284 THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA  cHap. 
of two stars on May 7 and 11 respectively, giving absolute 
longitudes taken quite independently, but differing by only half 
a mile. The position of the Mission enclosure, when reduced 
to that of the Palace, gives lat. 9° 0’ 0’-4 north, and long. 
38° 44’ 26” east. 
This result was fairly well confirmed by Marchand’s expedition 
several months later, as (according to the Royal Geographical 
Society’s Journal) his Palace position, fixed by Capt. Germain 
and Sub-Lieut. Dyé, by two similar star occultations, is lat. 
9° 0’ +” north, and long. 38° 42’ 50” east, thus differing from 
mine by only a hundred yards in latitude and a mile and a half 
in longitude. Previous maps had shown Addis-Abbaba some 
thirteen miles from either position. 
The Mission arrived again at Zeila on 14th June 1897, 
having first landed there on 18th March; in the interval it had 
completed its business and covered 926 miles of route. Though 
it had been arranged at Harar that a rapid march should be 
made to Zeila, I wanted to improve on this by two days, so as 
to get spare time for astronomical work at Zeila, and so got 
permission to take on the first lot of transport animals avail- 
able, with all the spare baggage. Leaving Harar at 8.30 a.m. on 
4th June, I reached Dagaha-Dilal by night, while the remainder 
of the Mission, having got its transport, left Harar a few hours 
after me and arrived at the same camp. I accordingly saw that 
in order to get the extra two days, it would be necessary to 
make a race for it. Leaving Dagaha-Dilal before dawn on 5th 
June, I reached Zeila at daybreak on the 12th, having done the 
184 miles in seven days; the transport being donkeys as far as 
Gildessa and camels over the plains. The time taken from 
Harar to Zeila was a little under eight days—not bad going, for 
we had taken less than our share of camels at Gildessa, which, 
in consequence, were slightly overloaded. The main caravan 
arrived at Zeila at dawn on the 14th. I only once remember 
doing better time, when we marched 120 miles in four days, 
between Zeila and Berbera in 1886. This timing is valuable 
as showing what is about the limit of endurance of the Somdali 
baggage camel. This rapid march from Harar was entirely due 
to the willing help of the Somalis, who wanted to get home, and 
whose ideas in this respect thus agreed with my own. We 
worked to the usual hours which natives keep when doing forced 
marches, namely, from 2 a.m. to 9 a.M., and again from 2 P.M. 
to 5pm. I slept generally at the roadside in snatches, being 
