128 A SPORTING TRIP THROUGH ABYSSINIA chap. 



European fashion, with massive silver-handled knives 

 and forks, bearing the royal cypher. The service was 

 of Sevres porcelain, emblazoned with the Lion of Judah. 

 As soon as all were seated, the following menu was 

 excellently served by Abyssinian attendants : milk and 

 rice soup, kabobs of meat and potatoes ; omelette 

 and herbs ; mince and artichokes ; fillets of beef and 

 radishes ; kabobs and cabbage ; fried brains ; fried mince 

 and macaroni ; smoked beef and lettuce ; rolls and flat 

 cakes of wheat bread. For drinks we were given, tej 

 (mead), French claret, araki (a strong, native spirit 

 rather like sloe-gin, drunk neat as a liqueur), and, as 

 after-dinner wines, old tej (twelve years, a sweet dark- 

 coloured liquid, looking and tasting like a syrupy port), 

 and champagne (Epernay). While we were being 

 served, a continuous stream of dishes were carried in for 

 the Emperor's table by female slaves. The chief woman 

 of the Emperor's kitchen stood by the opening in the 

 curtains, and, as each slave came in and knelt down, she 

 tasted the food to show that it contained no poison. 

 After this the stewards took it and placed it on the 

 Emperor's table. Many of the dishes he just touched 

 and sent on to the chief officers sittino- round him, which 

 is considered a great honour. One, a sort of rich stew, 

 covered with chilly sauce, he sent to our tables, but it 

 was a dish to be approached with caution by any but an 

 Anglo- Indian, Beside each group of officers stood an 

 attendant, holding shoulder-high a great piece of raw 

 beef killed that morning, from which, with a small sharp 

 knife, each officer cut thin slices, and, placing a small 

 portion in his mouth, cut off the remainder close to his 



