Sadik el-Mu’ayyad Azmzade, 'The Abyssinian Voyage'

[…]

[Departing Istanbul on a Messageries Maritimes vessel and dining with Europeans]

I admit that I always thought the Europeans gluttonous for eating horse meat. In Paris, many times I saw signs in front of butcher shops advertising fatty mule meat, and the abundance of mule and horse meat. What surprised me though is that they also ate donkey meat. Of course, logically, there is no difference between donkey meat, mule meat, and horse meat. The similarity is probably due to the fact that their diet is essentially the same, and it is not a big leap from eating horse and mule meat, to donkey meat. However, the reason for my puzzlement is the knowledge that donkeys are pretty rare in Europe, and they are usually only found in zoos in major cities under the category of exotic animals. So, I have never heard of donkeys being plentiful in Europe to the extent that their meat was eaten, until I saw it that night on the dinner table. The waiters brought us some kind of sliced sausage (sujuk) that looked lovely and had a great color. Since at first, I did know what kind of meat it was, I did not have any. Next to me sat a priest possessing a large body, with his fatness, appearance and health showing that he liked food. When he saw that I limited myself to Sardines and butter he said: “Eat my good sir some of this sausage, for it is some of the most delicious that has ever been made, and it is made of a mixture of mule and donkey meat.” Others who were present agreed with him, but I politely declined, thanking him for being concerned for the wellbeing of his neighbors.

[…]

[Layover in Marseille en route to Djibouti and a humorous reminiscence about Berlin]

When I looked up, it was 7.30 am. I understood that the habit in this place is to put down the shades at 7.30 every day to block the rays of the sun. Even though the sun was absent that day and there was no need to put down the shades, this worker, who resembles a mechanical machine, did not have capacity to recognize that. This reminded me of a similar incident that I witnessed in Berlin. For I once was taking a walk with a bunch of my officer friends, when the weather suddenly took a turn to the worse, and signs of rain were there, so we took shelter in one of our friend’s places, a place close to where we were staying. The rain came so heavy that the streets turned to rivers. A little after that, the municipal employee commissioned with spraying the streets with water using a horse drawn carriage. He stopped in front of the public water tap and filled his carriage. He then started spraying the streets starting from where he stopped once it started to rain, not concerned with the rain. When our host came into the living room we asked him what was the man doing, spraying the street with water, despite the heavy rain, he simply answered: “He is doing his job!”

[…]

[An encounter with two Ottoman-Syrian entrepreneurs in Djibouti and a description of the region’s geostrategic significance]

After the governor and the chiefs of the tribes left, I saw two Syrian visitors, Iskender Efendi Ghalib and Bsharah Efendi Ghalib, whom I met the day before when we first arrived at the hotel. They came to greet us and Ato Yosef made the introduction. These two young men are from Beit Shabab village from one of the districts of Lebanon, with one being around 30 and the other about 28. They had finished their studies in schools in Beirut, then they worked as traders in many parts of Africa, especially in Dahomey [present-day Benin]. Then they settled a few years earlier in Djibouti, where their trade business began to expand and grow until they became one of the famous traders there and gained the trust of his Majesty al-Najashi Menelik. They gained good reputation and fame, and became known for their trustworthiness, which is essential for trading. For their praiseworthy habits and good traits, they earned a great deal of money, until they became rich…I hope from the depth of my heart that they become a good example to the rest of our young men who take up trade as a profession.

They were very gracious and generous to us and they offered themselves for the service of the delegations, and to do all that is necessary for us. I thanked them for their favors, and I asked them all I needed about the state of the region we are in, since they are experts of this region. I especially inquired about Djibouti and its development, as I walked around to see the city and wandered through its neighborhoods with the guidance of Iskender Efendi. After seeing the city, it was still too early to go to the official banquet, so I took that opportunity to write down what I have learned about this region, and it is:

