A SPORTING TRIP THROUGH ABYSSINIA 



CHAPTER XXIV 



We move on lo tlie plain — The first head of big game — Beehives — The camp at 

 night — Elephants feeding in a bamboo-brake — A great day with tora — My guide 

 an ex-robber chief — Tracking buffalo — We nearly run into a bull elephant asleep 

 — A native's idea of elephant-shooting — A fine roan — A night out — Fears for my 

 safety — A rescue party — A monster tusk — The course of the Balarse^ — An ancient 

 monastery — Flocks and cattle at liberty — Growing corn for monkeys — A robber 

 stronghold — A pugnacious roan — A ruined village — An old priest . Page 259 



CHAPTER XXV 



I reach Lake Tana — Fertile soil — How chillies are grown — Fine cattle — Where the 

 Abbai falls into Lake Tana — A primitive ferry — An unwilling host — The lake 

 and its isles — The curious course of the Blue Nile — Hippo-hunters and their 

 arms — Hippos at play — A queer bird — Fear of robbers — Ruined villages — 

 A rich country laid waste — Signs of the Dervish raid — A bone -strewn 

 battlefield ........... 273 



CHAPTER XXVI 



Gorgora and the sacred isles — A courteous priest — Dedjatch Cubudda and his unlucky 

 elephant-hunt — An unwelcome "present" — My e.\-robber guide in danger of 

 punishment — The governor of Gondar — Refusal to let me enter the city — A 

 game of bluff — The bluffer bluffed — A ruined church and fortress — The legend 

 of St. Tecla Haymanot . . . . . . . . . 286 



CHAPTER XXVII 



We reach Gondar — Its history and situation — The effect of the Dervish invasion — A 

 miraculously preserved church — Curious pictures — The Gii/ip — Splendid palaces 

 and castles — Bruce's description of past magnificence — Lions' dens and harems 

 — Dungeons and banqueting halls . . . . . . . 299 



CHAPTER XXVIII 



A destitute .\ral) from Khartoum — A descendant of emperors — A horse's mausoleum 

 — Curious absence of wells — Canterbi"s change of manner — Start for the Soudan 



