1 60 SFOR T IN ABYSSINIA. 



trees, " put up" a herd of large deer which went also 

 in a different direction. It was a sisjlit errand enough 

 but we had made a terrible mess of the whole thing : 

 we ought not to have fired at the lion, and, as the ser- 

 vants said, " If you had killed the elephants, plenty of 

 lions would have come to pick the bones." I may tell 

 my readers that the lions in Abyssinia are not like 

 the familiar picture that is everywhere to be seen of 

 animals with enormous manes, as the species in this 

 country have no mane at all. We then walked back 

 to the little hill whereon we were to camp that night, 

 all of us disappointed and crestfallen. The whole 

 of the top of this hill was covered with the most 

 beautiful sweet-smelling grass, and of this we gathered 

 a large quantity to make our beds. I had arranged 

 with one of our servants to bring out my little camp 

 bed and blankets, but, as we went away from camp 

 rather quickly, following up the tracks of the elephant, 

 the native lost his way, and I had nothing to cover 

 me but some sacking, which the medicine case was 

 wrapped up in. That night we slept very comfort- 

 ably and warmly, as the grass made a capital bed. 



Feb. 12. — This day we moved away on the track 

 of the herd of elephants. The jungle became denser, 

 and Barrakee halted us by a beautiful stream of 

 water, and pointed out a hill close by, where he 

 said we should camp that night. A little river that 



