424 A SPORTING TRIP THROUGH ABYSSINIA ciiai>. 



A six-hours' march brought us to the banks of the 

 Mareb, with fine trees and dense bush growing right 

 down to the edge of its muddy waters, which, as we 

 forded it, came just over the knee. An hour later we 

 passed Sadacar, the scene of King John's defeat of the 

 Egyptian expedition in 1875. Here we found the first 

 sign of Itahan occupation in the form of a soHtary native 

 sentry, posted from Gundet, two miles off, where there is 

 a small, irregular force. We soon after camped at the 

 lower end of the Gundet valley, having safely accom- 

 plished over 20 miles, through a country with an 

 especially bad reputation, such as many frontier-regions 

 have. I had noticed a few ant-bear earths on this side 

 of the river, and determined to have a try to dig one 

 out ; so next morning I sent to the nearest village for 

 a guide to show us the best place. Although I had 

 promised a couple of dollars reward in case of success, 

 the only reply I got was: "Go the other side of the 

 Mareb, none this side," so we started off on our own 

 account. I soon picked up a fresh track in the moist 

 ground, and, in rather under an hour, traced it to a 

 new burrow, in which we could hear the beast moving. 

 Then we started digging, our only tools consisting of a 

 small ploughshare at the end of a stake, another pole 

 with a pointed end, two axes, two wooden bowls, and a 

 tin bucket. Enlarging the burrow was no good, for we 

 could hear the beast steadily burrowing ahead; one cross 

 trench we failed to sink quickly enough, another he 

 avoided by turning- off at right angles, a third one we 

 abandoned, as it was evident the animal could outdig us 

 easily. An attempt to smoke him out was a failure, as 



