CUSTOM-HOUSE 83 



his hands, he Hkes nothing better than to sit at the 

 instrument and chip in with any message he hears going 

 through. In the same building is also the post office, 

 where the mails, under the concession granted to M. 

 Vidailhet, are despatched and received from Harrar 

 every ten days. I bought some of the stamps and 

 post-cards, and had others sent to Harrar, as the unused 

 Ones sold in Europe are Abyssinian only in name, being 

 despatched straight from the engraver in Paris to the 

 dealers, and those on letters sent abroad are carefully 

 removed before they quit Jibuti. 



Leaving the telephone office, we cross the road to 

 Entotto and the French Embassy ; then, skirting the 

 stockade which surrounds the Abuna's residence, and 

 a farm, where some black pigs were generally grubbing 

 about in the track, to the disgust of my Somali followers, 

 we plunge down a deep gully between walls of clay and 

 rock and cross another tributary of the Hawash. On 

 the further bank we pass between the tuculs and en- 

 closures of a large village, which nestles against this 

 side of the hill crowned by St. George's Church. Going 

 up the slope beyond the village, we reach the open 

 ground on which the market is held, and, looking across 

 it, see before us the strong palissade of stone and wood 

 surrounding the Custom-house, the roof and cross of 

 St. George's appearing above all. 



The entrance to the Custom-house is above the 

 stretch of ground where the horse and mule fair is held, 

 in the western portion of the market. A strong wooden 

 gate gives access to a yard, with a large building in the 

 centre, where the officials sit in an open verandah, re- 



