-barkers who infest the
piers of our watering places . . . Every ship, or bogalow, arriving at the port is
boarded, at least a mile from the shore, by a crowd of Soumaulee Abbahns. "ss
Harris, who also discusses the institution of the abban, records that it was very well
established and that "a vessel standing towards the coast proves a signal to all who
gain their livelihood by this system, to swim off, and contest first arrival on board ;
the winner of the aquatic race, in accordance with ancient usage, being invariably
received as her Abban."59
By the latter part of the nineteenth century Berbera was fairly heavily dependent
on Aden. Paulitschke reported as of 1885 that there were no important Arab mer-
chants at the port, commerce being largely in the hands of small traders representing
the big dealers at Aden or Bombay. The principal Aden firms dealing with Berbera
at this time were Menahim Messa, Said Tahad, Abdul Kerim, Joseph A. Jones and
Co., A. B. Stein and Co., Gentili and Co., and Bienenfeld and Co., each of which
tended to specialise in one or other branch of trade. Menahim Messa was engaged
in the export of skins from Berbera to Greece; Said Tahad, who represented a
56. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society (1844), XIV, 101.

58. Johnston, op. cit., II, 26-7.
59. Harris, op. cit., I, 40. Vide also D'Abbadie, op. cit., p. 580.
60. Paulitschke, op. cit., pp. 375, 377.
- 49 -
number of Egyptian firms, ran an agency in Berbera and dealt in skins, as well as
feathers and gum, which latter was mainly shipped to London; Abdul Krim, who
represented several Basra firms and specialised in the import of dates; Jones and Co.
catered for the United States trade, supplying American cotton cloth and to a lesser
extent petrol to the Indian traders and sending out skins and coffee to the New World ;
Stein and Co., an American firm, also shipped off skins to the States ; Gentili and Co.,
from Trieste, exported skins of various kinds to that port and goat skins to Vienna,
imported flour and other articles and dealt in mother-of-pearl; Bienenfeld and Co.,
another Italian firm, also imported flour and was engaged in the mother-of-pearl
trade, which Paulitschke considered was worth 100,000 dollars a year; two other
firms, Messrs. Escher and Kaumatsch imported various items above all flour. Paul-
itschke says that despite the presence of so many foreign firms at the port there were
no credit facilities, all purchases having to be paid for within twenty-four hours.6o
Some idea of the size of the trade handled by the Berbera market may be ob-
tained from reports as to number and size of the caravans visiting it each year. In
1850, for example, Haines reported the arrival of a caravan of 3,000 camels from
Harar,6i while Cruttenden in 1852 noted that between 4,000 and 5,000 camels left the
port on one day bound for Harar and the interior.62 In the following year Haines
stated that the main Harar-Berbera caravan was composed of 5,000 camels, while
a few years later in 1859 Captain R. Playfair stated that the largest at that time had
500 camels. 63 Paulitschke in the 1880's estimated that every year the port would be
visited by some 300 caravans, the five or six largest of which would number 1,000
camels, while Alamanni later declared that the typical caravan would be composed
of 200, 300 or 500 of these animals.64
As far as shipping was concerned Haines reported in 1842 that "during the Fair
as many as 40 and 50 vessels from 50 to 200 Burthen are engaged in the Trade", while
Cruttenden ten years later reported seeing 76 boats alrge and small. Such vessels,
Hainas says, were from India, the Persian Gulf, the Coast of Arabia and the Red Sea,
"scarcely one" of them leaving the port without some slaves. «5 Half a century later
Paulitschke stated that some 200 to 250 sambuks of around 50 tons were engaged in
the trade between Berbera and Aden.««
The overall importance of the Berbera trade may be seen from the estimates
reproduced by d'Héricourt as well as by a comparison with the situation at Massawa.
61. I.O., Political and Secret Letters from Aden, 1850, Haines, 26.5.1848, p. 204.
62. ibid, 1852-3, Cruttenden, 7.4.1852, p. 70.
63. ibid, 1852-3, p. 313; 1859-60, Playfair, 29.12.1859, p. 385.
64. Paulitschke, op. cit.. p 374; Alamanni, op. cit., p. 443.
65. I.O., Political and Secret Letters from Aden, 1842, Haines, 22.2.1842; p. 112; 1852-3, Cruttenden,
7.4.1852, p. 70. Vide also 1850, Haines, 27.2.1849, p. 472; 1852-3, pp. 81-2.
- 50 -
Héricourt estimated that around 1840 Berbera exported the following produced
Exports of Berbera , by quantity circa 1 840
Commodity Quantity
Coffee 240,000 kilos
Gum arabic 200,000 kilos
Myrrh 100,000 kilos
Ivory 40,000 kilos
Ostrich feathers 200 kilos
Civet 50 kilos
Wax 100,000 kilos
Butter 100,000 kilos
Hides 8,000 skins
Goat skins 4,000 skins
Sheep skins 5,000 skins
Berbera prices at this time, as given by d'Héricourt, were as follows :68

Berbera price in M. T. dollars
Coffe 9-29 Per kilo
Gum arabic 5 »
Myrrh 7-9 »
Ivory 71-76 »
Ostrich feather 4-13 »
Civet 79.6 »
Wax 5-6 »
Butter 2 »
Hides 7 per bundle
Goat skins 1 per bundle
Oxen 4-5 each
Mules 10-12 each
Camels 7-8 each
On the basis of the above prices and export estimates it may be assumed that the
value of Berbera's principal exports excluding skins, would have been something as
follows:
Berbera exports , in M.T. dollars circa 1840
Coffee 2, 1 60,000-6,960,000
Gum arabic 1,000,000
Myrrh 700,000- 900,000
Ivory 2,840,000-3,040,000
Civet 3,530
Wax 500,000- 700,000
Butter 200,000
These figures, admittedly incomplete and tentative, would suggest that the value
of the principal exports, excluding skins, was between 7,403,530 and 12,803,530
Maria Theresa dollars.
The exports of Berbera would therefore seem to have been some thirteen times
as large as those of Massawa. It may be recalled that the exports of the northern port
were estimated at 208,500 dollars by Rüppell in 1838, at 189,476 dollars by Blondeel
67. ď Héricourt, Voyage , p. 342.

68. ibid.
- jl -
in 1840, at 272, 692 dollars by Plowden in 1852, at 239,000 dollars by the same
observer in 1856, and at 200,000 dollars by Munzinger in 1858.69
The relative significance of the main exports through the two ports may be seen
by comparing the d'Héricourt's estimates for Berbera with the corresponding data
for Massawa as given by the other writers.
Exports of Berbera and Massawa in M.T. dollars circa 1840
Berbera exports Massawa exports ( according to)
(< according to Héricourt ) Blondeel French Scientific Ferret and
Riippell Mission Galinier Plowden
Coffee 2,160,000-6,960,000 1,000 5,400 25,000 - 5,000
Gum arabic 1,000,000 - 1,250 - 130 800
Myrrh 700,000 - 900,000 - - - - -
Ivory 2,840,000-3,040,000 6,000 32,000 86,800 - 46,750
Civet 3,530 9,000 24,750 140,000 6,666- 10,000
7,500
Wax 500,000-700,000 8,000 6,000 - 80,000 8,000
Butter 200,000 16,000 10,500 - - 90,000
The significance of Berbera's exports in the early nineteenth century is confirmed

by the estimated imports of Jeddah. Though this Arabian port lay well to the north
of Massawa, which was thus much nearer than Berbera, its imports from the latter
port and the rest of the Somali coast were at least twice as great. This may be seen
from the following estimates by value and weight made by Blondeel in 1840 and by
Ferret and Galinier seven years later.70
Imports into Jeddah from Massawa and the Somali Coast
In M.T ' dollars
Somali Coast Massawa
Ferret and Ferret and
BlondeeVs Galinier' s BlondeeVs Galiniet s
Commodity estimate estimate estimate estimate
(1840) (1847) (1840) (1847)
Gum 32,600 30,000 - -
Incense 20,833 10,000 - -
Slaves - - 16,000 16,000
Butter 8,000 8,000 2,000 2,000
Myrrh and aloes 3,500 3,500 - -
Civet 750 750 3,000 2,500
Tortoise-shell - - 2,500 -
Wheat - - 2,000 2,000
Ostrich feathers 150 150 1,000 1,000
Hides and skins - - 1,000 1,000
Coffee - - 1,000 1,000
Fat - 1,000 - -
Totals 65,833 53,400 28,500 25,500
69. R. Pankhurst, "The Trade of Northern Ethiopia in the Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries",
Journal of Ethiopian Studies (1964), II, No. 1, passim.
70. E.Blondeel, Rapport général de Blondeel sur son expedition en Abyssinie (Bruxelles, 1839-42),
Annexe 28, pp. 17, 19; P. V. Ferret and J. G. Galinier, Voyage en Abyssinie (Paris, 1847-8), I,
329, 331. Vide also M. Parkyns, Life in Abyssinia (London, 1854), I, 400.
- 52 -
Imports into Jeddah from Massawa and the Somali Coast , by quantity
Somali Coast Massawa
Ferret and Ferret and
BlondeeVs Galinieťs BlondeeVs Galinier's
Commodity estimate estimate estimate estimate
(1840) (1847) (1840) (1847)
Gum 348,067 kilos 600,000 kilos
Incense 446,240 kilos
Slaves 400 persons 400 persons
Butter 53,549 kilos 100,000 kilos
Myrrh and aloes 5,355 kilos 10,000 kilos
Civet 56 kilos 56 kilos
Tortoise-shell 502 kilos
Wheat 400 sacks or 835
hectolitres
Ostrich feathers 22 kilos 23 kilos
Hides and skins
Coffee 4,909 kilos 10,000 kilos
The exports of Berbera were considerably stimulated by the development of

Aden under British rule. In 1869 a British officer, Major General Russell, reported
that Berbera supplied all the livestock consumed by the British garrison as well as by
inhabitants of Aden.71 Published statistics indicate that Aden's trade with the Somali
coast - mainly Berbera - in the late 1850's and early 1870's was as follows :72
Aden's trade with the Somali Coast in rupees

Year Imports Exports
1856-7 4,63,000 4,53,177
1857-8 5,45,058 4,18,440
1858-9 2,65,974 3,31,570
1871-2 9,17,239 7,83,858
1872-3 10,49,599 9,98,680
1873-4 10,27,880 9,23,283
A few years later in 1877 M. Schneider, the British resident in Berbera, observed
that Aden was "supplied principally from Berbera and the small ports towards
Cape Gardafui with sheep, cattle, gums, myrrh, ivory, ostrich feathers." He added
that the Somalis took away in exchange such articles as grain, rice, sugar, dates, iron,
beads and piece goods. In one year, 1875-6, Aden had in this way imported no less
than 63,000 sheep and over 1,100 head of cattle. 73 A decade or so later in 1883
another British official, H. M. Durand, declared: "Berbera with its dependent port
of Bulhar, is essential to the prosperity of Aden ... it can furnish an almost inexhaust-
able number of sheep and large quantities of cattle which cannot be easily obtained
elsewhere. Livestock to the annual value of 160,000 rupees, is exported now from
Berbera and Bulhar. "74
71. F.O. 403/81, Russell, 16.12.1869.

