CAMP AT JIGGIGA 
137 
everything through and through. Oh, how utterly 
detestable rain is when living in a tent ! Damp clothes, 
rusty rifles, damp blankets, and a cold supper. I awoke 
after a very damp night to And it still raining. It was also 
extremely cold, and I sat in my tent enveloped in a ‘sweater’ 
and great-coat, feeling very miserable. 
I kept an eye outside the zareba, where, the night 
before, I had seen two very daring jackals. Presently one 
walked slowly round the zareba. Picking up a rifle, I 
knocked him right over, but after giving vent to a series of 
sharp barks he made off, hotly pursued by half a dozen 
Somalis armed with spears. But he finally ran to earth 
before they could stop him. 
Soon after this the sheep and goats ran bleating into the 
zareba, closely followed by three red-and- white dogs. I 
was in the act of seizing my rifle, when my headman 
shouted that they belonged to the Abyssinians. They were 
very like Chinese ‘ chow-chow ’ dogs, or collies, with long, 
bushy tails curled over their backs. We drove them off at 
the point of the spear, fearing they would make off with 
what little meat we had hanging up in camp. On sighting 
the dogs, the donkeys cocked their tails and ‘ did a guy,’ and 
brayed as if their hearts would break. 
The next little bit of excitement on this otherwise dull 
day was the arrival of the headman of the Abyssinians 
with his escort again, bearing as a present for me a very fat 
sheep and several gallons of fresh cow’s milk. I sat him 
down in my only chair, arid gave him half a bottle of ‘ fizz,’ 
as the poor old chap was nearly wet through with his walk 
from the plain. He begged for some quinine for another 
headman who had that day arrived from Harrar sick. I gave 
him three dozen pills and some mustard plasters. After a 
long parley through interpreters, he shook hands, said 
‘ Salaam,’ and departed, much to the delight of my wretched 
sentries, who had been standing outside my tent in the 
rain ‘ at the shoulder ’ during the whole of the interview. 
The temperature at noon was 69° Fahrenheit. All the 
