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Thursday, December 17, 1908
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This is rather pretty a place,- from the outside, anyway. I'm not in a position to know much about the inside, as yet. Coming over on the gharri it was quite charming after the dull mono-tone of Aden. It was all palm trees and those big branchy fellers, and purple and white and red flowers. Looked mighty nice. But vegetation brings bugs, and rains and fevers, and I think ^[[the Aden]] rocks are to be preferred, despite their sombreness.

The gharris here are a funny proposition,- they have no horses here, and the gharris consist of covered trucks, seating two people, which run on rails

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Friday, December 18, 1908
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to all parts of the town. The motive power is supplied by two Swahili boys, who "push it along." One gets around surprisingly fast, but the gharri-rails are an eyesore. There are a few rickshaws here,- I think they are the more convenient of the two.

The ^[[native]] women here are as ugly as the Somali women are beautiful. They have all the characteristics of the pukka nigger,- lips, nose, and smell, whereas the Somalis have absolutely European features and do not have the offensive odor of these here. These women distend the lobe of the ear so that there is a hole through it an inch and a half or so in diameter,- which is absolutely charming