/n/AEP VILLAGES 



389 



and mauve blossom, which made a pretty contrast to 

 the green of the other trees. The caravan of nagadis 

 came in later and camped close by- an attention we 

 could have dispensc^d with, as they and their beasts 

 kept up such a din all night that sleej) was impossible. 



Th<; next march, we hoped, would tak(t us to Adua, 

 which la\' among the cone-shaped, rocky hills in the 

 distance ; but it was all up-hill, [last numerous ruined 

 villages, and when, after five and a half hours' toll, we 

 learnt that it was still another hour off, 1 decided to halt. 

 Camp was pitched b('sid(> two or three deep pools of 

 water, into one of which a mule managed to timible, and 

 it took sixteen of us to haul him out again, the banks 

 being so steep and slippery. Three of my four Somalis 

 were sick, and several of the mules had sore backs 

 owing to the hilly roads, so 1 had plenty of doctoring 

 to do. 



