788 THKOUGH SOUTHERN ETHIOI'IA TO THE SUDAN. 



terril)lG time beo-an. Nearly all the Abyssiiiiaiis, and also my 13 

 Somal, .stnu-k and refused to proceed to the iiidviiown countries 

 westward, where the}' said they would all be killed. They went to 

 the Abyssinian chiefs swearing* that they had only l)een enoaoed up to 

 Kaffa. The small Al)yssinian chiefs (Has Wolde (ireoro-is and his chief 

 officials being- in Adis Abel)a at the time) sympathized with my men, 

 as, in spite of the Emperor's permission, they were afraid to let a 

 European go out of the country. Much patience, much money, and 

 many promises were needed to persuade m^^ Somal and al)out half of 

 my Abyssinians to remain Avith me. As 1 was, therefore, in want of 

 new men and also new mules and horses, I had to make an excursion 

 to Jinnna, adjoining Kalfa on the northeast, and separated from it by 

 the river Gojeb, an affluent of the Omo. Api)roaching the Northern 

 Kella of Katfa, 1 found everywhere evidences of the last war with the 

 Abyssinians. Near the road I saw strong fences and deep ditches, 

 while the forest was virtually honeycombed with holes about 10 to 12 

 feet deep, with a pointed stake in the middle of each. 



Jimma is almost the richest land of A])3^ssinia. The inha])itants are 

 pure, well-])uilt (jalla. They are nearly all Mohammedans, as well as 

 their king, Al^a Jifar, a very clever man, who at the right time sub- 

 mitted to Menelik, and therefore retained his country. King Aba 

 Jifar. who helped the A))yssinians very nmch in conquering Katfa, is 

 now in great favor with the Emperoi'. The capital of Jinnna is Jiren, 

 the most important market place in Abyssinia. I estimate that the 

 Thursday market in Jiren is visited l»y nearly twenty to thirty thou- 

 sand persons. From all the countries bordering the river Omo, and 

 even from Adis Abeba, and other lands in southern Ethiopia, the 

 Nagadis or Abyssinian merchants meet in Jiren to sell their wares. 

 All the products of southern Ethiopia are sold there, in many double 

 rows of stalls about a third of a mile long. 



Having enlisted 20 strong men and bought some dozens of mules 

 and horses, I returned to Anderacha and started thence in the first 

 week of April. Gimirra, which we reac^hed first, is a tributary land 

 to Katfa; the people seem to be Kaficho, perhaps with a mixture of 

 Nilotic blood. Their old king, Chotatu, and some of his companions 

 are nearly 6^ feet high. They wear the national dress of Katfa, 

 already described. The men often wear necklaces, with a string of 

 Hyrax teeth hanging down their chest. In Gimirra is the last Ab3^s- 

 sinian post. The people of Binesho, which we passed next, are in 

 friendly relations Avith the Abyssinians, who will probably soon take 

 possession of the countrj'^; the people of Shekho, which lies west of 

 Binesho, are only another branch of the Binesho, but are absokitely 

 independent, and the land is often plundered by Abyssinian razzias. 



The Binesho and the Shekho are of the Bantu stock, but are, per- 

 haps, the most interesting tribes I ever met. Their language is hard 