72. F.O. 403/8, Hamilton, 11.6.1875.
73. F.O. 403/82, Schneider. Vide also 407/14, Lyons, 1880; A. B. Wylde, Modern Abyssinia (London,
1901), p. 68.
74. F.O. 403/92, Godley, 13.7.1888. Vide also Pearce, op. cit., p. 55.
- 53 -
By the latter part of the nineteenth century when more detailed statistics become
available it is apparent that the trade of Berbera was very considerable as may be seen
by the figures produced by the Egyptian and subsequently by the British authorities.
Foreign trade in Egyptian times, as estimated by Consul Hunter was as follows :75
Foreign Trade of Berbera, in rupees
Year Export Import
1879-80 854,916 741,091
1880-1 897,766 759,532
1881-2 1,064,174 954,291
1882-3 800,919 758,165
1883-4 987,557 896,624
Data for Berbera during much of the British period was generally combined
with that for the small port of Bulhar which lay a little to the west and has still to
be discussed.
Berbera and Bulhar trade , in £ Sterling

1887-8 167,825 196,801
1888-9 207,373 213,401
1889-90 162,266 157,239
1890-1 141,279 191,712
1891-2 119,553 161,112
1892-3 182,139 218,145
1893-4 200,346 219,075
Trade for the period after 1896-7 is given in rupees.77

Berbera and Bulhar trade , in rupees
1896-7 21,42,660 23,55,172
1897-8 24,47,765 27,95,750
1898-9 29,02,793 30,39,465
1899-1900 28,71,962 33,15,651
1900-1 21,70,403 28,38,776
1901-2 25,43,216 27,82,422
1902-3 22,72,233 28,82,414
1903-4 36,17,199 46,41,676
1904-5 30,77,269 36,51,903
Statistics for Berbera and Bulhar are separated after 1906-7.78

Berbera trade, in rupees
1906-7 19,10,404
1907-8 20,45,250
1908-9 27,16,212

76. Report for the Year ending March 31, 1899,0« the Trade Commerce, and Navigation of the Somali
Coast , p. 3; similar reports for the years ending 1900, 1901, 1902. Vide also Powell-Cotton,
op. cit., p. 511 ; Angoulvant and Vignéras, op. cit., p. 404; Pease, op. cit., 1, 214; Colonial Reports,
Somaliland, Reports for 1904-5 and 1905-6.
77. Colonial Reports, Somaliland. Reports for 1904-5 to 1919-20.
78. Colonial Reports, Somaliland. Reports for 1920 to 1935.
- 54 -
1909-10 26,40,006
1910-11 18,22,577
1911-12 13,50,659 17,46,324
1912-13 9,42,604 14,70,495
1913-14 9,49,624 14,48,308
1914-15 7,38,770 15,91,987
1915-16 9,38,418 19,09,977
1917-18 11,96,113 25,46,962
1918-19 15,81,010 29,86,92i
1919-20 54,38,654 54,38,654
Later figures are given for calendar years as follows :

1920 16,16,725 39,91,475
1921 19,70,505 41,13,645
1922 17,73,461 39,51,504
1923 18,74,024 34,13,333
1924 19,58,595 38,85,769
1925 21,41,805 30,84,632
1926 20,68,080 26,22,345
1927 26,88,154 35,25,294
1928 43,58,360 51,25,580
1929 19,50,690 45,03,765
1930 24,10,192 39,94,751
1931 19,28,698 32,81,466
1932 15,05,278 31,61,735
1933 19,46,981 34,80,518
1934 11,52,943 26,92,857
1935 10,46,890 28,31,869
Somali trade was subject to significant fluctuation from one year to another.
This was in part due to fighting and outbreaks of crop pests, and partly to climatic
variations. Trade curiously enough seems to have been adversely affected by both
extremes of rainfall. "Good rains in the interior," a British consular report explains,
"bring abundance of grass, hence milk and ghee are plentiful and the Somali is
satisfied, and asks for a smaller supply of food grains and dates, whilst he is less
inclined to pick or to bring such articles to the ports." Poor rainfall, on the other
hand, had an almost identical effect by reducing the commodities available for export
and hence the purchasing power required to make import possible.79
The general character of this trade may be seen from the figures of shipments
from Berbera to Aden in Khedival steamers for the years 1882-4, the period in which
the British occupation of Egypt increased the accessibility of records from Egyptian
administered territories in the Gulf of Aden. so
Shipments from Berbera to Aden

1882 (i rupees ) 1883 (i rupees ) 1884 ( rupees )
Sheep and goats 7,565 head 32,821 15,605 head 73,770 14,549 head 70,652
79. Report for 1891-2 on the Treade of the Somali Coast Protectorate, p. 9. Vide also Paulitschke,
op. cit., p. 52.
- 55 -
Cattle 604 head 18,360 1,239 head 27,526 543 head 10,830
Horses 13 head 880 37 head 2,980 35 head 2,025
Other animals 10 head 376 84 head 4,030 40 head 1,815
Coffee 76 kilos 75 1,778 kilos 1,767 3,099 kilos 2,190
Feathers 291 kilos 19,026 658 kilos 45,085 670 kilos 40,355
Gums 13,208 kilos 4,655 29,413 kilos 11,149 101,803 kilos 43,969
Hides 14,660 hides 29,547 23,680 hides 53,385 21,140 hides 51,630
Skins 16,800 skins 8,400 36,100 skins 34,275 97,300 skins 82,410
Ivory 76 kilos 500 677 kilos 7,530 168 kilos 1,760
Ghee 7,417 kilos 5,820 12,090 kilos 9,454 19,609 kilos 15,569
Shells 762 kilos 50 - - - -
Tallow 762 kilos 36 - - 521 kilos 280
Other - 1,559 - 429 - 3,834
Treasure - 12,200 - 6,300 - 10,000
Total 134,305 277,680 337,319
Alamanni a few years later gave the following estimates of Berbera's exports :si
Exports of Berbera in kilos and M.T. dollars
Quantity
Gum 45,100,000 kilos
Incense 255,000 kilos
Coffee, 1st grade 800,000 kilos
Coffee, 2nd grade 600,000 kilos
Value
Civet 160,000 dollars
Ivory 140,000 dollars
Rhinoceros horn 20,000 dollars
Ostrich feathers 480,000 dollars
Cotton 185,000 dollars
Paulitschke a year or so later estimated that annual exports included the

following :82
Exports of Berbera
Ostrich feathers: 100,000 dollars
Ox hides: 70,000-80,000 skins; 100,000 dollars
Goat and sheep skins: 150,000-200,000 skins; 70,000-80,000 rupees
Gum: 200,000-300,000 kilos; 40,000 dollars
Ivory: 2,500-3,000 kilos
Butter 60,000 kilos
Myrrh: 50,000-60,000 kilos
Oxen: 2,000 head; 20,000 dollars
Goats and sheep: 40,000 head; 80,000 dollars
British statistics for the sea-borne exports of Berbera and Bulhar in 1891-2 and
1900-1, both fairly typical years, are as follows:83
Berbera and Bulhar exports for 1891-2 in £ Sterling
Gums 30,578
Skins 49,234
Ghee 11,545
81. Alamanni, op. cit., pp. 409-10, 413-14, 439, 443.

83. Report for 1ö91-2 on the Trade of the Somali Coast Protectorate , pp. 10-11.
- 56 -
Charcoal 1 ,269
Coffee 2,896
Hides 7,353
Ivory 1,379
Ostrich feathers 7,628
Miscellaneous 4,445
Exports of Berbera and Bulhar in 1900-1 in kilos or number of items
Commodity Berbera Bulhar

