2 SPORT IN THE EASTERN SUDAN 



ing rivalry between the Shoan and the Tigrean dy- 

 nasties in that empire. The present seat of govern- 

 ment in Abyssinia, Adis Abeba, is the metropolis of 

 the Shoan kings, who under Menelik have held un- 

 disputed sway over the entire empire since the battle 

 of Adowa. 



The part of Abyssinia which I wished to visit, 

 however, namely Walkait, is altogether under 

 Tigrean influence, and it is easy to understand that 

 in the present condition of affairs a Shoan passport 

 might prove the worst of introductions into Tigrean 

 territory. However, there is a second cause which 

 is likely to prove a permanent obstacle to travellers 

 who desire to enter Abyssinia from the Sudanese 

 border, namely, the fact that from immemorial time 

 this borderland has been the scene of continual war- 

 fare, and is still populated on the Abyssinian side by 

 all the bad characters who find even the mild re- 

 straints of their own civilisation too irksome. Sir 

 Samuel Baker dwells at great length upon this aspect 

 of affairs, and so late as 1900, Major Powell Cotton, 

 under the direct protection of the Emperor of Abys- 

 sinia, visited the shooting-grounds through which I 

 proposed to travel. It is clear from his book, to 

 which I take this opportunity of acknowledging my 

 indebtedness, that the local authorities were most 

 apprehensive as to his safety, and finally furnished 

 him with such an escort as seriously prejudiced his 



