250 
MARCH TO OBBO . 
[chap. IX. 
brunt of it should I remain behind alone. Without 
their presence I should be unable to procure porters, 
as the natives would not accompany my feeble party, 
especially as I could offer them no other payment but 
beads or copper. The rains had commenced within 
the last few days at Latooka, and on the route towards 
Obbo we should encounter continual storms. We were 
to march by a long and circuitous route to avoid the 
rocky passes that would be dangerous in the present 
spirit of the country, especially as the traders possessed 
large herds that must accompany the party. They 
allowed five days’ march for the distance to Obbo by 
the intended route. This was not an alluring pro¬ 
gramme for the week’s entertainment, with my wife 
almost in a dying state! However, I set to work, and 
fitted an angarep with arched hoops from end to end, 
so as to form a frame like the cap of a wagon. This 
I covered with two waterproof Abyssinian tanned 
hides securely strapped; and lashing two long poles 
parallel to the sides of the angarep, I formed an excel¬ 
lent palanquin. In this she was assisted, and we 
started on 23d June. 
Our joint parties consisted of about three hundred 
men. On arrival at the base of the mountains, instead 
of crossing them as before, we skirted the chain to 
the north-west, and then rounding through a natural 
gap, we ascended gradually towards the south. 
On the fifth day we were, at 5 p.m., within twelve 
miles of Obbo, and we bivouacked on a huge mass of 
granite on the side of a hill, forming an inclining 
plateau of about an acre. The natives who accom¬ 
panied us were immediately ordered to clear the grass 
from the interstices of the rocks, and hardly had they 
commenced when a slight disturbance, among some 
loose stones that were being removed, showed that 
something was wrong. In an instant lances and stones 
were hurled at some object by the crowd, and upon 
my arrival I saw the most horrid monster that I have 
ever experienced. I immediately pinned his head to 