Coffee, kilos - 229,616
Ostrich feathers, kilos 609 955
Gum arabic and resin, kilos 175,666 111,557
Hides, number 1,060 2,782
Skins, number 544,994 512,860
Ivory, kilos 40,686 294
Ghee, kilos 55,220 80,010
Shells, mother of pearl, kilos 5,639 -
Wars , kilos 352 587
Tallow, kilos 4,470 152
Fibre, kilos 22,250 152
Charcoal, kilos 214,224 65,176
Horses, number 4
Cattle, number 1,117
Sheep and goats, number 51,044 4,253
Other animals, number 5
Value in rupees 13,74,999 7,95,404
The significance of Berbera and Bulhar as ports handling the trade of the Ethio-
pian interior is apparent from the following data on coffee and ivory exports. The
former commodity came entirely from Ethiopia, the latter almost entirely so.
Exports of Ethiopian produce ( ivory and civet) through the ports of Berbera and Bulhar .
Commodity Berbera
in kilos 1894-5 1895-6 1896-7 1897-8 1898-9 1899-1900 1900-1 1901-2
Coffee, clean 89 - 432 178 3,658 3,810 - -
Ivory 206 388 176 130 94 69 78 26
Bulhar
Coffee 19,583 48,616 31,039 12,462 107,556 25,923 22,962 10,689
Ivory 177 ' 295 323 278 404 403 294 97
An interesting development on the export side was the shipment from Berbera
to Massawa of camels for use in the Italian invasion of 1895-6. According to Pease
8,000 of these beasts were at that time exported and a further 3,000 after the war.
Other livestock exports included camels to India, and ponies to Aden for use of its
garrison.86
84. Report for the year ending March 31,1 902 on the Trade , Commerce and Navigation of the Somaliland
Protectorate , pp. 16, 43. Vide also C. Keller, Alfred Ilg (Leipzig, 1918), p. 172.
85. Report for the Year ending March 31, 1899 on the Trade , Commerce and Navigation of the Somali
Coast Protectorate; similar reports for the years ending 1900. 1901 and 1902. Vide also M. S.
Wellby, ' Twixt Sirdar and Menelik (London, 1901), p. 18.
86. Pease, op. cit., I, 215, 348.
- 57 -
The import structure at Berbera may be seen from the following figures of
Khedival shipments from Aden between 1882 and 1884:87
Shipments from Aden to Berbera
1882 1883 1884
(rupees) (rupees) (rupees)
Cotton piece
goods 607,969 yards 74,605 1,967,972 yards 187,871 2,175,809 yards 210,566
Cotton piece
goods 4,680 pieces 6,189 8,680 pieces 7,945 13,162 pieces 12,322
Grain 16,002 kilos 1,522 96,520 kilos 1,900 59,639 kilos 5,420
Metals 1,727 kilos 400 965 kilos 244 1,219 kilos 266
Oils 474 gallons 795 56 gallons 105 330 gallons 436
Dates 2,438 kilos 355 16,866 kilos 1,494 - -
Flour 3,708 kilos 584 21,742 kilos 2,878 14,072 kilos 1,882
Other
provisions 1,270 kilos 153 1,067 kilos 403 1,016 kilos 356
Spieces 406 kilos 210 965 kilos 520 1,118 kilos 552
Sugar 4,369 kilos 1,545 8,179 kilos 2,618 9,398 kilos 2,746
Tobacco 2,032 kilos 397 2,845 kilos 747 40,640 kilos 1,219
Timber 127 kilos 10 6,096 kilos 300 10,160 kilos 390
Woollen piece
goods - 20 - 500 - -
Other - 1,952 - 8,831 - 3,575
Specie - 13,400 - 13,385 - 17,650
Totals 102,137 229,741 267,380
The imports of Berbera at this time were estimated by Paulitschke as including

5,000,000 yards of cotton cloth valued at 150,000 to 200,000 dollars, 2,000,000 to
3,000,000 kilos of rice, 35,000 kilos of durrah, Basra dates to a value of 20,000 to
30,000 dollars, and 50,000 kilos of tobacco. 88
The imports of Berbera, like those of Zeila, were inflated during the Egyptian
period by the presence of the Egyptian garrison.89
Statistics of the seaborne imports of Berbera and Bulhar in 1891-2 are as
follows: so
Berbera and Bulhar Imports for 1891-2, in £ Sterling
Shirting, Indian 36,428
Rice 48,784
Dates 38,859
Shirting, American 3,507
Miscellaneous cloth, Indian 4,120
European 8,658
Jowari 4,137
Other grains 1,552
Sugar 1,652
Tobacco 1,414
Miscellaneous, including metal, spices, timber, and glass 8,105
89. ibid, pp. 378-9.
90. Report for 1891-2 on the Trade of the Somali Coast Protectorate 3 pp. 7-9. Vide also Powell-Cotton,
op. cit., p. 511.
- 58 -
This Berbera trade, according to the British consular report for 1891-2, was
based on a wide area of the Horn of Africa, notably that of the Habr Toljaala,
Dolbahanta, Habr Gerhajis and Habr Awal tribes and the far Ogaden. Harar
caravans, on the other hand, arrived only "now and then ... at long intervals of
time".9i
This trade at the end of the nineteenth century was still at least partially domin-
ated by traders from India, perhaps the most important of whom at the turn of the
century was a certain Mahomed Hindi who lived in the port. 92
Berbera Trade Routes
Berbera, as we have seen, was connected inland both with Harar and the Ogaden
and lower Webi Shibeli area. Another important trade route led from the port
westwards along the coast via the ports of Bulhar and Dongarita to Zeila.93
BULHAR
The port of Bulhar lay a little to the west of Berbera which for most of our
period greatly exceeded it in importance. Bulhar, which according to Paulitschke
was founded during a dispute among the Habr Awal tribe, was nonetheless by no
means insignificant as it was conveniently situated to serve Ogaden, the Gadabursi
and Habr Awal country and Harar, and was so popular that when there was talk of
closing it in 1875, some 109 merchants were prepared to protest.94 Paulitschke states
that it was then growing in importance; and that by the mid 1880's it held an annual
market between October and January which was attended by representatives from
all the Somali tribes, some 15,000 people with 95,000 camels, the fair in that respect
far exceeding that of Berbera. 95
British statistics for the foreign trade of the port in the early twentieth century
are as follows :96
Bulhar trade , in rupees

1906-7 9,66,952
1907-8 5,56,700
1908-9 5,64,774
1909-10 7,43,819
1910-11 8,59,213
1911-12 9,42,345 9,65,405
1912-13 8.68,994 9,17,731
1913-14 9,544,144 9,46,082
1914-15 7,79,456 6,52,254
91. Report for 1891-2 on the Trade of the Somali Coast Protectorate , pp. 6, 8.
92. C. J. Mellis, Lion-Hunting in Somali-Land (London, 1 895), p. 3 ; C. V. A. Peel, Somaliland (London,
1900), p. 9.
94. Douin, op. cit., III, Pt. III A., 577; Paulitschke, op. cit., p. 379; I.O., Political and Secret
Letters from Aden, 1875, p. 109.
95. Paulitschke, op. cit., p. 379,
96. Colonial Reports, Somaliland , Reports for 1906-7 to 1919-20.
- 59 -
1915-16 6,83,759 5,50,689
1917-18 8,21,647 7,78,179
1918-19 7,96,886 7,30,663
1919-20 8,28,425 10,09,936
1920 5,70,480 6,75,365
1921 3,25,965 2,41,470
1922 3,97,687 4,25,820
1923 3,52,861 3,85,192
1924 2,96,910 2,23,160
1925 2,99,535 3,69,780
1926 3,48,135 2,37,630
1927 3,36,880 1,88,688
1928 3,36,850 2,95,913
1929 2,20,803 3,01,301
1930 3,597 73,110
1931 2,095 18, 921
Statistics for 1931 are incomplete as Bulhar was closed as a customs port in
May of that year.
LESSER PORTS TO THE EAST OF BERBERA
All the Somali ports to the east of Berbera conducted a brisk trade in the produce
of the interior which they exported to Aden, Mocha and other parts of Arabia.
According to Lieutenant Speke, for example, the tiny coastal village of Bander Hais
which boasted only half a dozen mud huts nevertheless clarified butter and made
mats with the leaves of the Dum palm and other trees, which produce were taken
across the Red Sea in local Somali craft. Not far along the coast the tiny town of
Las Kuray with its twenty or thirty huts exported gums, sheep, and guano; the latter
was considered valuable, and was sent to Makalla in Arabia to manure the date
plantations. 97
The Mijertain, or north-east extremity of the Somali peninsula, also carried out
a significant sea-borne trade particularly in frankincense. Early in the nineteenth
century Salt noted that frankincense grew extensively near Cape Guardafui, and was
exported in large quantities from Bender Kassim where it sold for 12 dollars per bahar
of 145 kilos, ss Lieutenant Haines, who sailed along the Mijertain coast a few decades
later in 1843, stated the area also supplied Aden with such staple products as hides,
gums, cattle and sheep, 99 while Cruttenden recorded that in the same year the area
was visited by nine boats trading with Bombay and five trading with the Red Sea.
The local people also had twelve boats, presumably small craft.
The region's annual exports of sheep and goats ran at 15,000 head. There was
also a certain export of gum which was mainly purchased by Banians who arrived
97. Burton, op. cit., II, 114. Vide also II, 145.
98. Valentia, op. cit., II, 353-4.
99. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society (1844), XIV, 101.
- 60 -
each year at the end of the monsoon. Between September 1, 1843 and March 1, 1844,
gum exports were as follows:
kilos
To: Bombay 383,032

Red Sea ports 238,760
Arabian coast 121,920
743,712
Normal exports, Cruttenden thought, were considerably higher for, 1843-4 was
a bad year. Gum exports three years earlier were said to have been about 2,000,000
kilos though Cruttenden thought 900,000 to 1,000,000 kilos was probably a more
correct estimate. ioo
During the south-west monsoon there was also a fair at Khor Hoordea, Crutten-
den relates, where the export items included gum, ostrich feathers, hides, ivory, ghee
and ambergris. The port of Ras Hafun, he adds, also supplied donkeys to Mauritius
and did "a good trade". ioi
The significance of the exports of Mijertain were alluded to a couple of genera-

