22 A SPORTING TRIP THROUGH ABYSSINIA chap. 



scrub. As we crossed a rido^e, I saw a hare and was 

 going to shoot it, when the men stopped me, saying 

 that no one was allowed to use firearms on that hill. 

 When we reached camp, I inquired about this pro- 

 hibition, and was told that, if a gun was fired there, 

 it disturbed a demon living on an adjacent hill-top, who 

 would retaliate by throwing stones at the intruder. 

 Whether this superstition arose from the hill having 

 been an active volcano within the memory of man, I 

 cannot say, as I had not time to investigate the matter 

 further, but it is at least possible, as the whole region is 

 volcanic. In the bed of the Gildessa stream, for instance, 

 there are several hot springs, much resorted to by the 

 natives, who have great faith in their healing powers. 

 We twice crossed this stream before reaching the village, 

 which is a collection of mud and straw huts with a few 

 superior structures of stones set in mud. It is situated 

 on the hillside overlooking the stream, and contains 

 some 500 inhabitants. We pitched our camp on a 

 spot among some trees opposite the village and near 

 some good water, and were soon revelling in eggs, 

 milk, fowls, and bananas, luxuries to which we had been 

 strangers since we left Zeila. Shortly after our arrival, 

 the Shum, attended by his clerk, an escort of a couple 

 of soldiers, and followed by much riff-raff, called upon 

 us, and was received with a salute of ten rounds of 

 blank cartridge, which appeared to please him. Having 

 provided him with a seat under our verandah tent, I 

 mixed him a drink of brandy, lemon - powder, and 

 water, fizzed up by a sparklet, which pleased him still 

 more. As a present he brought us a couple of goats, 



