290 A SPORTING TRIP THROUGH ABYSSINIA chap. 



him back up the path to the Abyssinian plateau. The 

 elephant-calf, the cause of all the trouble, had also been 

 brought back with them, but had died on the third day. 

 They had, foolishly, used none of the antiseptics I had 

 sent, and as the rancid butter had been the only dress- 

 ing, the state of the wound may be imagined. I asked 

 why they had not taken him to the Italian frontier and 

 got a doctor to attend him, but they said that was quite 

 out of the question, for he might be poisoned or sus- 

 pected of having dealings with their former enemy. 

 I then persuaded him to go to Adis Ababa, saying he 

 would never get well if the wound were not properly 

 attended to. I got them to take off the filthy, rancid 

 dressings, when I found the leg in a terrible state ; a 

 European would, I believe, have long before died of 

 blood-poisoning. They were very averse to letting me 

 dress it, for fear it should heal up before the bullet was 

 extracted, but I assured them they need be under no 

 apprehension of its doing that just yet. Before I left, I 

 managed to get the wound a good deal cleaner, and saw 

 the rancid butter cloths burnt ; then, obtaining a promise 

 from him that he would leave on the morrow for the 

 south, I returned to camp after an absence of two hours. 

 Two sheep, bread, etc., were brought to me later on, 

 likewise a present for Basha Kassa, who felt himself 

 deeply insulted at not having been admitted to the 

 interview in the morning. Later still, a man insisted 

 on presenting me with a fat bullock, and in the end I 

 had to accept it and give him twenty dollars in return — 

 a form of donation which I hoped might not be too 

 frequently repeated. 