tions later by the Frenchman, Revoil, who estimated in 1880 that the area exported
every year over 120,000 kilos of gum and incense or 200,000 in a good year, 500
roties (227 kilos) of ostrich feathers, 5,000 to 6,000 sheep and cattle, 13,000 to 15,000
kilos of ghee, 150,000 kilos of maidi and 1,400 fraseias (23,800 kilos) of mother of
pearl, i.e. a total of over 300,000 kilos of merchandise excluding livestock. 102
Later in the century Paulitschke noted that Ras Hafun was a great source for
frankincense some 6,000 bales of which were exported every year to Berbera whence
supplies were shipped mainly to Trieste to meet the demands of the Russian market. 103
The exports of Ras Hafun were later estimated by Alamanni to include 38,000 dollars
worth of civet, while those of Ras el Khail further to the south were said by the same
authority also to comprise 38 000 dollars worth of civet, 20,000 dollars worth oí ivory
and rhinoceros horn combined, 70 000 kilos of incense, and 10,060,000 kilos of gum. 104
Other minor ports of which we have record in this period included from west to
east Karin, Ankor, Mait, Wakderia, Las Khorai, Durdureh, Meraja, Bendar Ziada,
Bendar Qusim, Bendar Khor, Ras Alula, and Ras Assir, the largest of which accord-
ing to Paulitschke would have no more than 150 inhabitants. These lesser ports
either transported in sambuks to Berbera by India and Arab traders. 105
100. C. J. Cruttenden, "Report on the Mijjertheyn Tribe of Somallies," Transactions of the Bombay
Geographical Society (1844-6), passim.
101. Cruttenden, Memoir of the Western or Odoor Tribes , pp. 209-10
102. G. Revoil, Voyages au cap des aromates (Pans, 1880), pp. 271-87. Vide also Revoil, La valíte du
Darror (Paris, 1882), pp. 376-82.
104. Alamanni, op. cit., pp. 410, 414.
- 61 -
Subsequent British statistics give data on the trade with Aden of the so-called
Somali "flag ports" of Ainterad; Ankor, Raguda, Shellao,Hais, Mait and Hashow,
and of the Indian Ocean coast of Mijertain. Exports and imports were as follows :io6
Trade of the Somali "Flag Ports" and Mijertain in £ Sterling
Flag Ports Mijertain Flag Ports Mijertain
1891-2 12,900 13,680 15,282 29,507
1892-3 19,381 11,407 19,151 23,469
1893-4 22,538 15,032 3,165 19,867
In the early twentieth century the following statistics were published: 107
Foreign Trade in rupees
Karam Hais Karam Hais
1902-3 21,986 97,283 24,499 1,46,849
1903-4 30,467 83,618 41,773 1,71,243
1904-5 23,008 70,911 20,404 80,758
1906-7 17,570 1,03,688
1907-8 20,538 72,486
1908-9 17,519 80,952
1909-10 16,694 91,125
The foreign trade of Hais Las Khorai and Elaiya a decade or so later was
given as follows :ios
Foreign trade of Hais , Las Khorai and Elaiya in rupees
1921 2,53,725 2,51,085
1922 1,15,996 1,97,151
1923 1,44,135 1,61,955
1924 1,17,645 1,08,085
1925 1,43,640 1,47,750
1926 2,29,300 1,34,190
1927 3,06,106 1,71,431
1928 2,46,487 3,39,707
1929 1,97,716 2,98,907
1930 1,85,917 1,98,492
1931 2,05,380 2,05,938
1932 1,73,808 4,00,683
1933 1,23,439 2,11,511
1934 98,744 2,53,986
1935 1,52,592 2,45,637
The trade of the Mijertain ports, though considerable, was of course infinitely
smaller than that, for example, of Berbera and Bulhar, as may be seen from the
following figures:
Mijertain ports Berbera and Bulhar
Year Exports Imports Exports Imports
1904-5 93,919 1,01,162 30,77,269 36,51,903
1928 2,46,487 3,39,707 46,95,210 54,11,493
106. Report for 1891-2 on the Trade of the Somali Coast Protectorate , p. 10, Report for 1893 on the
Trade of the Somali Coast Protectorate , p. 6; Report for 1893-4 on the Trade of the Somali Coast
Protectorate , p. 7.
107. Colonial Reports, Somaliland , Reports for 1902-3 to 1907-8.
108. idem, Reports for 1921 to 1935.
- 62 -
Bender Kassim on the Gulf of Aden a little to the east of the British Somaliland
frontier was greatly renowned during the Fascist period as a source of incense and
according to Harmsworth met the whole of the Vatican's requirements of this
commodity.io9
THE BRITISH SOMALI PORTS
The character of the trade of what was to become the British Somali Protectorate
has already been touched upon in discussing the principal ports of the area. Cecchi,
describing the situation between 1877 and 1880 mentioned a dozen or so small ports
besides Zeila and Berbera and estimated that the exports of the Somali area in general
were valued at around £150,000 Sterling. These exports comprised butter, which
reached the coast in skin bottles of goat or gazelle skin, live sheep and goats, incense,
which came especially from the Brava area, myrrh most of which was taken to Arabia
and India, gum 80 000 dollars worth of ostrich feathers, the best of which sold for a
dollar or a dollar and a half each ox, hides, valued at 200,000 dollars and mainly
taken to Aden, and the bark of a small asclepia from which cord was made, as well as
produce from the Galla lands of the interior, particularly a certain amount of civet,
and a little ivory and rhinoceros horn which was mainly sent to Egypt.
The principal imports, Cecchi explains, comprised British and Indian cloth and
cotton textiles, which enjoyed a good market among the Gallas of the interior,
cottons and woollen materials of red and blue from India, blue muslins for women's
headgear, red and white yarn of cotton and silk, rice trom India, bars oí copper used
in the manufacture of jewellery, iron and steel which was taken to Harar for the
manufacture of arms, tin for local use in the ornamentation of lances and knives as
well as for sale for similar purposes to the Galla, ambergris for use in jewellery, salt
from the Red Sea and Lake Assai, cloves, cinnamon, pepper and durrah.no
A few years later Alamanni stated that at the end of the century the Somali coast
as a whole supplied Aden each year with no less than 4,000 camels, 500,000 sheep
and goats, and 6,000 horses and mules, m
The overall picture of British Somaliland exports and imports by the end of our
«period may be seen in the following tables: 112
Exports of British Somaliland, by sea 1919-1935 Years
Commodity 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924
Bullocks, numbers 1,675 1,372 1,655 1,577 1,167 881
Sheep and goats,
numbers 61,483 72,802 84,861 92,424 79,509 93,872
Skins, numbers 1,238,821 725,641 806,511 676,647 775,930 1,008,859
Hides, kilos 173,482 73,355 21,234 11,074 6,401 864
Ghee, kilos 22,606 123,088 225,958 258,978 446,837 456,489
Gums and resins, kilos 367,995 175,209 504,749 316,687 209,652 282,600
109. G. Harmsworth, Abyssinian Adventure (London, 1935), p. 74.

110. A. Cecchi, Da Zeila alle frontiere del Caffa (Roma, 1886-7), I, 40-1.
111. Alamanni, op. cit., p. 408.
112. Colonial Reports, Somaliland, Reports for 1919 to 1935, Vide also M. Boucoiran, La situation
économique de l'Éthiopie", Renseignements Coloniaux (1918), pp. 191-12.
- 63 -
Commodity 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930
Bullocks, numbers 789 1,008 1,340 877 563 2,102
Sheep and goats,
numbers 97,492 126,280 120,123 74,543 60,079 76,127
Skins, numbers 1,302,302 1,066,702 1,754,548 3,773,940 981,428 81,0130
Hides, kilos - 9,195 6,604 - 143,866 3,605
Ghee, kilos 140,310 187,604 250,850 59,334 53,797 291,846
Gums and resins, kilos 265,532 343,713 256,388 745,642 851ť357 673,659
Commodity 1931 1932 1933* 1934* 1935*

Bullocks, numbers 857 756 1,086 884 1,847
Sheep and goats, numbers 104,682 136,497 120,189 95,127 88,866
Skins, numbers 997,221 1,079,796 1,715,750 1,848,953 1,099,887
Hides, kilos 1,880 - - 1,524 6,604
Ghee, kilos 368,148 300,380 83,464 271,272 86,970
Gums and resins, kilos 603,504 846,785 430,124 372,313 669,340
* Transit trade excluded for these years.
Imports of British Somaliland by sea 1919-1936

Commodity Units 1919 1920 1921 1922
American grey sheetings yards 523,573 264,317 1,189,080 2,260,50 6
British grey sheetings „ - - - -
Russian grey sheetings „ - - - -
Indian grey sheetings „ - - - -
Chinese grey sheetings „ - - - -
Japanese grey sheetings „ - - - -
Country grey sheetings „ 2,405,630 866,007 - -
Country grey sheetings (Indian) „ - - 1,350,911 4,500
Country grey sheetings (Japanese) „ - - 307,178 197,968
European white long cloth (Manchester) „ 706,110 671,286 515,052 622,949
Japanese long cloth „ - - - -
Dates kilos 3,532,530 2,331,415 3,286,049 2,755,087
Rice „ 7,183,526 3,685,642 3,403,702 4,816,856
Sugar „ 679,247 453,492 638,099 947,674
Commodity Units 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
American grey yards
sheetings 1,238,270 118,290 301,530 166,440 1,800 9,750 38,410
British grey
sheetings „ - - - - - - -
Russian grey
sheetings „ - - - - - - -
Indian grey
sheetings „ - 115,860 - - - - -
Chinese grey
sheetings „ - - - 32,300 6,300 - -
Japanese grey
sheetings „ - 2,587,245 2,857,110 2,466,010 3,151,960 2,161,230 1,546,265
Country grey
sheetings „ - - - - - - -
Country grey
sheetings
(Indian) „ 17,250 - - - - - -
Country grey
sheetings
(Japanese) „ 934,310 - - - - - -
European
white long
cloth
(Manchester) „ 690,074 849,025 927,226 1,399,902 1,990,733 1,036,501 1,071,248
- 64 -
Japanese long
cloth „ - - - - - - -
Dates kilos 2,083,511 3,158,795 1,944,675 2,426,259 2,354,986 6,176,874 2,610,917
Rice „ 4,307,332 2,959,151 4,672,127 2,857,957 5,106,162 10,589,870 9,331,249
Sugar „ 794,512 1,026,668 1,725,524 1,613,510 2,504,542 3,536,290 2,262,084
Commodity Units 1930 1931 1932 1933* 1934* 1935*

