SPORT IN ABYSSINIA. 67 



of button boots, which were rather trying to his poor 

 feet over the rocks. He would insist that H. had 

 stopped at Chickut, but I knew very well that he had 

 gone on. I then told him what I had said to him 

 before we started. We had some cold soup we 

 brought with us, and shared a small biscuit between 

 us. H. had taken all the provisions on in front with 

 him. 



The road descended more or less steeply from 

 Chickut to Deevaroua, and at last we came to the 

 Mareb. Here it is a small stream, and rises in a 

 high mountain about four miles from this place. K. 

 told me that the ground at the foot of the mountain 

 was swampy, and that there were springs as well all 

 the year round. This river Mareb is the Gash of the 

 country in and near Kassala. In its course across 

 the desert to Kassala its waters are absorbed by the 

 desert sands, but it is a foaming, muddy torrent 

 during the rains. This is one of the Nile tributaries 

 of Abyssinia, mentioned in Sir Samuel Baker's book. 

 I wish I had been able to fix the source of this 

 river exactly, but I had no instruments or other 

 appliances with which to work ; I hope to do this 

 eventually. 



The village of Deevaroua, where we v/ere to stop for 

 the rest of the night, was on the top of the gorge 

 through which the little stream of the Mareb runs. 



