34 SPORT IN ABYSSINIA. 



to get shooting. After some little palaver and 

 remonstrances from the cameleers, who thought they 

 had come to the end of their day's march, we 

 moved on. 



The scene now changed from an open valley into a 

 thorny jungle, and the road was frequently crossed 

 by dried-up river-courses. H., who had already 

 acquired a fine collection of birds in Ceylon and 

 Australia, was very anxious to secure specimens here. 

 This jungle was alive with all varieties of parti- 

 coloured warblers, and he shot several specimens, in- 

 cluding a sort of jay with a hooked bill, which utters 

 a strange cry — one that everybody travelling in 

 Abyssinia will soon get accustomed to. It is not 

 unlike the noise of the English jay. 



We shortly afterwards came to a little stream which 

 flows from the hot spring ; and we saw a white house 

 in the distance perched on the top of a high hill, for 

 which we made. The little stream narrowed as we 

 advanced, and we found ourselves in a rocky pass. 

 Our Arabs told us that the camels could go no farther. 

 The white house, as we learnt, belonged to some 

 Swedish missionaries. We pitched our camp just at 

 the foot of the hill which rose straight above us, the 

 little white house looking very picturesque at its top ; 

 the hot spring was about ten minutes' walk from our 

 camp. One of the missionaries came down to speak 