American grey sheetings yards 18,150 12,750 - - - -
British grey sheetings „ - - - - 1,830 7,059
Russian grey sheetings „ - - - 7,700 8,050 4,155
Indian grey sheetings „ - - - - - 286,450
Chinese grey sheetings „ - 27,450 - - - -
Japanese grey sheetings „ 2,720,773 2,312,752 1,939,687 694,263 545,426 406,548
Country grey sheetings „ - - - - - -
Country grey sheetings
(India) „ - - - - - -
Country grey sheetings
(Japanese) „ - - - - - -
European white long cloth
(Manchester) „ 1,430,910 1,060,017 930,468 618,928 637,178 837,549
Japanese long cloth „ - 109,800 297,086 42,370 65,322 76,468
Dates kilos 2,308,606 3,316,028 4,144,670 2,190,750 2,177,593 2,499,715
Rice „ 6,499,555 5,691,327 5,089,246 8,138,922 8,460,740 6,281,623
Sugar „ 1,073,252 2,556,967 2,756,764 3,151,835 3,093,822 3,244,139
* Transit trade excluded for these years
Pearl Diving
A certain trade in pearls took place along the whole Somali coast of the Gulf of
Aden. Some of the divers many of whom in the 1920's at least were Sudanese, owned
their own small boats or canoes, while others were employed by the vessel owners.
Divers were very frequently in debt and usually obtained advances from the buyers,
who were mainly Indian merchants, the most important at Aden being a certain Juma
Bana. The divers used only the simplest of equipment, a few pieces of bent wire to
close their nostrils when under water, and a paraffin tin cut in half with a pane of
glass soldered to the bottom through which to peer in quest of oysters. The successful
diver would usually return to the surface with three, one held under the left arm and
the other two one in each hand. Profits were traditionally said to be divided in three
equal parts, one for the buyer, one for the captain or boat ôwner, and one for the
divers or crew; the buyer's share was, however, larger when he had advanced the
others food or money.113
Trade between Ethiopia and British Somaliland
The difficulty of supervising the frontier between Ethiopia and the British
Somaliland Protectorate rendered the collection of accurate information almost
impossible. The British customs authorities nevertheless published a certain amount
of statistics on this trade after World War I. This data reveals the general scope of
the trade and gives some idea of its magnitude.
113. Rayne, op. cit., pp. 137-44. Vide also H. de Monfreid, Pearls , Arms and Hashish (Paris, 1930),
passim.
- 65 -
Goods exported across the frontier from Ethiopia to British Somaliland com-
prised millet and what as shown in the following table: 114
Exports from Ethiopia to British Somaliland in kilos
1919 1929 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926
Millet 1,198,220 1,355,670 1,044,528 833,882 794,715 213,182 71,984 48,552
Wheat ________
1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935

Millet - cwts. 33,579 4,445 - 51 1,270 _ - - -
Wheat- cwts. 2,184 432 _ - 336 - - -
Goods imported across the frontier into Ethiopia consisted of salt and, at times,
a certain amount of livestock, as indicated below :u5
Imports from British Somaliland to Ethiopia

Commodity Unit 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927
Salt kilos 906,120 504,342 1,572,362 1,743,151 1,323,899 1,066,190 969,721 807,872
Cattle „ 2,536 1,315 4,717 4,816 3,792 945 827 934
Sheep and
goats - - - - - 5,901 4,905 7,421
Camels „ - - - - - - - 18
Donkeys „ - - - - - - - -
Horses „ - - - - - - - -
Commodity Unit 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935
Salt kilos 748,614 379,489 424,448 96,977 1,992,325 2,731,262 3,191,358 2,604,770
Cattle number 759 1,554 1,807 467 275 569 371 862
Sheep and
goats „ 7,675 6,341 9,853 17,914 20,737 20,600 13,197 9,834
Camels „ 138 207 198 182 279 455 616 830
Donkeys „ 2215 4 4 20 5 9
Horses „ 15 6 3 4 13 28 31 6
Wheat kilos - - - - - - - 6
The greater part of the British Somaliland transit trade with Ethiopia passed,
as already seen, by way of Zeila and is estimated during this period as follows :u6
Zeil a's transit trade with Ethiopia , in rupees
Year Value
1923 2,49,693
1924 5,02,367
1925 7,40,455
1926 9,00,783
1927 14,63,849
1928 13,89,665
1929 10,78,879
1930 15,71,792
1931 12,43,200
1932 10,77,347
1933 11,54,051
1934 13,73,287
1935 17,22,707
114. Colonial Reports, Somaliland , passim.

115. ibid.
116. ibid.
- 66 -
Statistics of goods imported at the coast and subsequently re-exported to
Ethiopia in 1930, a typical year, was as follows:ii7
British Somali imports re-exported to Ethiopia , 1930
Commodity Quantity Value in rupees
American grey sheeting 18,000 yards 6,100
Japanese grey sheeting 1,704,600 yards 4,40,120
European white long cloth 293,400 yards 1,30,230
Rice 24,460 kilos 5,600
Sugar 362,306 kilos 85,584
TAJURAH
Tajurah which lay in the Gulf of Obok, differed from the Gulf of Aden ports in
handling almost entirely the trade of Shoa and Aussa rather than that of Harar or
Ogaden. Krapf observed in ths middle of the nineteenth century that this port was
"the proper landing place" to penetrate Shoa. us The significance of the port as the
best means of access to Shoa was underlined by the fact that it was there that the
British mission of Captain Harris landed in May 17, 1841, reaching Ankober 79 days
later on August 4, though the actual march covered 36 days, or more precisely 174
hours. Surgeon R. Kirk, who lists the various halts on the way, observed: "There is
no bazaar at Tajurra, but the smaller supplies can be obtained in exchange for beads,
buttons, fish-hooks or tobacco.119
The exports of Tajurah were described by Krapf as including "many slaves' who
were shipped from Tajurah to Arabia, as well as grain, ivory and other produce of
Arabia. Since the British occupation of Aden in 1839 a 'slight' export of timber had
also developed. 120 D'Héricourt confirms this account, stating that Tajurah exported
slaves as well as wheat and durrah,i2i while Kirk says the population oi the port were
"principally engaged in the trade in slaves and salt with the markets of Aussa and
Abyssinia." 122
The importance of Tajurah grew in the second half of the nineteenth century.
A generation later Heuglin, referred to "boatloads" of coffee being exported at
Tajurah, as well as at Berbera and Zeila.123
The principal imports of Tajurah, according to Harris and d'Héricourt, were not
so different from those of Berbera and Zeila, namely Indian and Arabian produce,
pewter and zinc, blue cloth and pieces of silk, old copper, brass wire, beads and a
number of other articles such as cheap scissons, knives and razors, buttons, mirrors,
trinkets, bottles, rice, dates, snuff, and tobacco. »24
117. ibid.
118. J. L. Krapf, Travels, Researches and Missionary Labours (London, 1860), pp. 20-1.
119. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London (1842), XII, p. 221.
120. Krapf, op. cit., pp. 20-1.
121. D'Héricourt, Voyage, p. 39.
122. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London (1842), XII, p. 221.
123. T. Heuglin, Reise nach Abessinien (Jena, 1868),, p. 56. Vide also P. Soleillet, Voyages en Ethiopie
(Rouen, 1886), p. 27.
124. Harris, op. cit., I, 61 ; d'Héricourt, Voyage , p. 39. Vide also Lettres de J. A. Rimbaud , (Paris, 1899),
p. 195.
- 67 -
The trade of the port appears to have been fairly extensive at this time. Harris
says that each year in September the wandering tribes of the interior assembled at the
port where an annual fair is held "similar, though much inferior, to that of Berbera",
with the result, that the population of the "quiet little village" became swollen to
"ten times its ordinary amount", as articles from or for the hinterland were assembled.
"Slaves, honey, gold-dust, ivory, ostrich feathers, senna, madder, civet, gums, myrrh,
frankincense, grain, hides, and an immense supply of cattle, are brought by the
pedlars of the numerous tribes occupying the country within twenty days' journey.
For two months the beach is piled with merchandise, and the suburbs are drowded
with camels, mules and donkeys."i25
The first foreign trade estimates seem to have been those produced by Major
Hunter during the subsequent Egyptian occupation. These figures, as quoted by
Paulitschke, are as follows: 126
Foreign trade of Tajurah , in rupees
Year Export Import
1879-80 37,550 34,813
1880-1 29,656 18,513
1881-2 42,190 20,309
1882-3 48,895 22,608
1883-4 37,568 27,234
From the early 1880's until the devoelpment of Jibuti a decade on so later the
port was the scene, as explained elsewhere by the present writer, of extensive import
of fire-arms, 127 the significance of which was clearly understood by Brigadier General
James Blair, British Political Resident in Aden, who observed in March 1883: "it is
a matter of common report that the most effective way of securing a caravan of ivory
and other products from Abyssinia and Shoa is by an exchange of arms and
ammunition."i28
Trade Routes of Tajurah
Tajurah's trade routes inland led not only southwards as already said, to Harar,
but also westwards to Aussa and the borders of Shoa. Beke, who lists numerous
caravan halts in the area, indicates a route with several variations which led from
Tajurah via Raheita and the Awash river to Aussa, and then across the Awash and
Milli rivers to Dowe, a market east of Ain Amba on the highlands overlooking the
Danakil plain. From Dowe the route led on to the inland markets of Ain Amba not
far from Ancharo, both in Warra Qallu, and Adas in Warra Haimano and thence
again crossing the Mille river to Waldyea, Adami and Gurra in Yejju. This latter
market was frequented by Danakil, though Beke says "it is the women alone who
bring their loaded camels, and buy and sell in place of the men, who keep away
125. Harris, op. cit., I, 61-2.

