40 A SPORTING TRIP THROUGH ABYSSINIA chap, iv 



bagged five different kinds, but only after a great 

 expenditure of cartridges. At sunset the view from 

 the hill-top was lovely. At our feet lay the lake, 

 stretching away with its fringe of tall rushes ; the 

 flights of cluck which had been disturbed were returning 

 to settle down ; great birds of prey, stately cranes, 

 bustling guinea-fowl, and brilliant - plumaged birds of 

 all sizes were flying down for their evening drink. 

 Away out on the plain the flocks were being driven 

 into zaribas for the night, leaving the herds of antelope 

 in sole possession of the pastures. In the far distance, the 

 rugged summit of Frugdeha, lit up by the setting sun, 

 stood out like a giant sentinel keeping watch over the 

 plain. Immediately below us lay the busy camp, in its 

 ring of felled thorn trees, with our green tents pitched 

 on one side, and on the other groups of camel-men 

 arranging their loads and mats, so as to form low huts 

 round the* fires, on which great copper pots of rice 

 were already boiling. From outside strings of camels 

 were being driven into the zariba, and then made to 

 lie down to have their legs shackled, a process which 

 was never got through without many plaintive grunts. 

 In the centre of all, safe from the prowling leopard, 

 was a tiny zariba for the goats. As night settled down, 

 the camp dropped off to sleep, and the croak of the 

 frogs in the lake, the occasional grumble of a camel, 

 and the tramp of the sentries were the only sounds to 

 break the stillness of the African night. 



