6o SFOR T IN ABYSSINIA. 



like a stone. I ran as hard as I could and found him 

 quite dead, with his backbone cut right through by 

 the shot ; how he could possibly have kept flying in 

 this state I do not know. His shank-bones will 

 make excellent pipe stems. 



The rest of this day we were engaged in again 

 shifting our provisions, etc., into skin bags ; as boxes 

 are very bad things to carry either by coolies, mules, 

 or donkeys. It is the custom in Abyssinia to have 

 all one's baggage, as far as possible, packed in these 

 bags, and then the coolies do not mind carrying 

 them so much. A box is so hard it hurts a man's 

 shoulder when he carries it, and as for mules and 

 donkeys it means sore backs at once ; besides, the 

 leather thongs that bind the box on to the mule are 

 always slipping. We paid a Maria Theresa for two 

 of these bags, and found it rather difficult to get 

 them. Kirkham had gone to Asmarra to make 

 arrangements for coolies, and when he came back, he 

 said everything was completed, and that we should 

 start to-morrow at sunrise. Vain hope, as the reader 

 will see ; for, instead of starting at sunrise, we started 

 at sunset. The people who dwell in the gorgeous 

 East have no idea of time, and always think that 

 Europeans are in a hurry, and that to-morrow will 

 do as well as to-day. 



We had sent a message to Belata Keda Kedan, 



