CHAPTER I 



How I came to visit Abyssinia — Departure from London — Detain the mail 

 steamers at Marseilles and Aden — Zeila — ^EnroUing our followers — 

 Difficulties with men — Camel inspection — Captain Harrington's 

 caravan leaves — The native town. 



A SERIES of chances led to my journey across x\byssinia, 

 and enabled nie in the course of eight and a half months' 

 wanderings to traverse the dominions of the Emperor 

 Menelik, from the extreme south to the extreme north, 

 covering some 1500 miles in that most interesting 

 land. 



Since 1895-96, when I made my first shooting-trip 

 through Somaliland to the Webbe Shabeleh, it had been 

 my wish to arrange for a similar journey in Portuguese 

 East Africa, but no opportunity offered, and I had to 

 content myself with a tour in the Central Provinces of 

 India, and two years spent across the Himalayas, for 

 the purpose of completing my collection of Kashmir and 

 Tibetan game. However, in May 1898, I determined 

 to bestir myself, find a companion, and make a start 

 for Beira. Inquiries among friends led to the collec- 

 tion of valuable information from a traveller who had 

 recently shot in those regions, and who also placed 



B 



