loS A SPORTING TRIP THROUGH ABYSSINIA chap. 



manufactured articles, and can learn better what foreign 

 goods find a ready sale among the people, than in any 

 of the many markets I have seen in the four continents. 



To the market-place at Adis Ababa come grains and 

 spices, peppers and condiments from every corner of 

 the kingdom, coffee from Harrar and Lake Tana, cotton 

 from the banks of the Blue Nile, gold from Beni 

 Shongul, and civet from the Galla country, while salt 

 from the far north of Tigre is the current change for a 

 dollar. Fine cotton shammas, heavy burnouses of black, 

 blanket- like cloth, jewellery and arms, saddlery and 

 ploughs, all are here. In fact here you can feel the 

 commercial pulse of Abyssinia, gain some insight into 

 the present state of her civilisation, and gather what 

 she wants from the foreigner and what she has to offer 

 in exchange. 



The market-place of Adis Ababa is situated on the 

 upper slope of a hill, and lies opposite the palace in a 

 north-westerly direction. Just above it, on the crest 

 of the eminence, stands the Custom-house (formerly Count 

 Leontieff's quarters) surrounded by a palisade. The 

 market is held every day, but the largest gathering takes 

 place on Saturdays, and when the Emperor is resident 

 in the capital. The market-place is quite open, the 

 only permanent features being two little thatched sentry- 

 boxes perched on poles, where the Nagadi Ras, or chief 

 of the merchants, and his assistants sit on market-days 

 to settle disputes, punish thieves, and generally super- 

 intend the fair, and the rows of big stones on which 

 the sellers squat and display their goods and which 

 serve as stalls. 