In 1863 of the Gregorian calendar, the French government bought the place called “Obock,” which lies outside of the Bab al-Mandab Straight, north of the Gulf of Tadjoura, from the local leaders. The French government used it as a place for storage of supplies, ammunition, and coal for the ships heading to the Far East during the China war of 1883. There, they also established an administration to maintain control and to rule. The benefit of this place became very apparent during the aforementioned war. The importance of this place continued to grow until it became an important spot for all ships that are going and coming from Indochina. However, the shallow waters there meant that larger ships had to anchor quite a long distance from the coast. This meant that it was difficult to get the supplies and ammunition on to the ship. Additionally, the mountains which separated this coast form the inlands obstructed the flow of trade coming from outside and inside. For that reason, the French government began looking for another place, that would be more appropriate and agreeable than Obock…They found out that the waters of the port of Djibouti are much deeper, and that its port is good for ships to shelter in when needed. Thus, they decided to move the “place” there. In 1888 of the Gregorian calendar, they began building what is needed of docks and buildings in desolate land, that is empty of everything. With the French government’s encouragement and incentivization of people, along with the benefits of trade, a small town sprung up, and began to grow until it became an important commercial port. What made this place more important are the roads which lead to Harar, which is part of the Abyssinian kingdom, and from there to Addis Ababa. This is the route that the trade caravans take coming and going to inner Abyssinia.

[…]

[Discussing new railway trains with Somalis on the way from Djibouti to Abyssinia]

[Along the way], we saw the grave of one of the foreign engineers who was murdered by the locals while we he was working on the railroad. After that we passed a large passageway made of iron that was constructed over a deep valley, after the train had stopped for a bit before crossing it. When the train paused for second, some of the Somalis spotted my fez so they descended on the train car from every direction with happiness apparent on their faces and they started addressing us. We asked those that knew Arabic how they were doing, so they complained to us about the railway. So, I asked: “Why are you complaining about the railway, isn’t it better than your camels?” So, the man who was best at speaking Arabic came closer and said: “No, it is not better than our camels, for if the camel touched a human being, he does not get injured, and if it got excited it won’t inflict any harm on him, in fact, all that would happen is that he would start to foam at the mouth. However, this (pointing to the train car) if it happened upon a man or animal while it was moving, it would tear them to pieces. If it got mad, it would make a noise so loud that it scares our camels and cattle sending them running into the wilderness. This way, the camel drops its loads on the ground. And this (pointing to the steam stack of the train), if it got angry, spews smoke and fire and covers the field with a layer of soot. In addition, one can eat camel meat, and it also can reproduce and increase its number, as for this how can one slaughter it and eat it?” So, I answered him: “Railways are present in the Ottoman lands, and the Hijaz will soon be connected to the rest of the empire with a railway.” So, he said: “So the railways that you have are not a western heretical invention.”

[…]

[In Dire Dawa, a fanciful description of Somali ethnogenesis]

The Somali peoples live along the vast coastal lands which stretch from the Gulf of Tadjoura, which is just outside the Bab al-Mandab straight, all the way to the border of Zanzibar. Part of this coast along with the land that lies behind it is under French rule, while the part that follows all the way to end of Aden’s coast belongs to the British. While the other part from the Aden coast all the way to Zanzibar belongs to the Italians. Each section is named after the state that rules it, and it was draw on the map as such. So, there is British Somalia, French Somalia, and Italian Somalia. There are also some Somalis who live inside the Abyssinian land as was mentioned earlier. The Somali peoples belong to tribes[…]There is animosity amongst most of the tribes, and this animosity and deep resentment that exists amongst them, often leads to bloody incidents when one of the tribes attacks another in order to raid and collect booty. Their total population is approximately 1.5 million. The origin of these peoples is not from Africa, but they are Indians: For in the 11^th century AD, a great army lead by a Raja from India came to the Bab al-Mandab straight and defeated the Arabs on the southern coast of Arabia and then passed from there on the western coast and occupied the African coast and settled there along with his soldiers. The Somalis are decedents of these soldiers. Indians ruled there until the 13^th century AD when the Amir of Muscat refused to pay the tribute to the Indians, and he led a large army to the Somali coast and occupied it in the name of Islam. He destroyed all heathen features and temples and converted some temples to mosques. That is when the Somalis began converting to Islam until they all became Muslim. Some of the British officers who worked on mapping Somalia found some of the remnants of the old Indian temples. Then the scientists who specialize in languages have found large similarities between Somali and the Indian Deccan language. To prove that they have demonstrated the similarities in some pronunciation of the two languages.

