// CURlO-I-)EAI.ER 



biittle of Adiia, where th(; Italians were so disastrously 

 defeated. I {xiid several \'isits tn his house, and 

 jjersuaded him to let me take his ph()too;raph in 

 Abyssinian military dress, wearing- the cloak which 

 denoted his rank of Balambaras (commandant of a 

 fortress), and on his let't wrist 

 the silver-gilt armlet presented 

 to him for valour in the field. . '- 



Although the best part of his 

 stock had been bought up by 

 the various Europeans on thc;ir 

 way home, he still had a num- 

 ber of interesting curios left. 

 Amongst other things I bought 

 several Galla weapons and orna- 

 ments, a curious shield, much 

 larger and of a ditterent patttn'n 

 to the Shoan buckler, ivory 

 bracelets weighing several 

 pounds each, a straight, double-edged sword with an 

 ivory handle, like an ancient Roman gladius, a spear 

 with a very long and tapering head, hair-pins and combs 

 of bone, and wooden pillows differing in shape from 

 these used by the Somalis. He had also several illus- 

 trated books, but as these were not very good specimens, 

 and I was told I should be able to get much better 

 copies in Gondar and Tigre, I did not buy an\-. This 

 I much regretted afterwards as, although I tried my 

 utmost throughout my journey, I did not succeed in 

 finding a single illustrated book for sale. Once I was 

 told of one, and waited some hours while it was being 



Balambaras Giorgis. 



