XXIII MORE OBSTRUCTION 255 



one who obstructed me, and that, no doubt, they would 

 be suitably rewarded ! Poor man, I really felt sorry for 

 him ; he was indeed between the devil and the deep 

 sea. If he disobeyed the Emperor's orders, punishment 

 was certain ; if he guided me to the shooting-ground, 

 before he heard from the Ras that he was to do so, it 

 was almost as sure, but, after my long wait, I was in no 

 mood for further delay. All this proved the truth of 

 the old Gojam proverb : " The dog knows not its master's 

 master." Nothing angers the Negus Negusti so much 

 as to find that his orders are obeyed only by his great 

 officers, and not by those under them. But this is just 

 what I found to be the case, and the further I got from 

 Shoa the worse it became, until finally, unless an order 

 had come down through every stage from the governor 

 of a province to the headman of the village I was in, I 

 could neither get supplies nor guides. If I came across 

 the Shum of a big district, he would do what he could 

 for me, but the headman under him knew that no com- 

 mands from the Dedjatch, or whoever was the Shum's 

 immediate superior, had come, and would disobey his 

 orders in consequence. If time were absolutely no 

 object, a traveller having obtained the Emperor's per- 

 mission would find no difficulty in getting about in any 

 part of Abyssinia. On entering a fresh country he 

 would merely have to camp at the first village, till 

 Menelik's letter had been taken to the governor, when 

 he would be conducted to him, treated with every 

 hospitality, and sent on his way, orders being issued 

 to all he might meet regarding the treatment he 

 was to receive. But if, on the other hand, he had not 



