Chapter II: Introduction

31.

The Somaliland Protectorate, as shown in the above map (Illus. 1) is on the Southern (African) shore of the Gulf of Aden, its nearest neighbours being French Somaliland, Ethiopia and Somalia Italiana on the African coast, and Aden and Arabia across the Gulf of Aden. More distant neighbours are Persia, Iraq, the Sudan and Kenya.

The Protectorate consists of:

(i)	The coastal lowlands (Guban) along the Gulf of Aden coast.
(ii)	The spur from the Harar Plateau forming the Main Watershed Mountains some 60 miles inland from the Gulf of Aden in the west to about 15 miles in the east.
(iii)	The Plateau country south of these mountains, sloping gently to the Italian Somaliland Indian Ocean coast in the S.E. The mountains and plateau are collectively known as the "Ogo", but this term is often used particularly for the mountains and upper part of the plateau, the southern lower plateau area being called the Haud.

32.

Illustrations 4 and 7 (in pocket - will be added later) show the general topographical features of the country.

The main variations from the general division into Guban, Ogo, and Haud, described above are:

(i)	The marked N.W./S.E. "Wireg" Pass between Onkhor and the Nogal, which sets the Main Watershed Range closer to the coast in the eastern part of the Protectorate.
(ii)	The Sawl Haud and Heman Basin in the Ogo to the east of this pass.
(iii)	The Daror, Nogal and Bokh valleys cutting the plateau, and draining from the main watershed, E. and S.E. to the Indian Ocean.

35.

The Purpose of the General Survey of the Somaliland Protectorate was briefly "The collection, correlation, and distribution of data, not being collected by already existing departments, with a view to recommending further research or development, or alternatively discouraging uneconomic development schemes. Also to make available data necessary for wise administration, primarily by the study of the Human Ecology of the nomadic stockherders of the Protectorate and Grazing Areas."

(Ecology is the study of organisms in relation to their environment, and in this case the environment of the nomad is described as the General Geography of the Protectorate and Grazing Areas.)

36.

The original proposals for which the grant "Colonial Development and Welfare Scheme No. D.484" was made, were as follows:

(i)	Compilation of existing topographical maps, and improvisation of other maps as a basis for the General Survey.
(ii)	Research on the nomadic movements of tribes and their stock, and a census of the people and stock.
(iii)	Collection of seven years meteorological data, especially rainfall.
(iv)	Survey of water supplies, with recommendations for improvement.
(v)	Geological Survey, especially of the potentially mineralized areas.
(vi)	C0-operation with the Agricultural Department in the collection of botanical and zoological data.
(vii)	Mapping of townships and roads.
(viii)	Collection of information of military importance, routes, impasses, airfields, etc.

37.

Such a survey had first been suggested by the writer in 1937, but had been delayed on the ground that there was not a sufficiently accurate set of topographical maps of the area. Whilst it is necessary, however, to have maps as a basis for any survey, improvised topographical maps can be used for reconnaissance survey.

38.

In 1943 the then Military Governor, Brigadier G. T. Fisher (now Sir Gerald Fisher, K.B.E., C.S.I., C.I.E.), instructed the writer to carry out the Survey, and Treasury sanction was obtained for the scheme as "An Economic Survey and Reconnaissance of British Somaliland," hereafter referred to as the "General Survey (Somaliland Protectorate)."

39.

The staff employed for this General Survey was as follows:

(i)	Survey Officer (in charge) -- J.A. Hunt -- Sept. 1943 - 31st Mar. 1951.
(ii)	Assistant Survey Officer -- N. M. Viney -- May 1944 - Sept 1945.
(iii)	Mineral Geologist -- S. Stock -- June 1946 - Apr. 1948.
(iv)	Water Geologist -- W. A. Macfadyen -- Dec. 1946 - Dec. 1948.
(v)	Assistant Survey Officer -- D. D. Macdonald -- Feb. 1947 - Apr. 1948.
(vi)	Assistant Survey Officer -- A. J. Wood -- Feb. 1947 - Apr. 1948.
(vii)	Senior Native Assistant Surveyor -- Hassan Nur -- Mar. 1944 - Mar. 1951.

In addition various clerks were seconded from the Protectorate clerical staff, and varying numbers of Somalis (without whose assistance the Survey could not have been carried out), up to a maximum of 82, were employed as observers, fieldmen, drivers, etc.

40.

The Survey, begun under wartime conditions with lack of adequate staff, equipment, or transport, soon had to be modified as to purpose. The diagram on page 2 of Dr. Worthington's "Science in Africa" illustrates very nearly the crystallized form which the purpose of the Survey had taken by 1944. This is a building up from Topography as a basis, through Meteorology and Geology, Soil Science, Vegetation, Animal Life, to the people and their domestic stock. This Report has therefore been arranged in chapters in that order.

41.

Important guiding principles were soon found to be that:

(i)

Reconnaissance is necessary before any major advance is made, and survey is necessary before expenditure on a major developmental scheme.

(ii)

In all research it is necessary to vary investigation from the particular to the general and back to the particular. This is best illustrated by the racking backwards and forwards of a camera lens to vary the focus. In practice one should examine the surface of the ground in detail, fly to considerable height to get a wider view over a larger area, and return to earth again to prove in detail one's general impressions from the air. If this cannot be done, it is possible to use a series of maps of different scales, reducing the detailed work on large-scale maps for inclusion on small-scale maps of larger areas. After examination of these small-scale maps the field is returned to and theories followed up in detail.