127. R. Pankhurst, "Fire-arms in Ethiopian History", Ethiopia Observer , VI, No. 2, passim.
128. I.O., Political and Secret Letters from Aden, 1881-4, Blair, 10.3.1883.
- 68 -
altogether in order to avoid bloodshed, this country being the scene of constant
feuds among the different tribes". Adami market, we are told, was also in direct
contact with the Danakil country or Adal.129 The Danakil, as Borelli noted a couple
of generations later, were well supplied with cattle and milk, but greatly in need of
such imported goods as glass beads, textiles and tobacco. 130
The character of Danakil trade at the end of our period was summed up by
Nesbitt, who noted that the traders brought down from the highlands to the coast
a certain amount of grain, a little coffee and a few slaves. Trade in the opposite direc-
tion, which was mainly in salt and manufactured goods, was carried on by merchants
of many races: "The salt caravans," he says, "are organized by Somalis or Danakils
living on the coast of the Red Sea, or the Gulf of Aden. Caravans of cotton and other
imported goods, on the other hand, are sent into the interior by Europeans, Arabs,
Levantines and Indians, who do not accompany their goods, but entrust them to
natives, on account of the danger of foreigners travelling in Danakil territory."i3i
OBOK
The port of Obok, a little to the north of Tajurah, became important in 1882
when the first caravan from Shoa arrived. Besides the usual export-import trade the
port did a certain amount of business in salt, some 2,000 to 3,000 camels, according
to Soleillet, being engaged in transporting this material inland. 132
JIBUTI
The port of Jibuti which was insignificant until the last decade of the nineteenth
century thereafter rapidly rose in importance and soon outclasses all its rivals. This
rapid growth was due to the construction of the Addis Ababa-Jibuti railway, 133
though even before its construction there was a substantial increase in the trade of
the port, due in the main to French willingness to supply fire-arms, then in great
demand in Ethiopia.
The town of Jibuti grew rapidly as soon as construction work on the line began,
and a flourishing import-export market appeared almost overnight, the practice
being adopted as at other markets of making it obligatory for the Somalis to leave
their weapons outside. 134 Trade from the outset was international in character. By
1907 Henin was able to report the existence at the port, of the following dozen ox so
trading concerns : 1 35
129. C.T.Beke, "Routes in Abyssinia", Journal of the Royal Geographical Society (1842), XII, pp.51.69-76.
130. J. Borelli, Ethiopie méridionale (Paris, 1890), p. 69.
131. L. M. Nesbitt, Desert and Forest . (London. 1937). p. 236.
132. Soleillet, op. cit., pp. 2, 28-9; L. Faurot, "Voyage au golfe de Tadjoura", Revue de V Afrique
Française (1886), p. 6; L. De Salma, Obock (Paris. 1893). passim.
133. R. Pankhurst, "The Franco-Ethiopian Railway and its History", Ethiopia Observer. No. 4, VI,
pp. 343-79.
134. F. Rosen, Eine deutsche Gesandtschaft in Abessinien (Leipzig. 1907). pp. 7-8.
135. H. Henin, "Ethiopie," Recueil Consulaire Belge (1907), pp. 135-6.
- 69 -
Compagnie de l'Afrique Orientale, which dealt in transport and the supply of
coal (French)
Comptoir Européen, Baijeot et Co., import-exporters (French)
Comptoir de Djibouti, dealers in arms, munitions and skins (French)
G. Papaconstante, dealer in ironmongery and tobacco, and baker
P. Matkovitch, transporter and grocer
V. Vosikis, grocer (Greek)
G. Ghaleb, cloth and silk merchant (Syrian)
A. Stividis, dealer in ironware and groceries (Greek)
A. Kalos, dealer in wood and building materials and coffee exporter (Greek)
A. Calver et Co., wine merchant and grocer
Ph. Merignac, dealer in wines and groceries
D. Arloz. - Petiaux et Co. dealer in wine and groceries (French)
Pino-Garrigue, dealer in arms and munitions (French)
Very considerable expansion of trade took place in the early twentieth century.
In 1891 Aden registration showed that exports through Jibuti - mainly ivory, gold,
coffee and civet - were valued at only £19,608, and imports - mainly fire-arms, spirits,
perfumes and piece goods - at £13,193.136 A British consular report nevertheless
stated that the bulk of the trade of central and eastern Ethiopia was based on
Jibuti, Ethiopian exports being primarily used to pay for fire-arms. 137 A year or so
later, L. De Salma, reported seeing caravans composed of hundreds of camels coming
to the port.i38 Great expansion took place in the next few years. Trade figures for the
French colony as a whole become available shortly afterwards and show a steady
expansion as follows: 139
Foreign trade of the French Somali Coast in M.T. dollars
1899 (8 months) 289,275 1,209,740
1899 (estimate) 433,912 1,814,612
1900 277,205 2,371,640
1901 1,071,720 2,933,872
Though no figures are available for the amount Jibuti's exports emanating from
Ethiopia at this time they must have constituted a large proportion of the total.
Ethiopian imports passing through the port were however recorded and are given as
follows: wo
Ethiopian imports through Jibuti in M.T. dollars
Date
1899 (8 months) 254,435
1899 (estimate) 381,652
1900 571,728
1901 1,521,316
136. Report for 1891-7 on the Treade of the Somali Coast Protectorate , p. 6.
137. Report for the Year ending March 31, 1899 on the Trade , Commerce and Navigation of the Somali
Coast Protectorate, p. 11. Vide also F.O., 403/255,
138. De Salma, op. cit., p. 71.
139. Angoulvant and Vignéras, op. cit., pp. 389-92. Vide also C. Michel, Vers Fachoda (Paris, 1900),
p. 519.
140. Angoulvant and Vigneras, op. cit., pp. 391-2.
- 70 -
The expansion of Jibuti's trade in the early twentieth century may be further
illustrated by the following statistics :i4i
Trade through Jibuti in M.T. dollars
1900 - 2,087,711
1901 943,415 2,582,633
1902 2,093,363 2,593,233
1903 1,947,331 2,651,486
1904 2,803,961 3,701,514
1905 3,367,457 4,448,088
1906 3,125,025 4,553,169
It should be noted that the first train service from Jibuti began on July 22, 1901
and operated from the port to Douanle, the first station on the Ethiopian side of the
frontier at kilometre 106. On December 24, 1902, the service was extended to Dire
Dawa, thereby enabling the railway to handle a large proportion of the Harar trade.
The character of Ethiopia's exports may be further exemplified by the following

data on merchandise exported by way of Jibuti. 142
Coffee
The great period of Ethiopian coffee export began at the turn of the century and
by 1902, as we have seen, Jibuti was responsible for more than nine times as much
trade in this commodity as Massawa.
Coffee exports through Jibuti
Date Value in MST. dollars
1898 (8 months) 21,313
1902 1,315,525
1903 813,912
1904 1,215,260
1905 1,249,095
1906 1,177,817
Statistics produced by the Franco-Ethiopian railway show the following steady

expansion from 1909 to 1935.143
Coffee exported via the Jibuti railway in kilos
Year Harari Abyssinian Total
1909 1,370,000 - 1,370,000
1910 2,924,000 245,000 3,169,000
1911 3,482,000 190,000 3,672,000
1912 3,347,000 125,000 3,472,000
1913 3,691,000 397,000 3,088,000
1914 3,390,000 210,000 3,500,000
1915 4,168,000 198,000 4,366,000
1916 3,804,000 230,000 4,034,000
141. Jaja, op. cit., pp. 21-2, 166-7. Vide also H. Le Ponte, La colonisation française au pays des Somalis
(Paris, n.d.), pp. 75-6.
142. Jaja, op. cit., pp. 166-7.
143. Compagnie du Chemin de Fer Franco-Ethiopien, Rapports (1908-1936).
- 71 -
1917 4,332,000 180,000 4,332,000
1918 3,194,000 9,000 3,203,000
1919 3,305,000 2,000 3,307,000
1920 2,745,000 71,000 2,816,000
1921 3,734,000 280,000 4,014,000
1922 4,396,000 2,240,000 6,636,000
1923 3,770,000 1,747,000 5,517,000
1924 7,390,000 4,653,000 12,043,000
1925 5,563,000 4,865,000 11,427,000
1926 6,315,000 6,035,000 12,350,000
1927 7,262,000 7,090,000 14,352,000
1928 5,093,000 7,658,000 12,751,000
1930 8,140,000 6,272,000 14,412,000
1931 10,033,000 8,421,000 18,454,000
1932 8,578,000 11,412,000 19,990,000
1933 6,977,000 6,602,000 13,579,000
1934 7,835,000 9,408,000 17,243,000
1935 6,562,000 9,260,000 15,822,000
Coffee exports from the western and southern provinces increased eight fold
from 1921 to 1922, more than doubled in the next two years, and began to surpass
those of Harar in 1925.
Skins
The trade in skins, though smaller, expanded rapidly, particularly after 1902.
Skins exported through Jibuti
Date Value in M.T. dollars
1899 (8 months) 30,555
1902 141,643
1903 475,866
1904 772,690
1905 697,408
1906 865,873
Railway statistics also indicate a substantial expansion between 1909 and 1935:
Hides and skins exported via the Jibuti railway (in kilos )
1909 970,000
1910 2,810,000
1911 3,043,000
1912 3,115,000
1913 4,105,000
1914 4,301,000
1915 4,673,000
1916 3,193,000
1917 6,742,000
1918 8,217,000
1919 8,346,000
1920 4,671,000
1921 2,229,000
1922 3,740,000
1923 6,902,000
1924 7,642,000
1925 9,174,000
1926 7,450,000
1927 9,474,000
- 72 -
1928 10,451,000
1929 7,137,000
1930 8,016,000
1931 7,387,000
1932 4,906,000
1933 7,945,000
1934 5,476,000
1935 7,953,000
Ivory
Ivory exports reached their maximum towards the end of the Menelik era, for,
as explained elsewhere by the present writer, the occupation of the southern and
western provinces led to a great increase in hunting and a subsequent depletion of
stocks. 144 The result may be seen in the following tables:
Ivory exports through Jibuti
1899 (8 months) 125,856

1902 483,627
1903 497,623
1904 379,021
1905 646,408
1906 283,741
Ivory exports by rail through Jibuti , in kilos

1909 45,000
1910 64,000
1911 28,000
1912 52,000
1913 52,000
1914 13,000
1915 4,000
1916 22,000
1917 6,000
1918 1,000
1919 20,000
1920 26,000
1921 24,000
1922 12,000
1923 11,000
1924 17,000
1925 8,000
1926 9,000
1927 6,000
1928 7,000
1929 4,000
1930 3,000
1931 5,000
1932 300
1933 300
144. R. Pankhurst, "Wild Life and Forests in Ethiopia," Ethiopia Observer , VII, No. 3, pp. 241-6.
- 73 -
Ivory exports by rail in the years 1934, 1935 and 1936 were too small to justify
inclusion in the published records.
Wax exports through Jibuti

Date Value in M.T . dollars
1899 (8 months) 9,140
1902 41,288
1904 277,626
1905 421,373
Civet exports through Jibuti

1899 (8 months) 39,509
1902 42,887
1903 43,521
1904 68,451
1905 99,802
1906 141,042
Other exports through Jibuti

