100 THROUGH UNKNOWN AFRICAN COUNTRIES. 
not think the prospects of ultimate success of any expe- 
dition ever seemed gloomier than did mine for the next 
three months. It was one continual wrestle with the 
desires of most of my Somalis to return home. 
The next day we proceeded to the foot of the hill on 
which the town of Ginea is situated. Fred and I visited 
Wal-da-Gubbra, and were received by him in his house in 
the most cordial fashion. After afew useless speeches, he 
came to the point that Menelek’s orders were definite as to 
our returning to Somaliland. 
I tried many times to get permission to go south, in- 
forming the old man that it would not be good for the 
Abyssinians to stop Europeans from travelling peacefully 
through the country south of here. 
He replied that the Emperor Menelek owned the coun- 
try all the way to Mombasa! All I could do was to get 
him to assent to our going back to the Shebeli River by 
a quicker route, instead of going far north again to 
Luku. Whe next day, November 16, came a present of 
twenty excellent camels. This was great luck. The old 
Abyssinian had indeed kept his word. I took Dodson 
with me to visit Wal-da-Gubbra, while Fred remained to 
guard the camp. 
We were not absolutely certain that Wal-da-Gubbra 
would not prove treacherous in the end, so never more 
than two of the three Europeans left the camp at one 
time. The old man said he would have our road pre- 
pared for us if we wished to go in the morning, but that he 
would be delighted if we would pay him a long visit. Cer- 
tainly nothing could have exceeded the hospitality of the 
Abyssinians, a.d I must say that Wal-da-Gubbra acted 
toward us like a gentleman. 
It rained early the next morning, but as it cleared up so 
that we could dry the camel blankets, I decided to make a 
