272 A SPORTING TRIP THROUGH ABYSSINIA chap, xxiv 



cross and his hand. It seemed he had known Basha 

 Kassa from childhood. He told me it was thirty-three 

 years since the village was first looted by the outlaws, 

 and although it had been rebuilt several times, no sooner 

 did it show some signs of prosperity, than they came 

 down and robbed it afresh. He said he had hoped to see 

 the power of the outlaws broken and the country once 

 more cultivated under a settled government before he 

 died, but he was an old man now, and he feared it was 

 not to be. He then asked me about the Soudan and 

 how we had defeated the Dervishes, and if the country 

 was now safe and the people could till the soil. After 

 nearly three hours' chat we bade the old man good-bye, 

 and continued our way over the hills, where we saw two 

 bushbuck ; but although I hunted about after them for 

 some time, I could not get a shot. We reached camp 

 at Degbassa in Atchefar at tea-time, having passed 

 through quite a stretch of cultivated ground. I was 

 told that the villagers here paid heavy blackmail to the 

 outlaws to be left in peace. 



