NEWS OF A TOWN BUILT OF STONE. 43 
miles above our camp. The two Galla captives told me 
that this stream, which is called the Darde, came from a 
high, mountainous country lying far to the northwest, 
where it was cold and wet, and that in this country the 
people raised cereals, wove cloth, and lived in a town 
where there were stone houses. They said the name of 
this town was Sheikh Husein. This was most interesting 
news. Stone houses in this part of Africa! I made up 
my mind to visit this Sheikh Husein if possible. The 
Gallas told us of great atrocities perpetrated by the 
Abyssinians. The Abyssinians had completely subjugated 
them four years previously, carrying off their boys and 
girls as slaves, and capturing all their cattle and sheep. 
After several hours’ hard work in the afternoon, we 
managed to get the caravan up the steep ascent and on to 
the level, bushy plateau, and camped near some salt 
springs I discovered in a river-bed, the waters of these 
springs tasting like magnesia sulphate, and having the 
same effect. 
Continuing north, we passed many villages from which 
all the people had fled, but we had made good enough 
friends of the two youthful Gallas now to trust one of 
them to run ahead and tell their people that friends were 
coming, — not Abyssinians, but white people from a far-off 
country, who wished to travel peacefully and make friends 
with every one; when we wanted food, we told them, we 
would pay for it, as we were rich in cloth and many things 
the natives would find useful. Wishing to explore the 
Darde, I started off with twenty of my boys and Hari 
Berrois, the other captive, who was now free to do as he 
pleased, to where my boys had reported the stream empty- 
ing into the Webi Shebeli. After marching a short time 
northwest, we found ourselves suddenly on the edge of a 
rugged and picturesque canyon a thousand feet deep, 
