52 SPORT AND TRAVEL PAPERS 



a good thick layer of butter by way of pomade completes the 

 charming tout ensemble. The trays upon which the bread is 

 brought are well worth looking at. They are made of the very 

 finest basket-work, plaited in various colours, some in very 

 pretty patterns. Water vessels are made of the same material, 

 rendered watertight by means of the juice of the eucalyptus, or 

 perhaps even by a mixture of cow-dung and clay. 



Soldiers are lolling about everywhere, and a sentry paces up 

 and down in front of a guard-tent in the market-place in his 

 neat white uniform, cotton trousers and tunic with brass buttons 

 and red tarboosh, contrasting most vividly with his jet black 

 face and hands. These soldiers seemed to take the greatest 

 pride in their arms, which are always kept as bright as it is 

 possible to make them. Some bashi-bazouks were not so neat, 

 but swaggered about with their belts full of cartridges, alto- 

 gether not a very pleasant-looking crew. All the water has 

 to be brought from wells in the river-bed, a very long way 

 down, and strings of little boys and girls are constantly on 

 the road frightfully overloaded with ghirbas, which, often sur- 

 passing in weight that of the carriers themselves, are borne on 

 the back supported by a rope across the forehead. It always 

 seemed to us downright cruelty, for the road was up-hill and in 

 parts very steep ; still they struggled on cheerfully and full of 

 chaff and fun. 



The tobacco grown on this plateau is cut in September, 

 having been planted out from beds in June ; now the leaves were 

 being dried under long sheds. It is of fair quality, and owned 

 by the Greeks, in whose hands the whole trade is. The shops 

 and stores of groceries, wine, &c., here, as in other towns in 

 Nubia and along the Bed Sea, are nearly all kept by Greeks, 

 who, commencing in a very small way, soon extend their busi- 

 ness and amass a good deal of money. The Abyssinians, being 

 Christians, have no religious scruples about the use of intoxi- 

 cating liquors, nor do all Mohammedans always adhere strictly 

 to water, as we saw illustrated by two of our camel boys, who 

 one evening got very drunk and quarrelsome, drew their knives, 

 and, but for the prompt interference of our dragoman, would 

 have calmed each other's excitement by a little useful blood- 

 letting. However, that operation not having been allowed, the 

 next best remedy seemed to be the prison, so we had the culprits 



