SrOJi T IN ABYSSINIA. 1 8 3 



the much-dreaded white man is at times dependent 

 upon help, even if it be from a nigger. On the whole, 

 I cannot complain of my servants, as they had much 

 to put up with. When one is ill, little anncn-anccs are 

 hard to bear, and I dare say at times I was thought 

 rather t}a'annical ; but it is very little use regretting 

 these things now, as there is not the remotest chance 

 of any of my natives reading what I have here written. 



Feb. 28. — This was an uneventful day, and I felt 

 exceedingly weak and ill. It had become very much 

 cooler than it was in the two camps nearer the 

 Tackazzee, as the north wind blows towards the 

 evening and the mornings are quite cool. 



Majxhi. — I find written in my journal: "Am, I 

 think, getting really better. I have shot one and a 

 half brace of little sand-grouse as they flew near the 

 tent in the morning. I went after the herd of harte- 

 beest that I had seen very often near the tent, on the 

 plain at the head of which I was encamped, but I 

 could not get near them. I succeeded to-day in very 

 nearly poisoning myself by mistaking one medicine 

 for another, for I took opium in mistake for some 

 other stuff. After I had discovered my error I swal- 

 lowed some brandy, went out for a walk, and told my 

 servants if they found me going to sleep to wake me 

 up." 



March 2. — The opium seems to have done me good, 