Commodity Date Value in M.T. dollars
Gold 1899 (8 months) 13,726
Butter 1905 3,881
1906 22,637
Cattle 1905 ?
1906 43,662
Gum 1902 3,733
Cotton 1905 3,228
1906 690
Honey 1905 86
1906
Data for 1899 indicates that three-quarters of the ivory exported went to
Belgium, the remainder going mainly to Aden, but also to France and Britain. The
civet was all shipped to France. Well over two-thirds of the hides and skins went to
Aden, the remainder chiefly to Zeila and a very little to France. By far the greater
part of the coffee went to France, the rest to Aden, Indo-China and a small amount
to Turkey. All the gold went to Egypt. Wax exports went entirely to France. 145
The overall picture of Jibuti's exports by rail between 1909 and 1936 may be
seen in the following tables.
Exports of Jibuti by rail in metric tons

1909 1910 1911 1912
Coffee 1,370 3,224 3,766 3,541
Rubber 40 137 75 31
Wax 220 422 434 408
Durrah 725 768 233 -
Ivory 45 64 68 52
Skins 970 2,810 3,043 3,115
145. Angoulvant and Vignéras, op. cit., p. 381.
- 74 -
1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
Coffee, Harari 3,691 2,837 4,168 3,804 4,332 3,194 3,505
» Abyssinian 397 203 198 230 180 9 2
» in husks - 40 204 177 232 50 -
» shells 358 375 237 91 115 49 26
Wax 637 234 355 355 393 185 369
Ivory 52 13 4 22 6 1 20
Skins 4,105 4,301 4,673 3,193 6,743 8,217 8,346
Durrah - 79 828 173 617 505 764
Grain - - 40 141 443 381 614
Potatoes - - 31 58 104 109 50
Legumes - - - - - 1,115 90
Flour - - - 471 467 30 13
Castor oil seeds - - - - - 185 25
Parcels _____ 98 234 197 141
Other _____ 197 302 816 1,031
Totals 9,011 14,166 15,320 14,796

1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928
Butter 364 307 279 163 174 89 63 37
Coffee, Harari 2,745 3,734 4,396 3,770 7,390 5,563 6,315 7,262 5,093
» Abyssinian 71 280 2,240 1,747 4,653 5,864 6,035 7,090 7,658
» in husks 178 12 2 - - - - - -
» shells 54 78 30 61 160 37 7 40 22
Wax 226 166 277 220 335 389 373 410 317
Ivory 26 24 12 11 17 8 9 6 7
Skins 4,671 2,229 3,740 6,902 7,642 9,174 7,450 9,474 10,451
Durrah 1,415 1,417 725 742 1,577 1,834 901 147 84
Grain 918 928 542 801 664 2,106 2,240 180 249
Potatoes 43 48 36 46 26 19 6 10 -
Charcoal 40 48 263 86 61 120 15 1 9
Legumes 102 216 287 382 483 347 159 47 19
Flour 156 311 194 142 141 307 368 67 43
Castor oil seeds 3 - - - - - - - -
Wars 4 16 21 36 21 19 18 20 19
Myrrh - 19 35 2 1 1 1 341 308
Parcels 183 222 154 177 248 334 236 341 -
Various 351 248 229 179 273 275 34 203 100
Totals 11,196 10,360 13,490 15,583 23,853 26,571 24,256 25,361 24,416
Animals (number) 307 476 2,265 3,009 6,541 6,564 6,681 1,201

1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935
Butter 22 77 269 141 82 126 34
Coffee, Harari 5,953 8,140 10,033 8,578 6,977 7,835 6,562
» Abyssinian 7,730 6,272 8,421 11,412 6,602 9,408 9,260
» shells 8 12 31 7 9 7 3
Wax 326 346 340 346 370 400 416
Ivory 4 3 5 - - - -
Ox ) 5,297 5,752 5,714 3,667 6,429 4,209 5,941
Goat ( skins 1,025 1,203 931 685 888 485 1,111
Sheep ( 401 662 298 104 89 117 140
Other ) 414 399 444 450 539 665 797
Durrah - - - - - - -
- 75 -
Grains 29 1,344 581 81 1,196 3,354 3,010
Oilseeds - 22 40 - - - 20
Potatoes - - - 22 70 58 80
Charcoal
Legumes 34 25 24 53 25 87 101
Flour - 129 37 10 - 13 28
Wars 19 10 - 26 20 11 1
Parcels 198 242 482 420 494 590 733
Hay and Straw 10 4 - 6 - - -
Various 68 308 142 91 88 112 296
Motor cars
Empty barrels
Totals 21,538 24,950 27,792 26,099 23,878 27,477 28,497
Textiles
The principal exports of Jibuti included textiles, arms and ammunition, petrol,
rice, salt, sugar, wines and spirits, and durrah.
Textiles
Textiles at Jibuti constituted the most important import. The range and com-
position of articles included under this heading may be seen from French statistics
for the trade year 1897-1898 which indicated that textile imports were valued at
7,220,000 dollars and made up as follows :i46
American cotton cloth, 1,000,000 dollars.

Printed calico made in Manchester and imported via Bombay, 530,000 dollars.
Striped white cotton cloth, 600,000 dollars.
Red cotton cloth, from the Dutch Indies, and Germany, 240,000 dollars.
Cloth for loincloths, from England and Switzerland, 200,000 dollars.
Cotton thread for weaving the borders of šammas, 152,000 dollars.
Blue cotton cloth from India and the Dutch East Indies, 70,000 dollars.
Muslin from Germnay, 40,000 dollars.
Woollens were worth 216,000 dollars and included cloth from Europe, mainly
from England and Austria, valued at 80,000 dollars, cloth from the East, valued at
70,000 dollars, and black cloth made in Germany, which was used in making burnous
cloaks, and was valued at 64,000 dollars.
Silk material, which was imported for the nobility and for use in church, was
valued at 99,000 dollars, of this amount cheaper quality cloth from France, Germany
and Switzerland made up 80,000 dollars and black satin 16,000 dollars.
The position a decade or so later may be seen in the following statistics for 1905
and 1906 when textile imports were valued respectively at 1,797,739 and 2,651,036
dollars in 1906, or 43 % and 51 % of total imports. The types of material covered by
these figures may be seen in the following table:
146. ibid, pp. 395-7.
- 76 -
Textile imports through Jibuti in M.T. dollars
Commodity 19 05 1906
Yarn 158,231 158,243
Cotton cloth 1,563,668 378,884
Material of linen hemp and jute 16,104 21,689
Woollen material 10,864 31,943
Silk material 48,926 60,277
1,797,739 2,651,036
The general expansion in textile imports in the early twentieth century is apparent
from the following statistics of imports by rail :
Abujedid Other textiles Total textiles

1909 ? ? 1,400,000
1910 ? ? 2,967,000
1911 ? ? 3,649,000
1912 ? ? 4,219,000
1913 2,912,000 1,823,000 4,735,000
1914 3,252,000 2,864,000 6,116,000
1915 2,460,000 2,182,000 4,642,000
1916 2,065,000 1,929,000 3,301,000
1917 2,337,000 1,236,000 3,573,000
1918 2,665,000 1,451,000 4,116,000
1919 2,405,000 1,181,000 3,586,000
1920 1,994,000 1,343,000 3,337,000
1921 1,783,000 760,000 2,543,000
1922 1,707,000 798,000 2,505,000
1923 2,513,000 868,000 3,381,000
1924 3,332,000 1,106,000 4,438,000
1925 3,329,000 1,462,000 4,791,000
1926 4,038,000 1,766,000 5,804,000
1927 4,793,000 2,931,000 7,724,000
1928 4,638,000 3,143,000 7,781,000
1929 5,180,000 1,897,000 7,077,000
1930 5,116,000 785,000 5,901,000
1931 5,137,000 2,298,000 7,435,000
1932 6,239,000 2,511,000 8,750,000
1933 5,188,000 2,380,000 7,598,000
1934 5,091,000 2,030,000 7,231,000
1935 4,201,000 1,260,000 5,461,000
Arms and Ammunition
Arms and ammunition, the trade of which is discussed elsewhere by the present
author, was a major import during the Menelik period, amounting to a value in
1897-8 of some 1,209,200 dollars, or 24% of total imports. This figure was un-
doubtedly considerably higher than that for Massawa, though accurate comparison
is not possible as the arms trade is not included in customs returns for that port. 147
147. ibid, pp. 397-8.
- 77 -
The arms trade of Jibuti at this time was mainly based on the import of Gras
rifles and ammunition as may be seen by a break-down of the 1897-8 figure:
Gras rifles 1,000,000 dollars
Gras cartridges 100,000 dollars
Swords 40,000 dollars
Revolvers 28,000 dollars
Ammunition for revolvers and rifles other than Gras 32,000 dollars
The import of arms and ammunition were given at 209,036 dollars in 1905 and
484,180 dollars in 1906.148
Statistics of imports of arms and ammunition by rail are available for the years
from 1909 to 1912, and are given in a later table. Details are not, however, available
for subsequent years.
The overall picture of these imports from 1909 to 1936 may be seen in the
following tables:
Imports of Jibuti by rail in metric tons
1909 1910 1911 1912
Abujedid 1,400 2,976 3,649 4,219

Arms and ammunition 180 194 1,266 207
Petrol 215 490 585 580
Rice 75 388 443 1,054
Salt 250 1,484 1,919 1,956
Sugar 150 355 604 477
Wine 55 177 247 375
Durrah - - - 278

1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
Abujedid 2,912 2,017 2,460 2,065 2,337 2,665 2,405
Other cotton cloth 1,823 1,924 2,182 1,929 1,236 1,451 1,181
Petrol 867 755 1,306 311 698 38 299
Salt 2,595 4,702 7,202 7,524 14,088 13,886 9,117
Sugar - 603 439 494 181 346 109
Soap - 98 251 150 67 84 114
Alcohol - 127 33 8 7 6 1
Beer - 110 56 9 9 14 4
Wine - 109 102 59 50 47 77
Liqueurs - 237 242 125 65 140 104
Dates - 154 151 101 53 79 107
Rice - 186 108 119 64 140 79
Durrah - 243 77 72 27 4 -
Flour - 251 123 73 9 14 34
Ironware - 408 74 153 41 14 17
Glassware - 123 45 15 11 14 4
Sacks - 233 245 233 192 207 115
Tobacco - 114 59 63 43 40 21
Incense - 91 253 59 50 345 80
Parcels - - - 11 15 21 33
Other - - - 1,008 780 1,215 1,331
Totals 14,570 20,022 20,770 15,234
148. Jaja, op. cit., p. 168.
- 78 -
1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927

