384 A SPORTING TRIP THROUGH ABYSSINIA chap. 



to keep us as far from their particular villages as possible. 

 We were now skirting the base of Ambara, one of 

 the solitary, flat-topped mountains formerly used as 

 prisons for political offenders, and such' as the ruler 

 for the time being thought it best — for his and their 

 country's good — to keep in safe custody. We marched 

 for four and a half hours, passing many villages 

 separated by broad belts of thick thorn-jungle, but not a 

 duiker or any other sort of beast did we see ; in fact, 

 since we left Simien, the two troops of monkeys and 

 the three crocodiles were the only "game" we met. 



Next morning, a little over three hours brought us 

 to the picturesque red sandstone hills on which Abbi 

 Addi, the capital of Tembien, is situated. Then I knew 

 that we had come far out of our way to the south 

 of Adua, our destination. Just behind camp was an 

 irregular line of red cliffs, their face broken by a number 

 of caves ; and near them stood the ruins of a church, 

 which the Mohammedan inhabitants of the villages round 

 had asked Menelik's leave to dismantle, as its presence 

 was obno.\ious to them. On this day, a thunderstorm 

 burst over us before the usual time, and the tent-pegs 

 tlew from the sandy soil in every direction, all of us 

 getting wet before the flapping canvas could be secured. 

 As soon as the weather cleared, I received the visit of 

 Kanyazmatch Gubberu, the acting ruler of Tembien 

 during the absence of his superior, who had gone to 

 meet the new governor of Tigre. He was a native of 

 Tigre, a man of fine olive complexion and clear-cut, 

 intelligent features, but with a mouth suggestive of 

 temper. At the outset he was evidently distrustful of 



