786 THEOUGH SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA TO THE SUDAN. 



thick forest and magnificent palm trees, which separates Uba from 

 Gofa. The Zenti runs northward into the Omo. 



Every day more of my mules and horses became afflicted with the 

 disease, and many of them died. The representative of Dejasmach 

 Lamma, the governor of Gofa, who was at the time in Adis Abeba, 

 sent me native porters, who helped me to carry the baggage up the 

 mountains of Gofa, which reach an altitude of about 10,000 feet above 

 sea level. At a place call Gadat, near the capital Jala, I stopped for two 

 weeks, and, in order to master the disease, isolated the sick animals 

 and divided the others into small bodies. After that time 1 had saved 

 al)out 25 out of 60. Meanwhile I had sent m}^ Abyssinian headman with 

 a small escort to Adis Abeba, with orders to buy new nudes and horses 

 there, and to come back as quickly as possible to Anderacha, the cap- 

 ital of Kafl'a, which I had designed to be my starting point for the 

 utdvnown lands in the west. From Gofa to Kafl'a the expedition w^ent 

 on very slowly, because I was now dependent on native porters, whom 

 I got by order of the Abyssinian governors from the smaller native 

 chiefs, and who had to be changed when we came into the land of 

 another chief, which was always after one or two days' short march. 

 Crossing the rather bare valley of the Ergino, another afiluent of the 

 Omo, I came to the country of Doko. 



The Uba and the Gofa, through whose countries I had passed, until 

 here belong to the Wallamo tribe. The Doko are typical Bantu, and 

 seem to be nearly related to the Garduila. The men walk about abso- 

 lutel}^ naked, the women wear an apron made of cut banana leaves. 

 They know how to weave cotton stufl's well, but seldom use them 

 themselves. North of Doko is the country of Malo, inhabited by a 

 Wallamo tribe. Hence, 1 descended to the Omo, which I managed to 

 cross within two da3's, on rafts resting on inflated goatskins. In this 

 region there is not much forest on the shores of the river, as the banks 

 consist of gigantic gneiss blocks. At no place in Africa have I seen 

 so many hippos as here. Walking down the banks I saw in half an 

 hour more than a hundred heads appearing above the surface of the 

 water. Every stony bank in the river was occupied by a family of 

 these clumsy animals. They are not hunted here, and therefore not 

 at all shy. 



North of the river lies the country of Kosha. Kosha and the neigh 

 boring Konta are the only provinces 1 found in Abyssinia wdiere the 

 slave trade is in full swing. At the large weekly markets you can see — 

 besides cotton, coffee, flour, goats, and sheep — children sold in small or 

 large lots. It is probable that this trade is due to the great famine 

 by which these countries have been stricken during the last two or 

 three years, and the children all seem to be quite happy at becoming the 

 property of richer men, with Avhom they will be better fed. The 

 houses of the Kosha chiefs are very interesting. They are long barn- 



