A THIEF THRASHED 



maids, often Soudanese slaves with their bosoms half 

 bare ; officers, with diminutive slave-boys carrying their 

 shields and rifles. All these sights helped to make a 

 picture of such interest that one forgot the heat, the 

 flies, and the smell. 



One day we heard much shouting in the market, and 

 saw the people flocking in one direction. Pushing our 

 way through the crowd, we beheld a thief, caught red- 

 handed, taken before the Xagadi Ras, who sentenced 

 him to a dozen lashes on the bare back, and then to be 

 thrashed through the market. The culprit, with his 

 hands tied in front of him, holding the salt he had 

 stolen, was held by a rope round his neck, while his 

 jailer flicked him with a long lash, the thief shouting 

 out meanwhile, " See, I have stolen this salt and am 

 being punished for it." After he had made the circuit 

 of the entire market-place, the salt was taken from him, 

 and he was set at liberty. 



We were much disappointed with the European 

 shops, where we had been led to believe we could 

 purchase many things we required. There are four or 

 five French merchants in the capital, their doyen being 

 M. Savoure, who has been many years settled in Adis 

 Ababa, and undertakes most of the Emperor's com- 

 missions ior Europe. The greater part of the ivory 

 export trade also passes through his hands. He seems 

 to have been fairly successful, judging from the ■ fine 

 new house he had just completed for himself, and the 

 style in which he and his family set out for the coast, 

 shortly before I left for the north. 



Among other nationalities, there are a good many 



