36o A SPORTING TRIP THROUGH ABYSSINIA chap. 



bay, between sheer cliffs, we came upon a troop of 

 nearly three hundred baboons ; they were busily tearing 

 up and eating the grass or something that grew amongst 

 it. At first they paid but little attention to us, merely 

 moving a little higher up, but when they saw me begin 

 to climb towards them, there was great commotion, and 

 all took to the rocks. I had a good opportunity of 

 noticing the despotic way in which the old males rule the 

 others : I saw one old fellow seize an apparently un- 

 offending youngster, cuff it violently, and then deliber- 

 ately chuck it over the cliff. As I approached, the whole 

 troop began to move across the face of the cliff; at one 

 place there was a gap in the ledge they were following, 

 and while each individual scrambled slowly across, I 

 picked off two of the largest males with splendid coats, 

 but unfortunately in their fall the skulls of both were 

 smashed to fragments. When we began to descend, we 

 found ourselves enveloped in thick clouds, and very nearly 

 missed the tiny patch of level ground where the tents 

 had been pitched, among which the mules were being 

 kept huddled together for fear of losing them in the mist. 

 After a long delay, strange noises came through the 

 clouds below us, and slowly a straggling line of odd- 

 looking figures, half-clad in shaggy skins, with ex- 

 aggerated night-caps on their heads, but with bare legs 

 and feet, appeared as it were from the depths of the earth, 

 bearing logs of wood, some bread, milk, and barley. The 

 natives of Simien during the colder months wear one or 

 two goat-skins across their shoulders, and a cap made of 

 the same anim.il's hair, woven in patterns similar to those 

 the Baltis in Little Tibet use for their sleeping mats ; 