This method of survey has been most important in trying to cover the whole area concerned in only seven years.

42.

The detailed methods by which the work has been carried out have been explained in the Annual Reports of the General Survey, and are briefly repeated in the relevant chapters of this Report as regards each subject. There is in the annual reports a good deal of detail given especially for the use of Somali Assistants.

43.

It is accepted that maps are the best form of summary, and the quickest means of assimilating knowledge of a country. Maps have therefore been prepared lavishly for all the Annual Reports, and 49 maps have been drawn to illustrate this Report. It is believed that coloured maps are necessary for easy and rapid assimilation of information. Owing, however, to lack of funds for printing coloured maps, the writer, who is only an amateur draughtsman, has prepared these 49 illustrations for printing in black and white. The only advantage of black-and-whit illustrations over the clearer coloured ones, is that they can be printed direct from the writer's original tracings, without the danger of errors due to re-draughting.

44.	Apart from the difficulties in obtaining suitable European staff, equipment, and transport for the survey, and especially in synchronizing the arrival of these, a number of other delaying factors are mentioned here for the assistance of those planning and estimating for other surveys.
45.	The General Survey was planned on the assumption that the results would be of considerable interest to the Administration as a whole, even piecemeal as they were obtained. The writer, wishing to give all his time to this research, chose headquarters for the Survey away from Government Headquarters. Although this allowed him to give more time to research, nearly the whole of the Administration and Headquarters staff changed during the course of the Survey, with the result that interest in the work of the Survey flagged, and co-operation deteriorated. For this the writer must to some extent blame himself for not having given sufficient time to social contacts. There is a frequent tendency for keen scientists to lose tough with that part of the community which is not interested in their work.
46.	Another delaying factor was the detachment of officers, engaged to carry out the General Survey, for other duties. N. M. Viney was detached permanently to work in the Secretariat. Dr. Macfadyen spent about four months, out of his two years tour of service, on duties not included in the General Survey programme. The writer supervised the Veterinary Department for seven months, and spent most of 1949 in supervising the actual water-drilling operations in the Haud, as geologist in charge for C. D. & W. Scheme D.486: Water drilling.
47.	These detachments were unavoidable, but in planning a scheme to be carried out within a certain time limit, such detachments should be foreseen, and if possible avoided, since they result in a use of funds voted for a specific scheme being deflected in fact to other uses.

48.

The General Survey as proposed was not completed. The programme was too ambitious. The detailed survey of the Onkhor area, as regards topography and geology with notes on botany and zoology (described in the 1945 Annual Report of the General Survey), is the type of work which it had been hoped to carry out over the whole of the Protectorate, in addition to the research on seasonal meteorology and tribal movements. In fact it is now believed that such a detailed survey would take 30 years for a trained "general surveyor".

49.

What has actually been achieved, apart from the production of this Report, is as follows:

(i)	The following interim publications have been distributed: (B.S.G.P. = British Somaliland Government Publication) B.S.G.P. 1. Genealogies of the tribes of British Somaliland and Mijertein. B.S.G.P. 3. Report on General Survey of British Somaliland, 1944. B.S.G.P. 4. Gazetteer: British Somaliland and Grazing Areas. B.S.G.P. 7. Report on General Survey of British Somaliland, 1945. B.S.G.P. 8. Report on General Survey of British Somaliland, 1946. B.S.G.P. 9. A Bibliography of British Somaliland. B.S.G.P. 10. Report on General Survey of British Somaliland, 1947. -- Report on General Survey of British Somaliland Protectorate, 1948. -- Report on General Survey of British Somaliland Protectorate, 1949. These contain a large number of maps, diagrams and statistical tables which cannot all be reproduced in this Final Report on the General Survey. Some officers in the Protectorate are making constant use in these interim publications.
(ii)	Mr. Stock's reports on the "Geology and Mineral Resources of N.E. corner of Somaliland Protectorate."
(iii)	Dr. W. A. Macfadyen's combined reports on "The Water Supplies and Geology in parts of British Somaliland," which is being published.
(iv)	Dr. Macfadyen's proposals for explofatory drilling for water in the Haud. (The drilling for this programme has not been completed.)

50.

Apart from these achievements, the value of the results of the General Survey must be judged from this Final Report. Including publication of this, the cost of the General Survey from September 1943 to March 1951 will have been approximately £56,000. This does not include approximately £12,000 spent on water drilling in connection with C. D. & W. Scheme D.486 -- a programme which did not succeed but has not yet been completed (vide General Survey Report, 1949).

51.

The purpose of this Report, apart from being an account of the expenditure of £56,000, is to consolidate the results achieved by the General Survey, and as far as possible to form a useful book of reference for all those interested in the Somaliland Protectorate. There is a certain amount of repetition in the different chapters, because few people will want to read the whole Report but only to refer to those chapters connected with their own interests.

52.

(Illustration 2.)

Notes for Writers: Bookmarks are included for each section, i.e. "A." - "H.", and will later be included for each numbered paragraph, i.e. "443." to "555.", each table and each illustration.