136 THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA cH.V 
At Sala Asseleh we met a few Esa Somalis who had just 
left the Abyssinian post of Gildessa, now only half a day’s march 
distant. They said that the Abyssinians were there in force. 
We could get no one to go forward to warn the garrison of our 
approach and peaceful intentions, the only native who knew the 
country being required as a survey guide. 
The next morning we made our final march into Gildessa. 
We started early, and winding up a watercourse entered low trap- 
hills, and after going four miles came in sight of an Abyssinian 
sentry-hut, perched on the top of a rocky hillock, at a place 
where the path emerges from the hills and makes an abrupt turn 
to the right into the Gildessa Gorge, down the side of which it 
runs towards Zeila. On the rocks around us was a large troop 
of dog-faced baboons; but there was no evidence, beyond the 
small hut, that we were approaching a town. 
Iwas marching a little ahead of the caravan, with my brother 
and five or six camelmen; and turning to the right, round a 
shoulder of the hill, we suddenly found, only one hundred paces 
in front of us, the town of Gildessa—a group of some hundred 
mat-huts, with a few thatched ones and stone houses. In the 
middle of the town isa stone zeriba sixty yards square, with 
walls ten feet high, having an opening five yards broad to allow 
of the ingress and egress of laden animals. 
The hut we noticed was the Abyssinian guard-house, on a 
mound overlooking the two converging roads from Harar and 
from Abésa to Gildessa, the latter being the road we had traversed. 
On the west of the guard-house was the bed of the Tug Gildessa, 
by the side of which wound the road to Zeila, and this channel 
now contained a stream of running water, which flowed to the 
east of the town. 
The village through which we walked was very dusty, and 
a swarm of people of mixed Eastern races blocked the way, 
bartering cloth, tobacco, coffee, and other articles of trade; and 
among the Abyssinians, Gallas, Somalis, and Hararis I observed 
several men of the black Souddnese type. We found the 
assembled crowd very entertaining, and although the people 
looked surprised at our sudden arrival they evinced no want of 
friendliness. We sat down under some large shady trees on the 
north side of the town, and were presently joined by the elders, 
who were followed by several villainous-looking retainers carry- 
ing Remington rifles and swords. 
Taken up with this interesting crowd, we did not at first 
