SFOjR T in ABYSSINIA. 1 05 



the people, which education the priests endeavour to 

 check as much as possible. There is a country much 

 nearer home than Abyssinia which was, up to a short 

 time since, much in the same state ; in fact, that 

 expression of " priest-ridden country " may be ap- 

 pHed to Abyssinia with as much force as it used to be 

 appHed to the Sister Isle. 



Before I go farther, I must mention that at this 

 camp we killed a cow for the benefit of our coolies 

 and servants, who ate it raw. K. had done this 

 while we were out of camp, so I did not see the 

 squabble which ensued. The bits were shared out 

 equally, but one of the men complained, said his 

 quantity w'as short, and he threw it at the man's head 

 who w^as dividing the portions. Then a general row 

 ensued, and they might be seen running about the 

 camp tearing lumps of raw flesh out of each other's 

 hands and cramming them into their mouths to get 

 rid of them as quickly as possible, much in the same 

 w^ay as a pack of hounds would break up a fox. 

 When an Abyssinian sees or scents raw flesh he 

 becomes a perfectly wild savage ; and the women eat 

 brwido as well as the men. 



Jan. 25. — In the afternoon, H, and I started down 

 the Mareb, intending to go a short way and then 

 pitch our camp. We followed the bank of the river, 

 but it was very deep walking, as the damp sand gave 



