CHAPTER XXXVI 



I take leave of the Nebrid — Discover an inscribed stone — A previous 

 visitor and his reception — Return to Adua — Embroidery — I am 

 allowed to leave — A sign of mourning — The valley of the Mareb — 

 Ant-bears and their ways — A battlefield — An attempt to dig out an 

 ant-bear — A flooded camp — A night vigil — An ant-bear's rendezvous 

 — 1 wound one — An arduous dig rewarded. 



In the evening, the Nebrid sent a present of a sheep, 

 two hundred cakes of bread, a gombo of tej, four of tala, 

 ghee, chillies, milk, and wood, so we all did well. It 

 proved a chilly night, and I was glad to turn out at day- 

 break and take a sharp walk to the church, where I 

 sketched the conventional pattern on one of the old 

 carved bits of stone built into the walls. I then went to 

 bid good-bye to the Nebrid and to thank him for his 

 courtesy, but he had just gone to service ; he, however, 

 received my messenger and sent his blessing in return. 

 While waiting, I found near the rock-terrace under the 

 eastern hill a large stone, beneath which some beast had 

 burrowed ; an examination showed it bore an inscription 

 apparently still in good order, which, however, I had not 

 time even to attempt to copy. My short visit to Axum 

 was at an end, and I left the place with regret ; but it 



