PA V OFF MY MEN 



437 



go to the coast ; in fact I had to leave some unfinished 

 till next morning, when everything was ready by 6 a.m. 

 to go down to the rail at Sahati, loaded on two 

 transport - waggons kindly lent me by the military 

 authorities. After I had seen these away, and three of 

 my Somalis with them, at 7.30, I spent the rest of the 

 morning writing letters, including one to the Emperor, 

 to thank him for the courtesy shown me in his country. 

 I also wrote out chits for my men, and settled up their 

 accounts. In the afternoon I heard that Mr. Beru, 

 interpreter to the British Agency at Adis Ababa, had 

 arrived, and went to see him at the house of his 

 sister, who is official Amharic interpreter to the Italian 

 Government. We had a long talk, he telling me the 

 news since I left, how Mr. Baird had gone to Khartoum, 

 how my former companions had abandoned the journey 

 to Fashoda and turned south to Mombassa, and about 

 the plague that had been raging at Aden. Next 

 morning I paid off my men early, saw the tents and 

 camp -kit handed over to their new owners, and the 

 few personal belongings that I had kept with me 

 carried up to the posting-station. When all was done, 

 I felt a little saddened by the thought that another 

 chapter of my nomad life was closed, and that soon its 

 mixture of freedom and responsibility, its joys and 

 hardships, would have to be exchanged once more for 

 prosaic civilisation with its trivial round of duties, 

 pleasures, and annoyances. 



Under Mr. Beru's guidance I set out for a tour of 

 Asmara, which seems destined to be a large and im- 

 portant place in the near future. My camp, as I have 



