264 A SPORTING TRIP THROUGH ABYSSINIA chap. 



by whom he was kept a prisoner, but after some time 

 released, on promising to reform. Since then he had 

 been acting as a petty officer among Ras Wurgay's 

 troops, and it was owing- to his intimate knowledge of 

 the ground, as well as of every inhabitant, whether 



Basha Kassa and some of my Followers. 



law-abiding or otherwise, that he had been selected as 

 my guide. 



Next morning we were off at dawn, travelling with 

 the rising sun behind us, till we found the buffalo tracks 

 already reported. No less than twenty-six men were 

 with me, and as each of the twenty-six thought that he 

 ought to be in front, and acted up to his opinion, there 

 did not seem much chance of my seeing the game. 

 Although AH judged the tracks to be at least two days 

 old, I decided to follow them. They took us south 

 through thick bush into a bamboo-brake, where the herd 

 had spent the night, then through more bush to the 

 bed of the Balarse, the banks of which were covered 

 with thick jungle. After wandering about feeding for 



