AGREEABLE TRAVELLING. 427 



would have induced Adam Burrah to have cut the 

 throat of this rascal, and if I had only nodded my 

 head, when this mode of relieving my care was 

 proposed, it would have been done the same night. 

 I preferred disappointing Adam Burrah, to whom, 

 however, I was obliged to promise an additional 

 present on our arrival in Shoa, to prevent such a 

 sanguinary proof of his regard being done gratis. 



Several times our road was crossed by swamps of 

 small extent, that lay on each side of narrow and 

 shallow ditches. It was most unpleasant walking for 

 me, as my boots were quite worn out, and had 

 large, gaping splits in the upper leather, which 

 admitted the mud very freely. I would not ride, 

 because my mule could scarcely drag herself 

 through the soft, sticky clay. The broad foot of 

 the camel was better suited for such situations, 

 although these animals could not get on very well, 

 and were continually slipping. On such occasions, 

 one of their long legs, or sometimes both, slide 

 outside with such a painfully prolonged sweep, that 

 it is a most astonishing thing that dislocation does 

 not sometimes take place. 



I trudged along, in a very cross humour, my 

 bare-legged companions laughing all the while, and 

 sometimes lending me a hand, when I got stuck 

 altogether in the mud. I, at length, began to be 

 amused myself, as I thought of the will-o'-the-wisp 

 that was leading me through such scenes ; and 

 from a personal review of myself, I took on getting 



