The post at Biyo Kaboba consisted 'of a fragile block-house built of loose stones and thatched with straw, . . . it is garrisoned by seven men . . . a nondescript and ragged riff-raff of Somali and Sudanese – no Abyssinians amongst them . . . those poor devils, who receive no pay . . . only live on passing caravans. . . .' (Count Gleichen, the Intelligence Officer with Rodd's party, With the Mission to Menelik, 1897, London, 1898, p. 27.) Alola, another place where a temporary Abyssinian post had been opened within British territory, was found to be deserted in 1897. Thus the Abyssinian encroachments were mere tokens, but the effect of this rather nominal Abyssinian pressure was to make Britain realize that her Somali territory was more extensive than was really necessary for her purposes.

I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Som…, loc. 750