78 PERSON AL NARBATirE. 



The road led round the western shore of the lake to 

 the southern end, and then traversed a broad, fertile 

 plain of black soil, in which stood the camping-ground 

 of Masagita. On the lake-shore were an unusual number 

 of swallows and martins, amongst which the peculiar black 

 Psalidoprogne pristoptera was conspicuous. Leaving 

 the plain of Masagita, our road ascended a wild, narrow 

 valley, at the entrance of which we passed a fortified 

 village, surrounded by a strong wooden palisade. This 

 border-land between Amhara and Galla, Christian and 

 Mahommedan, is one of the most disturbed parts of 

 Abyssinia, and more robberies and murders of camp- 

 followers took place about Ashangi than in any other 

 portion of the route. From the valley the road ascended 

 to a stretch of flat ground at about 10,000 feet, the 

 summit of the Wombarat pass. Here I was caught in 

 a violent hailstorm, and had to find the best shelter I 

 could behind a rock. The rain, after about an hour, 

 abated, and I rode down to Lat, the path being so slip- 

 pery that my horse came down with me more than once. 

 At Lat I put up with a friend, Captain Smith of the 

 Commissariat, but the rain recommenced, and in the 

 middle of the night a violent gust of wind blew down 

 our abode, a light eingle beU tent. This was pleasant ; 

 we were of course sleeping on the ground, and were 

 soon wet. Bell tents are very useful in some respects ; 

 they keep out rain very fairly as long as they stand ; but 

 in a high Avind they are about the most useless invention 

 conceivable. The little pegs used have no hold, and pegs 

 of proper length are too heavy to be carried, as the tent 



