i6o A SPORTING TRIP THROUGH ABYSSINIA chap. 



past fine African pines, under great cotton- trees with 

 lichen -hung branches, through tangled undergrowth of 

 privet and brambles covered with blossom. Below us 

 was a clear, running stream, its rocky banks covered 

 with ferns and moss, and dotted with flowers. Orchids 

 hung from many a dead forest giant, which was only 

 kept by cable-like creepers from falling to the ground. 

 It was a delightful change from the endless hot dusty 

 plains round the capital. 



Evening was coming on when we heard a bird-like 

 cry in the trees close to us ; Gorasa, whispered my 

 syce. Goraza ? I repeated in astonishment ; for that 

 is the Abyssinian name for that rare animal the black- 

 and-white monkey, which I had specially come for. 

 "Surely," I said, "that is no monkey-call." "Yes, 

 for no other beast cries like it," replied my man. 

 Leaving the mule, I stole quietly forward, but saw 

 nothing, till from the top of a giant cotton-tree there 

 was a flash of black and white as a monkey leapt down 

 and disappeared in another tree. We marked one 

 down, and then tried to make it out as it sat motionless 

 watching us. Surely, I thought, an animal with a coat 

 of such contrasting colours should be easy enough to 

 see ; but the white was so like the lichen hano^incj from 

 every bough, and the black merged so well into the 

 deep shadows, that it was some minutes before I could 

 distinguish the monkey with the glasses. I then picked 

 it out with the rifle ; there was a crack, and a mass of 

 long, silky black-and-white hair crashed through the 

 boughs to the ground. Another little chap was so 

 curious to see what had happened to its companion, that 



