XXI A HANDSOME OLD MAN 231 



refused, 011 the ground that fowls didn't grow in Somali- 

 land. I could not help remarking that neither did rice 

 nor dates, their staple food on the coast. The gombos, 

 or large jars, in which they carry tej and tala in this 

 district, are of a quaint shape, with their single handles, 

 and long, wide necks, in which a tuft of grass is stuck to 

 strain the liquor. 



Next day the route lay through thick jungle and 

 up a low pass. I had just reached the brow of the 

 hill, when Fitaurari I man, who was in charge of the 

 province during Ras Masfin's absence with King Tecla 

 Haymanot, met me with a large following. He was 

 a fine-looking old man with good features, and hair and 

 beard turning white. After a little talk, and having 

 shown him my rifles and glasses, I took his photo 

 and went on my way. We passed close to Jirrehe, 

 one of the curious detached masses of rock found almost 

 all over Abyssinia, which serve as landmarks for 

 several marches on every side. After a rather short 

 march of 10 miles, we camped at Bunjar, by the Guar 

 stream, having come nearly due north. In the afternoon 

 I saw an oribi, the first since passing Chaffe Dunsa, 

 on the road between Tadechamalca and Adis Ababa. 

 The natives say there are plenty to the north, but none 

 to the south of this place. A good many duiker were 

 running about in the bushes, and I managed to shoot 

 three. Here I found the people busily tilling the bare 

 and blackened land but recently cleared of jungle. 

 The ploughs and hoes employed were peculiarly 

 primitive. The former consists of a long and not very 

 straight pole attached to the yoke, in the thick end of 



