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ITALIAN

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 384 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ITALIAN See also:

SOMALILAND Italian Somaliland extends on the See also:coast from Bandar Ziyada, a point on the Gulf of See also:Aden intersected by 49° E., eastward to Cape Guardafui, and thence southward to the mouth of the See also:river See also:Juba in o° 15' S. Bounded N. and E. by the See also:Indian Ocean it is separated S. from See also:British See also:East See also:Africa by the Juba. Westward it is bounded by Abyssinian and British Somaliland. From the east coast the See also:protectorate extends inland from 100 to 300 M. The coast-See also:line is largely See also:rock-See also:bound and little indented, and throughout the 1200 M. of its extent there is not one See also:good See also:harbour. The See also:northern See also:shore, along the Gulf of Aden, is backed by table-lands separated by the beds of See also:mountain torrents—generally dry. From the table-See also:land rise hills, such as See also:Jebel Kurma, which have an See also:altitude of 4000 ft. or more. The coast rises in a See also:succession of hills (fringed by a narrow margin of See also:beach) until Cape G uardaf ui is reached. Cape Guardaf ui is in 11 ° 75' N., 51° 26' 32" E., and forms, as it were, the tip of the See also:Horn of Africa. The cape, which faces See also:north and east, presents on its northern See also:face a nearly See also:vertical See also:wall of rock rising from the See also:sea to a height of 900 ft. The See also:water is deep right to the See also:base of the cliff and owing to the winds and the strength of the ocean currents, See also:navigation is dangerous. The headland is known to the Somali as Girdif or Yardaf—whence in all See also:probability comes the See also:European See also:form Guardafui.

But in the lingua franca of the See also:

Levant the Italian word See also:guarda means " beware," a meaning also attached to the Portuguese word guardafu. Rounding Guardafui the coast trends southwards, and some 90 m. from that cape is See also:Ras Hafun or Medudda—the most easterly point of the See also:continent of Africa—being in 10° 45' S., 51° 27' 52" E., or about a mile and a See also:half east of Guardafui. Ras Hafun consists of a rocky See also:peninsula rising 600 ft. above the sea, and is connected with the mainland by an See also:isthmus 12 m. See also:long. A little See also:south is the mouth of the Darror, a usually dry watercourse with a length of over 200 m., which rises, as the Gebi, in the north-east of the British protectorate. From this point a See also:zone of upheaved See also:coral rocks skirts the shore for some distance. See also:Chief Towns.—The chief towns are on the coast. They are See also:Mukdishu (q.v.), pop. about 5000, Brava (4000), Marka (5000), Warsheik (3000) and Yub. These are all in the See also:southern See also:part of the protectorate between o° 15' S. and 2° 19' N., and are known generically as El-Benadir (the ports), a name also applied to the coast between the ports. Yub (Jub) is a small See also:town at the mouth of the Juba river. In every See also:case the See also:port is much exposed and unapproachable for months together. Obbia, 5° 22' N., and Illig in 7 ° 60' N., are points of departure for the Ogaden and Dolbahanta countries. Alula, on the See also:Cuff of Aden, is the chief town of the Mijertin Somali.

In the interior is Lugh, a populous See also:

city on the See also:left See also:bank of the Juba, about 24o m. from the coast, and further inland is Dolo at the confluence of the Daua and Ganale to form the Juba. These places are entrepots for the See also:trade of the interior, especially with the Boran See also:district. In the coast towns of the eastern seaboard there are See also:Swahili, Arab and Indian settlements, and tribes, such as the Amaran, of mixed Arab and Somali See also:blood. See also:Agriculture and Trade.—Though much of the land is barren, the See also:soil is fairly fertile in the valleys of the Webi Shebeli and See also:Wadi Nogal. But the most fertile district is the valley of the See also:lower Juba, where for over 100 m. is a See also:strip of land varying from a few See also:hundred yards to some 4 m. wide, annually inundated by the rise of the river. Here are cultivated See also:rich crops of See also:millet and other grains. In other districts lack of water impedes cultivation, though after the rains pasturage is abundant, and resinous See also:plants are so varied and numerous as to justify the See also:ancient name of the region. See also:Ivory, See also:cattle, See also:butter, See also:coffee, See also:cotton, See also:myrrh, gums and skins are exported from the Benadir See also:country. In the northern ports there is a similar but smaller trade and one also in See also:ostrich feathers. The chief imports are textile fabrics, See also:rice and See also:petroleum. During 1896–1897 the value of the Benadir trade was £120,000; in 1906–1907 it had risen to over £250,000. See also:History.—The Somali coast, as has been seen, See also:early See also:fell under Moslem See also:influence.

