204 A SPORTING TRIP THROUGH ABYSSINIA chap. 



terraces, covered with a deposit of lime. It gave one 

 the impression that a great caldron on the hill-top had 

 boiled over and the contents had trickled down the side, 

 leaving behind the little furrows of scintillating crystals, 

 which at this moment caught and reflected the glow of 

 the tlames. In other places one might imagine that 

 miniature waves of cream had been turned to stone. We 

 were all tired, and the air, filled with sparks and dust, 

 was stifling. However, pushing on as hard as we could, 

 we at last had the satisfaction of seeing the flames 

 behind us instead of at the side, and an hour after dark 

 reached camp at Dedgem. This was a little village of 

 a dozen huts or so perched on the steep side of the 

 valley of the Mogga, and only remarkable as being the 

 first village on the Gojam side of the Abbai. 



Next morning, our road still led us uphill past a most 

 picturesque little village crowning an almost isolated 

 bluff, the top of which was so tiny and the sides so steep, 

 that it looked as though any inhabitant who had indulged 

 in a little too much tej might easily fall out of the village 

 into eternity ! Close to the side of the road was an out- 

 crop of pentagonal shafts of stone, averaging 6 inches in 

 diameter. An hour and three-quarters brought us to the 

 plateau, which had the usual great stretches of grass, 

 interspersed with patches of cultivation. Soon after, the 

 guide from Jarso wanted me to camp, as we were enter- 

 ing another Shum's district, and the next water was quite 

 half a day's journey off. But I went on, till a watchman 

 came up and asked to see my passport. After satisfying 

 myself that he was entitled to make this request, I 

 produced Menelik's letter, before taking which the man 



