236 A SPORTING TRIP THROUGH ABYSSINIA chap. 



be hopeless, as in a few hours the local Shums would 

 collect several hundred men and drive me back. Event- 

 ually, I decided to write to the Emperor and to Captain 

 Harrington, and wait where I was for an answer. For 

 this purpose I made choice of Beyener, a wiry, in- 

 telligent man, who had been a merchant's muleteer all his 

 life, as my messenger. I gave him the packet of letters 

 and a bag of dollars, told him how matters stood, and 

 ordered him, if possible, to get through to Captain 

 Harrington at Adis Ababa. The whole camp turned 

 out to see him start at eleven o'clock, mounted on my 

 best riding mule, a rifle slung across his back, and a 

 rhinoceros-hide whip in his hand. He was in high 

 spirits and, as he galloped off, said he would do the 

 journey in seven days ! We all felt a little down-hearted 

 after his departure, wondering if we should ever see him 

 again, and what might happen in the meantime. Round 

 Basha Kassa's little tent all the local headmen and their 

 attendants were seated, discussing in awestruck tones 

 what would befall a man who thus defied Ras Wurgay 

 and refused to continue on his journey, and how they 

 personally would be affected by the matter. 



Later on a merchant from Gondar, named Falukka, 

 who had a house here, came to visit me. He proved a 

 friend in need, as he could read and write Amharic, had 

 travelled a lot about the country, and stood in no awe of 

 the local officials. He read Menelik's letter, which, he 

 said, might be construed as meaning that I was only to 

 shoot actually on the road and not off it. I then got 

 him to write a letter to Ras Mangasha at Gondar, asking 

 if I might shoot from Dungulbar ; with this I enclosed 



