226 A SPORTING TRIP THROUGH ABYSSINIA chai'' 



concerning the size of England, and how many days 

 journey it was from end to end. This led to my de- 

 scribing steamers and railways, the size of London and 

 its houses, and the difference between England and the 

 British Empire My .256 pleased him very much ; the 

 telescopic sight eliciting many ejaculations of wonder 

 and approval. He gave me some excellent old tej to 

 drink, and, after a visit of nearly two hours, I returned 

 to camp. 



Soon after, a host of slaves and servants came down 

 the hill, leading a fat bullock and carrying provisions of 

 all sorts for man and beast, including eggs and fowls, 

 five hundred cakes of bread, both wheat and teff [i.e. 

 white and brown), messes of chilli, ten great gombos of 

 tej, besides sacks of barley, and faggots of wood. Then 

 came the usual difficulty, as to who was to cut the throat 

 of the bullock, for if one of the Christians dispatched it 

 in the orthodox fashion (viz. in the name of the blessed 

 Trinity, with the beast's head turned towards Jerusalem), 

 then neither the Somalis nor several of the others who 

 called themselves Mohammedans would touch it ; while 

 if the latter hallaled it, with its head towards Mecca, 

 and murmuring Bismillah, the Christian would have 

 none of it. I settled the matter by taking a poll, and, 

 finding that the Christians had the majority, gave them 

 the bullock, while the followers of the Prophet had to 

 content themselves with a couple of sheep. The beasts 

 were immediately slaughtered and cut up. One or two 

 of the men I saw eating portions of the meat raw, but 

 all the others roasted or stewed theirs. All night the 

 feast went on, and it was well I did not intend marching 