The towns on the eastern seaboard, of which Mukdishu and Brava were the chief, formed part of the Zenj " See also:

empire " (see See also:ZANZIBAR) and shared its See also:fate, being conquered in turn by the Portuguese (16th See also:century), the imans of See also:Muscat (17th century), and the sultans of Zanzibar (1866). On See also:account, probably, of the inhospitable nature of the shore the northern portion of the protectorate appears to have been little subject to hostile invasion. By See also:treaties with Somali sultans in 1889 and by subsequent agreements with See also:Great See also:Britain, Zanzibar and See also:Abyssinia, the coast east of the British Somali protectorate fell within the Italian See also:sphere of influence (see AFRICA, § 5). In See also:August 1892 the See also:sultan of Zanzibar leased the Benadir ports of See also:Italy for fifty years. They were administered first by the Filonardi See also:Company, and from 1898 by the Benadir Company. By an agreement dated the 13th of See also:January 1905 the sultan of Zanzibar ceded his See also:sovereign rights in the Benadir ports to Italy in return for the See also:payment of a lump sum of £144,000. Thereafter the Italian See also:government assumed the See also:direct See also:administration of the ports, a purely commercial undertaking replacing the Benadir Company. In 1905 also Great Britain leased to Italy a piece of land near Kismayu to facilitate communications with the Benadir country. In 1908 a royal See also:decree placed that part of the country between the Juba and the sultanate of Obbia under a See also:civil See also:governor. A notable event in the history of the protectorate was the co-operation of the Italian authorities in the See also:campaigns against the See also:Mullah Abdullah. In 1904 negotiations were opened with the mullah by the Italians, and by arrangement with the sultan of Obbia and the sultan of the Mijertins the territory between Ras Aswad and Ras See also:Bowen, which was claimed by both parties, was handed over to the mullah. This region, that of the lower Nogal, included the port of Illig.

Here Mahommed b. Abdullah established himself under Italian surveillance, and by an agreement dated the 5th of See also:

March 1905, See also:peace was. declared between the mullah, the Italians, British and Abyssinians, and all other Somali tribes. In 1908-1909, however, fighting was renewed, the mullah and the Mijertins failing to agree. Italian (native) troops were sent to the district to restore See also:order. The mullah also attacked tribes living in the British protectorate (see § 2). The station of Lugh, the most advanced point occupied by Italy, had been founded by See also:Captain Bottego in 1895. After the treaty of Adis See also:Adowa, recognizing the See also:independence of Abyssinia, had been conduded in 1896, negotiations were opened for defining the Italian-Abyssinian frontier in the Somali regions. In 1897 an agreement was come to that from the point on the British Somaliland frontier where 470 E. intersected 8° N. the frontier line should be See also:drawn, at a distance of about 18o m. from the Indian Ocean, to the Juba. At the See also:close of 1907 the See also:Negus Menelik, in return for a pecuniary See also:indemnity (£r2o,o00), agreed to a modification of the 1897 line, whereby the Italian protectorate was extended north of' Lugh to Dolo. From Dolo the frontier goes east to the Webi Shebeli, whence the 1897 line is followed to the British-Abyssinian frontier. By this arrangement (ratified by a See also:convention dated the 16th of May 1908) the Benadir coast obtained a suitable See also:hinterland. b.

See also:

Ethnology, See also:flora, See also:fauna, See also:geology, &c. P. Paulitschke, Ethnographie Nordost-Afrikas. See also:Die materielle Cultur der Danakil, Galla and Somal, vol. ii. (See also:Berlin, 1893). Die geistige Cultur der Danakil, &c. (1896), and Beitrage zur Ethnographie and Anthropologie der Somal, Galla and Harrari (See also:Leipzig, 1886), containing See also:fine plates; H. M. Abud, Genealogies of the Somal . . . (See also:London, 1896) ; A. Engler on the flora in the Sitzungsberichte of the Prussian See also:Academy of See also:Science, Nos. x.–xii.

(1904); G. Revoil, Faune et flare See also:

des pays Somalis (See also:Paris, 1882) ; C. V. A. See also:Peel, Somaliland . . . with a See also:complete See also:list of every See also:animal and See also:bird known to inhabit that country ... (London, 1900), and " On a collection of See also:Insects and Arachnids " in Proc. Zool. See also:Soc. (1900) ; R. E. See also:Drake-Brockman, The Mammals of Somaliland (London, 19to) ; J.

W. See also:

Gregory, " The Geology of Somaliland," Geol. Mag. (1896). c. See also:Language. See also:Leo Reinisch, Die Somalie Sprache (See also:Vienna, 1900, et seq.) ; F. M. See also:Hunter, See also:Grammar of the Somal Language (Bombay, 188o) ; E. de Larajasse and C. de Sampont, A See also:Practical Grammar of the Somali Language (London, 1897); E. de Larajasse, Somali-See also:English and English-Somali See also:Dictionary (London, 1897). d. For the various protectorates, (1) British—the See also:annual reports issued by the Colonial See also:Office, London; See also:Official History of the Operations in Somaliland, 7901–1904 (2 vols., London, 1907) ; See also:War Office maps on the See also:scale of 1:1,000,000, also See also:sketch See also:map 1:3,000,000 (1907). (2) See also:French protectorate—L'Annee coloniale (Paris); L.

