ABYSSINIAN CUNNING. 221 



of his companions brought into the house in three 

 large jars, a girl following with the ahmulah, 

 which, I expect, she had changed for one of her 

 mother's smallest, and after spanning the salt-piece 

 before my lace, with a very lackadaisical look, inti- 

 mated that it was a very thin one, and she hoped I 

 w r ould give her a larger one instead. Walderheros, 

 who was just as cunning as any of his countrymen 

 or women either, always kept the ahmulahs he 

 received in exchange for dollars in two bags, one 

 containing the larger, the other the smaller ones. 

 With the former, sheep and tobacco were pur- 

 chased, as for these commodities none but the best 

 ahmulahs are taken, whilst the latter were generally 

 given in return for services performed by any of 

 the neighbours, and which I paid for, according to 

 Walderheros's idea, far too liberally. In the 

 present case, on my telling the girl she should 

 choose for herself, down came the bag containing 

 the little ones, the trick of which I was not then 

 aware, and after a long search, none pleasing the 

 lady, she withdrew, keeping the one which had 

 been originally given to her. 



One of the jars being now placed upon a low 

 chair that had come to me as a memolagee for 

 some medicine, a long mekanet, or girdle, from the 

 loins of one of the party was carefully wrapped 

 around the wide circular mouth of the jar, after 

 the dirty dry seal of cow-dung and clay had been 

 removed. Over the lip of the vessel, slowly strained 