[…]

[Islam in Harar, Friday prayers read in the name of Abdülhamid II]

In Harar there are a number of mosques. We performed the Friday prayers in the biggest mosque which sat across from the palace. All the people performing the prayers’ gazes were on the members of the delegation when we were there. This made such a deep impression on me that my eyes teared up when I heard the preacher praying for the health of the Sultan, with 2,000 believers saying “Amen!” Yes, of course this is the habit in all Muslim countries, but a true Ottoman cannot help but feel affected when he hears that precious name mentioned in augustness and admiration in vast countries across plateaus and seas and that are not even inhabited by Ottomans. I heard the worshipers as they left the mosque after the prayer praying for the protection and success of the caliph. This shows that the hearts of the believers, no matter how near or far, are tightly connected to that sublime position because of their religion. What a great tie this is and how sublime is this religion that unites believers as though they were all one body.

[…]

[Thoughts on Abyssinian cuisine]

I could not eat their bread because they had no salt in it, that is why I preferred to eat biscuits that we brought with us. As for the soldiers and servants, they lit up a campfire and sat around it, and ate all of the [doro wat] in less than an hour. All they needed was a few minutes to pluck a chicken and to bring it close to the fire to burn off whatever feathers were left on its body and then eat and gobble it down. The cook, Hajj Yusef was the most glutinous with the strongest stomach, for he ate the fat that was extracted from the sheep’s innards raw, as if he was eating halva. He acted this way despite the fact that he, Hajj Yusef, had traveled to the African interior with tourists before, and witnessed signs of progress and civility, to the point that he used the word “a la coque” for the soft-boiled eggs, and cotlelet for bar-b-q’ed meat and “makaronia” for macaroni and other terminology used in the kitchen. But his tummy, which is not ready to accept civility, could not abandon the eating of fat and raw meats. 

[…]

[Overland travel between Harar and Addis, impressions of the local work ethic]

By 1 o’clock, they had finished loading the mules, so the caravan took off on its way. Here I want to stop to explain how difficult it is to load what we have of trunks on the backs of the mules. It took the muleteers more than two hours, because like the rest of their people, they do not know the meaning of doing something in a hurry. They have no appreciation for time or schedules, so if one was to say to them “hurry up,” they would laugh and would continue doing exactly what they were doing before. If we had left them in their laziness to their own devices, and we did not force them to load the mules under our watch, most of them would have stayed there the whole day since they liked that spot due to lush plants and pasture.

[…]

[Ambivalences: White Europeans and biomedicine] 

If someone in these parts get sick, they always seek the care of a White man, for from their point of view, the White man is a doctor, surgeon and capable of doing anything. Despite all of this, they still hate his color and if they were to get back at him, they cuss him […]In general, the color white is despised, especially amongst the Black inhabitants in central Africa, because they are not used to it. Some believe that a person is white because he was born prematurely, that is before it was fully grown in his mother’s belly. Others believe that the color of a white man is the result of an illness that caused his natural black skin to turn white.

[…]

[An encounter with Ottoman-Armenian refugees in Addis]

In the afternoon we received visitors who were the leaders of the Greek Orthodox and Armenians who are here. The Armenians had migrated to Addis Ababa after the well-known incidents. This led about three hundred of them to move to Addis Ababa, some alone and some brought their women. Many regret what had happened and are resentful against those that have tricked and deceived them. I found them lamenting and groaning when Istanbul or Anatolia is mentioned in front of them. Some admit their fault and the patience and mercy shown by the government, but what is the point now when it is all too late. I learned that the Armenians here had wanted to start an association that would have its own board of directors and a private administration, but the emperor told them “It seems to me that you are a group of people who have gotten used to evil doing, because if it weren’t for that your own government would not have kicked out of your homeland. That is why I will ask you to bring me a guarantee, either from the Ottoman government or from one of the other foreign governments. Barring that you will have to leave from my country.” That is when they had to ask his majesty for a few months extension in order to write the Patriarch asking for his guarantee.