Henrique, See also:

Les Colonies francaises (Obock) (Paris, 1899) ; L. de Salma, Obock (Paris, 1893) ; See also:Carte de la cote francaise des Somalis, 1 :500,000 (Paris, 1908). (3) Italian protectorate—Somalia italiana, 1885-1895 (official " See also:Green See also:Book ") ; C. See also:Rossetti, Somalia italiana settentrionale, with map (See also:Rome, 1906); U. Ferrandi, Seconda spedizione Bottego: Lugh emporio commerciale sul Giuba (Rome, 1903). The Bibliografia etiopica of G. Fumagalli (See also:Milan, 1893) includes See also:works dealing with Somaliland. (F. R. C.) See also:Charles II.'s famous See also:declaration of his reasons for dissolving them. This, however, was by See also:Sidney, though probably See also:Somers was responsible for the final draft. When the See also:grand See also:jury of See also:Middlesex threw out the See also:bill against See also:Shaftesbury, and were vehemently attacked for so doing, Somers wrote in See also:defence of the rights of grand juries. In 1683 he was counsel for the sheriffs Pilkington and Shute before the See also:court of See also:King's See also:Bench, and secured a reputation which continually increased until the trial of the seven bishops, in which he was junior counsel.

" Somers See also:

rose last. He spoke little more than five minutes, but every word was full of weighty See also:matter; and when he sat down his reputation as an orator and a constitutional lawyer was established." In the See also:secret See also:councils of those who were planning the revolution Somers took a leading part, and in the Convention See also:Parliament was elected a member for his native town. He was immediately appointed one of the managers for the See also:Commons in the conferences between the houses, and in arguing the questions whether See also:James II. had left the See also:throne vacant by See also:abdication and whether the acts of the Convention Parliament were legal—that parliament having been summoned without the usual writs—he displayed great learning and legal subtlety. He was further distinguished by being made chairman of the See also:committee which See also:drew up the celebrated Declaration of Right. In May 1689 Somers was made See also:solicitor-See also:general. He now became See also:William III.'s most confidential adviser. In the controversy which arose between the Houses on the question of the legality of the decision of the court of King's Bench regarding See also:Titus See also:Oates, and of the See also:action of the Lords in sustaining this decision, Somers was again the leading manager for the Commons, and has left a clear and interesting account of the debates. He was next employed in January 1690 as chairman of the select committee of the See also:House of Commons on the See also:Corporation Bill, by which those corporations which had surrendered their charters to the See also:Crown during the last two reigns were restored to their rights; but he refused to See also:associate himself with the violent See also:measures of See also:retaliation which the Whigs on that occasion endeavoured to include in the bill. In See also:April a speech by him carried through the lower house, without opposition, the bill which declared all the See also:laws passed by the Convention Parliament to be valid. As solicitor-general he had to conduct the See also:prosecution of See also:Preston and See also:Ashton in 1691, and did so with a moderation and humanity which were in marked contrast to the customs of the former reigns. He was soon after appointed See also:attorney-general, and in that capacity strongly opposed the bill for the regulation of trials in cases of high See also:treason. On the 23rd of March 1693, the great See also:seal having meanwhile been in See also:commission, Somers was appointed See also:lord-keeper, with a See also:pension of £2000 a See also:year from the See also:day on which he should quit his office, and at the same See also:time was made a privy councillor.

He had previously been knighted. Somers now became the most prominent member of the Junto, the small See also:

council which comprised the chief members of the Whig party. When William left in May 1695 to take command of the See also:army in the See also:Netherlands, Somers was made one of the seven lords-justices to whom the administration of the See also:kingdom during his See also:absence was entrusted; and he was instrumental in bringing about a reconciliation between William and the princess See also:Anne. In April 1697 Somers was made lord See also:chancellor, and was created a peer by the See also:title of See also:Baron Somers of See also:Evesham. When the discussion arose on the question of disbanding the army, he summed up the case against disbanding, in See also:answer to See also:Trenchard, in a remarkable pamphlet called " The Balancing See also:Letter." In August 1698. he went to Tunbridge See also:Wells for his See also:health. While there he received the king's letter announcing the first See also:Partition Treaty, and at once replied with a memorandum representing the See also:necessity in the See also:state of feeling in See also:England of avoiding further war. When the king, on the occasion of the Disbanding Bill, expressed his determination to leave the country, Somers boldly remonstrated, while he dearly expressed in a speech in the Lords the danger of the course that was being taken.

End of Article: ITALIAN

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