ch. v RECONNAISSANCE OF ABYSSINIAN BORDER 139 
notice the non-arrival of our caravan, which had been only a 
few hundred yards behind us during the march ; at length 
missing the caravan, and inquiring the reason of delay, we 
were told that the men and camels had been seized by the 
Abyssinian soldiers who garrison the place, and taken into the 
stone zerlba ; they had been made to unload inside, and a sentry 
put over the entrance to stop them from coming out again. 
This would not do ! So running to the spot, we entered a 
small house on the right side of the entrance ; and there we 
found, seated on carpets, writing, one Dago, who was pointed 
out to us as the Abyssinian in authority over the town. We 
demanded an explanation, and Dago said that he had seen our 
caravan coming, and had decided that this would be a suitable 
spot for our camp, and he had therefore ordered our men to un- 
load the camels. 
We now strolled in to look at the place. Outside the zeriba 
entrance, to the left, was a barrack ; and on a wheezy bugle 
sounding, about twenty soldiers, in white Soudanese uniforms and 
armed with Eemingtons, ran out and fell into line. Another 
bugle, and they presented arms in a rather fantastic fashion. 
They were then dismissed, and stood loafing about outside the 
entrance. 
We looked into the stone square and found our camels lying 
unloaded, our kit and boxes scattered about, where they had 
been thrown from the camels on to the ground. Our men were 
standing about, looking sullen and sheepish. The zeriba was 
quite bare, without tree or shelter, exposed to a powerful mid- 
day sun, and the ground was caked with camels’ dung. We were 
told that this camping-ground had been chosen for our advantage, 
that we should be received with honour, and that water and 
camels’ milk would be brought for the use of the caravan. We 
thanked D&go for his kind intentions, but said we preferred 
camping under the trees by the river. 
Dago and his friends made a thousand objections, and the 
native officer in charge crowded the soldiers in front of the stone 
enclosure. Our caravan had meanwhile been quietly loading 
up the kit by our orders, but upon the camelmen trying to lead 
out the camels, they were stopped by the soldiers, each of whom 
carried his rifle loaded, with a few more cartridges held between 
the fingers of the left hand, taken out of the belt ready for instant 
use. One big Soudanese soldier stood across the entrance with 
his rifle at the “port.” 
