176 A SPORTING TRIP THROUGH ABYSSINIA chap. 



Stooping low you can enter. To make a tent to hold six 

 persons, 24 yards of material are required. On the 

 march the men carry the poles, while the tent, spread 

 over the light and simple but rather inefficient Abyssinian 

 pack-saddles, makes a useful additional protection. 

 These pack-saddles rest on two or three untanned but 

 softened sheep-skins. The actual saddle consists of a 

 double leather mat, which is sewn across to form pockets, 

 attached to a V-shaped piece of wood. The pockets are 

 stuffed with fine grass, the saddle is strapped on, and the 

 mule is ready for the load. This is divided into two 

 packages slung together by a softened raw hide-rope, and 

 another, drawn tightly round the mule and load, is 

 supposed to keep beast and burden together, but that 

 greatly depends on the mule ! While the men were busy 

 with these, I was making a rough gun-rack for Baird to 

 keep his rifles in. 



On 25th February, the last of the 1500 dollars came 

 in, and it was arranged that I should start on the 

 Tuesday morning. The dollars were packed in rolls of 

 1 20 and distributed among all the locked and screwed- 

 down boxes, a plan I always follow, for, if you keep all 

 your treasure together, a theft or an accident might leave 

 you penniless in the jungle. These dollars all bear the 

 head of Maria Theresa of Austria and the date 17S0, 

 although they are coined up to the present day. They 

 are exported to Africa, where, north of the equator, they 

 are current over a great stretch of country from the east, 

 through the Soudan, to the west, in much the same way 

 as the Mexican dollar circulates in Eastern Asia. The 

 natives are very particular about the look of these coins ; 



