2 A SPORTING TRIP THROUGH ABYSSINIA chap. 



me in communication with the sportsman who had 

 arranged the trip which it was thought hkely he would 

 accompany. But time went on, and as no reply came 

 to my friend's letters, the proposed trip came to nothing. 



It was at this time that Mr. J. J. Harrison proposed 

 that I should join the party he was organising to go 

 from the Somali coast across the north of Lake Rudolf, 

 and through the unexplored country between the point 

 where the Omo runs into that lake and Fashoda. At 

 first I feared there would necessarily be more ex- 

 ploration than sport, owing to the transport difficulties 

 involved in this tour, but being reassured on this point, 

 I decided to join the expedition. 



We intended to strike inland from Berbera and 

 thence by way of Ginea, where Dr. Donaldson Smith, 

 the American explorer, had been turned back by the 

 Abyssinians on his first attempt to reach Lake Rudolf. 

 But owing to the activity of the Mullah Abdullahi — 

 generally known as the Mad Mullah — in the Haud, 

 Colonel Sadler, the Consul-General for the Somali coast, 

 did not think it safe for us to venture by that route, 

 and finally decided that we must go via Zeila and Harrar, 

 or not at all. 



Our partly finally consisted of Messrs. J. J. Harrison, 

 W. Whitehouse, A. E. Butter, and myself We had also 

 with us D. Clarke (chartographer). Perks (taxidermist), 

 and Daniel (Butter's servant). As I was the only 

 member of the party who had had any experience of 

 Somaliland shooting, the preparation of the first rough 

 lists of all requirements lor the trip fell to me ; this meant 

 a good deal of work, as it involved looking up old lists 



