9^ DAHLAK 



was full of material. We worked until ten o'clock sorting it out. 

 As I write up my diary my eyes are closing. Good-night.' 



Tesfankièl Berbè! 



He came one night, quietly. He appeared at the door of 

 Nasi's house, looked around and came in. We were having 

 supper in the main room on the ground floor. We too looked 

 at him, dumbfounded. Where had he sprung from? 



*May I ?' the negro said. 



*Come in,' replied Gigi. But the negro was already in the 

 middle of the room, bowing slightly and smiling. 



*Me disturb,' he said, and his mouth opened in an enor- 

 mous grin, showing his big white teeth. He had an intelligent 

 handsome face, and was wearing a white flannel waistcoat, 

 a pair of canvas shorts and sandals. We were still barefoot 

 and in bathing costumes. 



*You are not disturbing us at all. Come in and sit down. 

 Would you like something to eat ?' I said. 



*No thanks, no thanks. Just eaten.' The negro sat down at 

 a respectful distance. The gas lamp threw black and white 

 flashes on his face, and every now and again, with the breeze, 

 it lit up the whites of his eyes. He was silent. He watched 

 what we were eating : roast fish, tinned meat, a banana each. 

 He was probably twenty or thirty. 



^ Where do you come from?' Cecco asked. 



The negro pointed with his thumb in the direction of a 

 brick hut about three hundred yards from our 'villa'. Eight 

 or ten Eritreans and Dankalians lived in it and during the 

 day worked like beasts in a cave of small rocks, which they 

 loaded on to the sambuk that came from Massawa twice a 

 week. They worked in silence under the sun at a temperature 

 of i20°-i40° F and quarried even at full noon. They were on 



