66 THROUGH UNKNOWN AFRICAN COUNTRIES. 
cated guinea-fowl, and the primary feathers on its wings, 
as well as the feathers on its breast, are of a rich purple 
color. 
The rain stopped for a few days, so that I could have 
proceeded on my journey; but on the rith of October 
Haji Idris returned from Ginea without Fred, but bringing 
a note from him in which he said : — 
“ Wal-da-Gubbra a good old chap, but he insists upon 
seeing you personally. Has treated me as well as he 
could. Promises a great present if you come, in the way 
of camels and mules, and also a safe journey all the way 
to Kaffa, to which point the Abyssinians rule. I am off 
for an elephant hunt.” 
It seemed as if the only course open to me was to visit 
Wal-da-Gubbra; so I started at once on my journey to 
Ginea, after sending Dodson with the caravan around the 
Gillett range to Sheikh Mohammed, a distance of thirty- 
five miles. The scenery was very beautiful, and reminded 
me much of Norway, or mountainous parts of my own 
country. It was most enjoyable as we wound our way 
along the sides of the mountains, through dense forests of . 
spruce and pine trees, covered with moss reaching to the 
ground, and crossed little brooks of clear, rushing water, 
about which myriads of butterflies were hovering in 
the moist air. We caught here and there glimpses of 
the valley far below us, and of the Shebeli River pursuing 
its tortuous course through a deep crevasse about the base 
of Mount Abougasin. As we approached a small Abys- 
sinian village the officer in charge and ten of his soldiers 
came to meet us on their mules, and escorted us on our 
way. The captain and his men, seeing me catching 
butterflies in a net, started to collect the insects by striking 
them with their riding-whips. Of course they would 
break the insects’ wings, so I had to tell them that it would 
