SOMALILAND
139
SOMALILAND
MgT. de Tpssada). It was to havo beon joined to
Vich, but the union was not etTeeted, and it has been
governed since by an administrator Apostolic. It is
bounded on the north and west liy the See of Urpel,
on the south by those of Lrrida and Tarragona, ami
on the east by the Diocese of Vich. It contains
152 parishes, 330 priests and clerics, 2:59 churches, Ki
chapels, and about 12(),0()() inhabitants. There are
many religious communities — men: Religious of the
Immaculate Heart of Mary (Solsona); Misioneros
Paules (Belli)uig, Cervera); Cistercians of Senanque
(Casserras, Tarrega); Mereedarians (Portell); Bene-
dictines (Riner); Piarists (Tdrrega) — nuns: Carmel-
ites of Charity, 11 houses; Discalced Carmelite Ter-
tiaries, 2 houses; Dominican Tertiaries, 6 houses;
Sisters of the Holy Family of Urgel, Hermanitius de
Ancianos desamparados, ■Sisters of the Holy Family,
1 house each. The cathedral of Solsona is dedicated
to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin; the apse, in
Roman stjde, dates probably from the twelfth cen-
tury, the facade is Baroque, and the nave and tran-
sept Gothic; the church contains the highly vene-
rated Virgen de Solsona, an excellent specimen of
Byzantine work. The present ordinary, INIgr.
Amigo y Ferrer, titular Bishop of Thagaste, succeetled
Mgr. Benlloch y Viv6, transferred on 6 Dec, 19015,
to the See of Urgel. Solsona, the Xelsa of the Lace-
tani, Setelsis of the Romans, and later Selsona, lies
about fifty miles from Lerida and Barcelona on the
Rio Negro and Kio Cardoner. ■ It was a military i«ist
of strategic importance and was frequently besicgi'd.
In 819 it was cajituretl by the Moors; in l.j20, a
university, transferred later to Cervera, was estab-
lished there. On 30 July, 1590, Solsona was made a
city by Philip II. In the following century it re-
belled against the Madrid Government and was
captured, 7 Dec, 1655. In the War of Succession
it sided with the archduke. The Carlists attacked
it unsuccessfully in 1835 and 1837. Solsona has
important manufactures of thread, lace, gloves, and
hardware.
B-^TT.^NDiER, Annuaire pontifical catholique.
A. A. M.\cErlean.
Somaliland, a triangular-shaped territory in the north-eastern extremity of Africa, projecting into the ocean towards the Island of Socotra; its apex is Cape Guardafui. It is bounded on the north by the Gulf of Aden, on the east by the Indian Ocean, on the west by the hills of Harrar and Shoa. It has an area of about 350,000 stiuare miles, and a popu- lation of 1,000,000. The (ireek navigators called it the "Countrj- of aromatic gums"; at the present time it is called Somaliland from the name of the people who inhabit it. Its exploration was be- gun in the sixteenth cenliu'y by Portuguese em- ployed in the service of Ethiopia, was interrupted for a long time, and was recommenced in the nine- teenth century by Burton, \on der Decken, Brenner, Mcnges, Georges Revoil, etc. Our knowledge of it is still imperfect: the severity of the climate, aridity of tlic soil, lack of means of transportation, and above all the fanatical, treacherous, and thieving character of the natives have always made Somaliland one of the most inhospitable places of residence in the world. The country has more or less the a|)pearance of a desert. The lower section bordering on the sea is naturally tlry and barren and barely sujjports a i)Oor and scanty flora. The mountain slojjes have a fine vegetation, which includes the coffee-tree. The cen- tral region, called Ogaden, has an average elevation of 30(M) feet and is a large plateau covered with steppes and affording pasturage. The chief rivers are the Daror, which empties into the Indian Ocean between Cape Guardafui and Ras Hafiin, Webi, which, descending from the Harnir district, flows along the coast and loses itself in the ground, and Juba, which
was explored in 1873 by the American Chaille-Long
who was in the service of the Khedive of Egypt.
