SPORT IN ABYSSINIA. 233 



hard to get good coffee in England ? One great 

 secret, I am sure, is that every time it is made the 

 berries ought to be fresh roasted and fresh ground. 



March 24. — This morning I enjoyed the luxury of 

 a really good wash in hot water, in my little tin basin, 

 having found some soap in K.'s house. I had been 

 without soap for several days, and I was disgusted to 

 find that specimens of the entomology which infests 

 Abyssinians and their houses had transferred their 

 attentions to myself. I hope that none of my readers 

 will ever have to experience, especially in a hot coun- 

 try, the total inability of washing oneself properly. 



If there is one thing that is pleasant, and I may say 

 almost a luxury, it is the power of having a really good 

 wash. When one is leading a rough life, one misses 

 the morning tub of civilized life. Even on reaching 

 the Tackazzee, the waters of the river looked inviting 

 for a swim ; an indulgence in this pastime would be 

 made in the face of the fact of there being a chance, 

 and indeed a very good one, of being snapped up by 

 a crocodile, which would have been an unpleasant 

 and abrupt termination to a trip undertaken from 

 motives of pleasure and sport. The only place where 

 bathing was practicable was the shallow ford, and 

 during most of the day our native servants might 

 have been seen paddling and splashing about in the 

 shallow water, much to their delight and amusement. 