Abujedid 1,994 1,783 1,707 2,513 3,332 3,329 4,038 4,793
Other cotton
cloth 1,343 760 798 868 1,106 1,462 1,766 2,931
Petrol 453 308 1,183 412 657 774 1,299 1,706
Salt 12,842 5,900 7,899 15,801 8,157 12,496 16,581 18,240
Sugar 322 256 338 323 494 34 35 1,630
Soap 303 118 118 192 242 309 354 517
Alcohol 66 5 21 5 12 - - -
Beer 64 23 46 45 61 144 93 153
Wine 283 65 67 84 147 124 154 167
Liqueur 265 55 44 84 82 125 208 331
Dates 61 59 64 54 94 122 67 147
Rice 76 104 93 89 98 145 176 292
Durrah 10 34 26 23 35 63 39 29
Flour 5 2 - - - - 1 230
Ironware 110 98 118 173 199 328 537 591
Glassware 71 33 43 73 131 366 438 275
Sacks 191 220 264 226 434 426 477 459
Tobacco 35 40 23 12 20 21 29 43
Incense 101 231 68 206 230 224 257 313
Parcels 126 97 47 49 72 92 173 138
Various 2,637 1,344 1,314 1,734 3,090 4,892 5,874 6,481
Totals 21,358 11,535 14,281 22,966 18,693 25,474 32,595 39,466
1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934

Abujedid 4,638 5,180 5,116 5,137 6,239 5,188 5,091
Other cotton cloth 3,143 1,897 785 2,298 2,511 2,380 2,030
Petrol 1,680 1,816 2,222 2,035 1,862 1,327 1,657
Salt 19,243 21,037 19,315 12,840 13,294 9,513 13,063
Sugar 2,363 2,023 2,113 1,228 1,039 1,115 937
Soap 507 543 421 172 243 229 241
Alcohol - - 96 148 137 67 37
Beer 233 301 124 160 38 35 30
Wine 195 272 252 140 89 132 106
Liqueur 419 705 112 79 100 89 100
Dates 268 175 145 121 170 66 55
Rice 575 610 297 226 170 164 147
Durrah 3,503 1,223 126 75 - 21 10
Flour 109 68 230 36 55 - 1
Ironware 372 119 221 289 87 138 86
Glassware 299 411 247 169 110 174 259
Sacks 449 551 446 545 653 386 499
Tobacco 125 82 34 60 73 95 84
Incense 302 328 240 160 128 76 61
Motorcars - 259 284 135 93 205 211
Gasoline - 967 628 711 842 733 814
Construction -
Materials - 704 1,783 3,336 3,747 3,378 4,306
Mazout - - 150 6 66 70 27
Parcels 127 145 180 83 104 114 147
Others 9,174 9,676 6,692 2,596 2,440 2,016 2,287
Totals 47,724 49,092 42,162 32,685 34,290 28,115 32,316
- 79 -
1935 1936
Abujedid 4,201 2,604
Other cotton cloth 1,260 885
Petrol 1,486 1,548
Gasoline 1,745 7,898
Salt 6,003 10,065
Sugar 802 2,641
Soap 101 174
Beer 18 784
Wine 76 2,527
Liqueurs 70 400
Dates 58 150
Rice 116 743
Durrah - 2,447
Flour 2 6,549
Foodstuff - 4,238
Ironware 66 119
Glassware 91 39
Sacks 404 279
Tobacco 39 227
Incense 46 63
Motor cars 287 1,040
Construction materials 2,068 5,528
Mazout 99 3,510
Alcohol 13 146
Parcels 124 1,234
Others 1,924 7,262
Arms and ammunition 409 12
Totals 21,508 63,112
OGADEN AND SOMALI COUNTRY
Trade in the Ogaden and much of the Somali country was conducted, as at
many of the ports, with the aid of guides or abban, a class of persons of known
respectability who were supposed to protect their clients and generally to prevent
malpractices. 149 Yusuf Ahmed, describing this institution with special reference to
the trade of Harar, observes that the different clans of the various tribes each "had
their own abban, or caravan protector, who would supply the camels, mules, or
donkeys needed, and the workers to lead the caravan. Whenever a merchant wanted
to despatch his goods he made his arrangements through the abban who was res-
ponsible for their delivery at the place of destination. This was usually Berberah,
Zeyla or Tajurah along the coast, or else Ifat, Awsa or Bale in the interior. There the
owner's agent, should there be one, would receive the goods."i5o
149. Cruttenden, Memoir on the Western or Odoor Tribes , p. 184; A. Bardey, "Notes sur le Harrar"
(Paris, 1897), p. 170.
150. Yusuf Ahmed, "An Inquiry into Some Aspects of the Economy of Harar and the Records of the
Household Economy of the Amirs of Harar", University College of Addis Ababa Ethnological
Bulletin , No. 10, p. 37. Vide also I. M. Lewis, "Lineage Continuity and Modern Commerce in
Northern Somaliland," in P. Bohannan and G. Dalton, Markets in Africa (North Western
University, 1962), pp. 369-70, 381.
- 80 -
The need to consider security also resulted in the practice of traders banding
together into large caravans: Johnston, for example, describes a Tajurah caravan
with as many as 3,000 camels and over 700 fighting men. is i
Another interesting institution reported by Bardey was that of a kind of dumb

commerce similar to that described a millenium and a half earlier by the Egyptian
monk Cosmas. 152 According to Bardey trade between the Gassas and Somalis and
certain other tribes was conducted by means of what he calls "markets of silence"
during which time war was suspended and the people exchanged without words the
commodities they absolutely needed, after which the fighting would be resumed,
Such markets were reported to exist near Gulfa, west of Harar.153
The main articles of trade in the Ogaden have already been indicated in discus-
sing the commerce of the ports. The principal exports of the area were ostrich
feathers, and ivory, skins, gum, myrrh and frankincense, as well as cattle, sheep and
goats and fat for which latter articles the people of Harar returned cloth, horses and
mules. There was also a transit trade in coffee from Arussi. The main imports, on the
other hand, were textiles, particularly cotton sheeting, and a certain amount of beads,
pearls, and tobacco. 154
151. Johnston, op. cit., I, 379, 437, 446.

152. R. Pankhurst, Introduction to the Economic History of Ethiopia (London, 1961), pp. 40-1.
153. Bardey, op. cit., p. 163.
154. Cruttenden, Memoir on the Western or Odoor Tribes , p. 171 ; Bardey, op. cit., p. 163; Paulitschke,
op. cit., p. 377.
- 81 -

He Trade of The Gulf of Aden Ports of Africa

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Institute of Ethiopian Studies

6. Burton, op. cit., I, 16 n.

The export-import-picture obtains quantitative accuracy only in the last quarter

Zetta trade in £ Sterling

14. ibid, pp. 54. ,377

Later statistics are given according to calendar year as follows:

Totals 39,951 251,051 176,872

Exports in the 1880's were estimated as follows by Paulitschke on the basis of

20. H. Salt, A Voyage to Abyssinia (London, 1814), p. lxx.

Totals 6,60,746 9,11,004

The detailed position ten years later was as follows us

23. F.O., 403/206, Sealy, 19.12.1893.

Proportion of Ethiopian ( including Harari) goods in Zeila exports

Total 233,513 268,556 140,442

The above imports, it should be emphasised, included commodities brought in

Zeila Imports for 1891-2, in £ Sterling

Cloth, cotton, European 1,323

38. ibid, II, 354.

The Indians enjoyed a predominant position. Cruttenden states : "The principal

48. Harris, op. cit., I, 38-40, 277.

The advent of traders of so many nationalities naturally created many problems.

56. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society (1844), XIV, 101.

Berbera prices at this time, as given by d'Héricourt, were as follows :68

67. ď Héricourt, Voyage , p. 342.

The significance of Berbera's exports in the early nineteenth century is confirmed

Totals 65,833 53,400 28,500 25,500

The exports of Berbera were considerably stimulated by the development of

Aden's trade with the Somali Coast in rupees

71. F.O. 403/81, Russell, 16.12.1869.

Berbera and Bulhar trade , in £ Sterling

Trade for the period after 1896-7 is given in rupees.77

Statistics for Berbera and Bulhar are separated after 1906-7.78

75. Paulitschke, op. cit., p. 378.

Later figures are given for calendar years as follows :

Shipments from Berbera to Aden

Total 134,305 277,680 337,319

Paulitschke a year or so later estimated that annual exports included the

81. Alamanni, op. cit., pp. 409-10, 413-14, 439, 443.

Exports of Berbera and Bulhar in 1900-1 in kilos or number of items

Commodity Berbera Bulhar

The imports of Berbera at this time were estimated by Paulitschke as including

Berbera Trade Routes

Bulhar trade , in rupees

LESSER PORTS TO THE EAST OF BERBERA

To: Bombay 383,032

The significance of the exports of Mijertain were alluded to a couple of genera-

THE BRITISH SOMALI PORTS

109. G. Harmsworth, Abyssinian Adventure (London, 1935), p. 74.

Commodity 1931 1932 1933* 1934* 1935*

Imports of British Somaliland by sea 1919-1936

Commodity Units 1930 1931 1932 1933* 1934* 1935*

Trade between Ethiopia and British Somaliland

1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935

Imports from British Somaliland to Ethiopia

114. Colonial Reports, Somaliland , passim.

Trade Routes of Tajurah

125. Harris, op. cit., I, 61-2.

The character of Ethiopia's exports may be further exemplified by the following

Statistics produced by the Franco-Ethiopian railway show the following steady

1899 (8 months) 125,856

Ivory exports by rail through Jibuti , in kilos

Wax exports through Jibuti