The people called Somali, who have remained un- touched by exterior influences, are remarkably homo- g<>ne<)us. Ethnographers connect them with the Etliic)]iii-, Cushitic, or Hamitic group represented by the ICtliiopians, or Abyssinians, Bedjas or Nubians, the Danakil, the Oromo or Gallas. Taken generally the Somali type is very interesting: slight in figure, with limbs well-proportioned, regular and remarkably delicate features, wavy hair, a fine black skin. They dress elegantly in the classic manner; the poorest know how to carry themselves with a naturalness, ease, and pride that are not lacking in dignity. They are intelligent, but fickle, and their industries are rudimentary; they disdain tilling the .soil. They work chiefly as herdsmen, fishers, boatmen, traders; above all they prefer travel, adventure, and robbing stran- gers. They are, moreover, di\ided into a great num- ber of clans forming three or four main groups which unite and separate according to the vicissitudes of the alliance and of war and have no national cohesion. Their language, which has been made known by the Capuchin missionaries, is related to that of the (iallas; it has incorporated a large number of Arabic idioms.
However, European influence has made itself felt in Somaliland since 1829 when the Red Sea was first u.sed as a route to India; but it is only of late years that France, England, and Italy have taken ac;tual possession of the Somali coast. France ac- <Hiired Obok in 1882, then took the entire Bay of Ta- jurrah, and finished by taking Jibuti as the chief town of the "Protectorate of the French Coast of So- mali", which contains an area of about 80 square miles. Jibuti has been united by a railway with the fertile districts of the Harrar and of Abyssinia. Eng- land is established to the east on the entire coast fac- ing Arabia as far as Cape Guardafui; its principal towns are Zeila and Berbera. I/.islly, Italy, called by England to these latitudes in lSi)4, occnpios the prin- cipal towns of the eastern coast known under the name of Benadir (Arabic .1/ Hdmulcr, the gateways), where the Sultan of Zanzibar formerly maintained small garri,sons: Obbia, Warsheik, Mogdishu, Merka, Barawa, Kisima-yu (the last name is of Swahilic origin, Kisima meaning wells, yu meaning upper). The Somali are all Mohammedans. Those of the north and of the towns on the coast are rigorous and fanatical observers of the principles of Islam and de- spi.se "the infidels" whether white or black. The So- mali of the interior unite some of the beliefs and prac- tices of ancient fetishism with their Mohammedan faith. There are, however, few populations of the world that are more difficult to bring to the Gos- pel. Properly speaking there is no Christianity in Somaliland. The few Christians, perhaps one or two hundred, that can actually be counted, have come from the schools and orphanages of the Catholic missions of Aden, Jibuti, and of Berbera. As Somaliland is divided into three zones of in- fluence, French, English, and Italian, there are three distinct mi.ssion centres: the French ,'^ninali coast is under the care of the Vicariate .\ | n i-i nlic i .f t lie Gallas, which is entrusted to the French ( '/nmrhins of th(' Province of Lyons; English Somaliland is under the care of the Vicariate Apostolic of Arabia, also con- fided to the Capuchins; Italian Somaliland was de- tached in 1904 from the Vicariate Ajjostolicof Zanzi- bar, erected into the Prefecture Apostolic of Benadir, and confided to the ancient Order of the Holy Trinity or Trinitarians.
RivoiL. La Vatlee de Darror (Paris. 1882); Idem. Diz mots A la c6lr orienlale li'A/rii/ue (Paris, ISSS): Smith, Through Unknown African Countries (London, 1.897): Pef-i., Somaliland (I.Kindon, 1899); SwAY.vE, Serenteen Trips through Somaliland (I-ondon. 1900); Hendebert. Au pays des Somalis cl des Comoricns (Pari.i, 1901); Febba.nd, Lea (^omAlis (Paris. 1903).
A. Le Roy.
