240 SPORT IN ABYSSINIA. 



letter to me, that he killed "any number" of small 

 game, partridges, &c. These plains, according to his 

 account, swarm with all varieties of antelope, and, in 

 fact, he seems to have seen a great deal more game 

 than we did in any other part of Abyssinia. He stayed 

 there twelve days, and then went back to Barrakee's 

 village for a day and a half to get flour and provisions 

 for himself and servants ; after which he again went 

 down to the Marcb, and stayed there till the nth of 

 April, and would have remained longer, but the rains 

 had just begun, and he was afraid of fever. Of course 

 his great object was to get a lion, and for six succes- 

 sive nights he sat up watching over an old bullock — a 

 beast that we had brought down to the Tackazzee 

 with us, and one of those which was so nearly drowned 

 in crossing over that river. On the sixth night a lion 

 pounced upon the buffalo, and H. shot it as dead as a 

 door-nail. Naturally he was very pleased, as he very 

 truly said that he would not have liked to leave Africa 

 without having shot either a lion or an elephant. 

 There was great rejoicing in camp next morning 

 among his servants, as Abyssinians think a great deal 

 of shooting a lion, although the king of beasts does 

 not stand so high in scale with them as the elephant. 

 He said Barrakee stayed with him the whole time, and 

 turned out a first-rate guide that knew every inch of 

 the country, and I am sure H. never regretted having 



