of the Dolomites, jagged, fantastic peaks of every form and shape, looking mysteriously weird and fascinating, more especially as they are still the home of the free and independent Ethiopians, the strongholds of rebel chiefs, and for us a sort of promised land

after our long delays and wanderings in the Italian colony.

Near Addi Quala there are some patches of fertility; but the cholera scourge, drought, and other causes have had, as elsewhere, a ruinous effect here. We saw a picturesque group of men winnowing a sort of vetch with which the inhabitants make bread and other farinaceous foods in these parts. They hold large baskets of the dried pods high over their heads, and let them drop out gently, so that the wind

carries off the husks, and allows the small pea to fall on the ground below.

The friendly chief and most of his men turned out next morning to escort us on our road. It was quite an imposing sight. Drummers led the way; flute-players sounded their harsh, raucous notes; trumpeters bellowed forth hideous noises; and the chief, on a lively Galla pony, with a saddle-cloth decorated with lions cut out of green leather and sewed down on to a piece of red, greeted us warmly, and wished us a successful journey.

As we descended into the Mareb valley on foot -for the road is too precipitous and rocky to ride down-we felt that our adventures were about to begin, and that we were leaving safety and civilisation behind us. The valley below is celebrated as the spot on which the Emperor John slaughtered the Egyptians in the year 1875. The Mohammedan forces were encamped at Addi Quala, and, ignorant of the proximity of the Abyssinians, prepared to cross the Mareb at a spot called Gudda-Guddi. They dug deep wells, which are still to be seen; and, just as they were commencing to march on, the Emperor John and the Princes of Tigrè fell upon them, and not one man escaped. Their leader, Arakel Pasha (probably a Greek of the name of Herakles), the one who built the palace at Massowah, fell fighting under a tree which is still shown, and their friends who saw their discomfiture from the heights above, recognising the hopelessness of the contest, fled in dismay to Asmara, and thus Abyssinia was freed from the threatened danger.

We had to stop two nights near a village called Gundet, down in the Mareb valley, until we received word that the escort from Ras Mangashah would meet us by the river, and take us over from the hands of the Italians. It was tremendously hot down here; the heat in some of these valleys is excessive, and the vegetation rank and tropical. Luckily, it was just now the dry season, and there was no fear of fever; but in the wet weather the

THE MOUNTAINS OF ADOUA FROM GUNDET

Mareb valley is very dangerous, and many are the travellers who have succumbed here to the pernicious fevers which arise from the vegetation decaying in the wet.

The Abyssinians are supposed to be very clever in the use of herbs in curing these fevers; we, luckily, had no occasion to call upon their skill. We also were told that they know many cures for many diseases, including hydrophobia; but I think these mysterious medicines probably would not stand a very careful analysis. Our interpreter periodically dosed himself with kousso, for the tænia or tapeworm,.

and at these times was always particularly inert and sorry for himself; and whilst we were at Gundet our men tried their hands at curing the sore backs of our mules in a particularly horrible manner, but which was in most cases successful. They first tie the legs and head of the unfortunate animal so that he cannot do more than wriggle, then they cut deep cicatrices in the back through the sore places with a knife; a sickle is then heated in the fire, with which they cauterise the gashes, and finally they fill up the wounds with dung. It was altogether a a most sickening sight, and to hear the red-hot sickle hissing in the gash made us feel quite ill; but it is surprising to see how quickly the mule, when released from his bondage, pulls himself together after a shake, and begins to graze as if nothing had happened. In a few days the wound is healed, and he again carries his burden. Most of the Abyssinian mules bear traces of this severe remedy having been applied to them, and, probably, as the mules seem to forget it so quickly, the process is not so cruel as it looks.

The heat at Gundet was most uncompromising; so, on hearing overnight that the Abyssinian escort would be waiting for us early on the following morning by the river, we struck our camp in the dark, and were in the saddle before five o'clock, with the pleasing result that we reached the river-bed before eight in comparative cool. The Mareb at this season of the year is nothing but a dry bed of rocks. After the rains, I am told, it is a raging and almost impassable torrent. As it was, we had to search about

some time before we could find water to cook our breakfast with. The escort had not arrived, nor did it arrive till well after mid-day; so we spread our rugs beneath a tree in the river-bed, and repaid the hours of rest we had borrowed from the night. Lion and crocodile stories are many here, but we neither heard nor saw either of these formidable beasts, and only pondered in our minds over what crocodiles do in the dry season. Do they bury themselves in moist sandy holes, or do they live tightly packed in the few deep pools found all the year round in the river-bed?

Fitaurari Mangashah arrived at one o'clock, and, bidding farewell to our escort provided by the Italians, we placed ourselves in his charge. He is the chief of one of the villages near the Mareb, and had received orders from Ras Mangashah to escort us in safety to Adoua. From the Mareb to Adoua the distance is only about twenty miles, but it is one of the most dangerous bits of country in all Abyssinia. Lofty, impenetrable mountains line the road on either side; in these many brigands have their haunts, and come down on unprotected caravans. When the country is in a disturbed state, all the leading men who do not wish to bind themselves to either side fly to the mountains near the Mareb, living in caves, and are on the look-out for any plunder that may come in their way. By this time our caravan had swollen to such a size we could not count them all; poor men with donkeys, foot-passengers with bundles-all were glad of this oppor