CHAP. XX MARKET AT DEBRA MARKOS 209 



water channels), which spans the stream running at the 

 foot of the hill, we were met by two or three men, who came 

 to conduct us to the camping-ground, which was fairly level 

 and close to a water-hole. Taking five of my servants 

 with me, I went straight to the market, which is held 

 every Thursday on a large open space to the south of the 

 town. We got there at one, just as it was in full fling, 

 and were at once surrounded by a good-natured crowd, 

 which must soon have numbered a couple of hundred or 

 so. The guide kept the small boys from getting too 

 near, and the older people always made way when I 

 wanted to move, but my men were kept busy explaining 

 that I was an Englishman who had come to shoot, and 

 that I had nothinor to sell. Before I left Adis Ababa, I 

 had been warned that I should probably have to put up 

 with derisive shouts of " Ali," and that as I got further 

 from Shoa, I might even be greeted with mud and stones. 

 It seems that " Ali" is the name the Italian soldiers gave 

 to the Abyssinians, and, after the defeat at Adua, the 

 victors used to shout it mockingly at their white prisoners. 

 The custom soon grew, till every European was called 

 "Ali" by the common people. When the British 

 Mission visited Menelik in 1897, ^'^ ^vas a common 

 occurrence for the members to be assailed with cries of 

 "Ali," but now the custom has quite died out in the 

 capital. Having these warnings in my mind, I was 

 rather surprised to find that the crowds of buyers and 

 sellers at Debra Markos received me so well. One man 

 came up, and bowing, said, " .Salaam Ali " ; I glanced 

 sharply at him, to see if it was meant as an insult, but it 

 was evident from the man's expression and manner that 



