Another campaign being deemed necessary, reinforcements bringing the fighting force up to 7000 men were sent out, and Major-General Sir C. C. Egerton assumed supreme command, Manning retaining command of the first column. In October 1903 a new forward movement was begun, the mullah being still in the eastern Nogal, while he had also seized the Italian seaport of Illig, north of Obbia. In a pitched battle fought on the 10th of January 1904 at Jidballi in the Nogal country the enemy were routed, losing over 1000 men in killed alone, while the British loss in killed and wounded was 58. The mullah and his chief adviser, a Haji Sudi, formerly an interpreter on a British warship, were not at the battle, and with his Ali Gheri followers he now fled north across the Sorl, apparently intending, if further pressed to retreat to Illig. This port was accordingly for a short time (April 1904) occupied by a British naval force. By May the mullah had been driven out of the British protectorate and became a refugee among the Mijertin. It was decided therefore to abandon offensive operations. In 1905 the Italians effected an arrangement apparently satisfactory to all parties (see § Italian Somaliland).
For some three years the mullah remained quiescent, but in 1908 he quarrelled with the Mijertins and in 1909 he was again raiding tribes in the British protectorate. Evacuation of the Interior.The British government (the Asquith cabinet) came to the conclusion that another expedition against the mullah would be useless; that they must either build a railway, make roads and effectively occupy the whole of the protectorate, or else abandon the interior completely. The latter course was decided upon, and during the first months of 1910 the advanced posts were withdrawn and the British administration confined to the coast towns. In support of this decision it was urged that it was no good pursuing people whom it was impossible to catch, that the isolated posts in the interior had not been able to protect the friendly tribes; and that the semi-desert nature of the country did not justify any attempt at economic development. (The proposal to build a railway from Zaila or Berbera to Harrar, which would have competed with the French line from Jibuti for the trade of southern Abyssinia, had been vetoed on grounds of general policy.) Before the withdrawal arrangements—more or less ineffective—were made for arming and organizing the tribes in the protectorate in their own defence.
From 1884 to 1898 the protectorate was attached for administrative purposes to Bombay, and was immediately dependent on Aden; in the last-named year it was transferred to the Foreign Office, and in 1905 passed under the control of the Colonial Office. From 1902 to 1906 Colonel Swayne was commissioner; he was succeeded by Captain H. E. S. Cordeaux, who had served in Somaliland since 1898. Legislative power is in the hands of the commissioner, and revenue is obtained largely from customs. The revenue, £22,000 in 1900–1901, was £30,000 in 1908–1909, while the expenditure, £51,000 in the first-named year, was £134,000 in 1908–1909. Deficits are made good by grants from the imperial treasury.
French Somaliland
French Somaliland (Côte française des Somalis) lies at the entrance to the Red Sea. The sea frontier extends from Ras Dumeira on the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, a little north of Perim Island, to Ras Gurmarle, a few miles south of the Gulf of Tajura. The protectorate is bounded N. by the Danakil country; S. by British Somaliland; W. by the Harrar province of Abyssinia. It extends inland at its greatest depth about 130 m.
The country consists chiefly of slightly elevated arid plains, largely waterless save along the southern frontier. The only good harbour along the coast is at Jibuti. The Gulf of Tajura is 28 m. across at its entrance and penetrates inland 36 m. At its western end an opening 870 yds. wide leads into the circular bay of Gubbet-Kharab (Hell's Mouth), behind which rise a chaotic mass of volcanic rocks, destitute of vegetation and presenting a scene of weird desolation. A pass through the hills gives access to Bahr-Assal; the last of a chain of salt lakes beginning 60 m. inland in the depression in which the waters of the Hawash (see Abyssinia) lose themselves. It is conjectured that at some remote period the Hawash flowed into Tajura Bay and that the present condition of the country is the result of volcanic upheaval. Assal Lake, according to this theory, formed part of the sea bed. It is now 5 m. inland from Gubbet-Kharab, is 5 m. long by 4 broad, and lies 490 ft. below sea-level. About 160 ft. above the present level of the lake a white band marks distinctly a former level. The waters of Bahr-Assal are deeply impregnated with salt, which, in thick crusts, forms crescent-shaped round the banks—dazzling white when reflected by the sun. Two streams, one saline and at a temperature of 194° F., flow into the lake. The climate of the protectorate is very hot, but not unhealthy for Europeans if reasonable precautions be taken.
Inhabitants and Towns.—The inhabitants are, on the north side of the Gulf of Tajura, chiefly Danakils (Afars, q.v.); on the southern shore Galla and Somali. There are a number of Arabs, Abyssinians, Indians, and about 2000 Europeans and Levantines. The chief town and seat of administration is Jibuti (q.v.), pop. about 15,000, which has taken the place of Obok (q.v.), on the opposite (northern) side of the Gulf of Tajura. Also situated on the gulf are the small towns of Tajura, Sagallo, Gobad and Ambabo.
Trade and Communications.—The collection of salt from Bahr-Assal is an industry of some importance. In 1903 a beginning was made in the cultivation of cotton in the dry river beds, where water can always be obtained at a depth of 10 ft. On the coast turtle and mother-of-pearl fishing are carried on. But the value of the protectorate depends upon the carrying trade with Harrar and the supplying of victuals and coals to French warships. In 1897 the building of a railway from Jibuti towards Harrar was begun. By Christmas 1902 the railway, called the Imperial Ethiopian railway, was completed to Dire Dawa (or Adis Harrar), 30 m. short of Harrar, and 188 by rail from Jibuti, of which but 64 m. are in French territory. By a law passed by the French chambers in 1902 a subvention of £20,000 a year for fifty years was granted to the company owning the railway (see further Abyssinia).
The exports are chiefly coffee, hides, ivory (all from Abyssinia), gum, mother-of-pearl and a little gold; the imports cotton and other