THE ABYSSINIAN BORDERLAND.*

IT is impossible to lay down this book without a lively sense of regret. Captain Wellby was one of the many good men who have met their death in South Africa—more fortunate than most, be met it fighting, not by disease—and this post- humous publication is well fitted to make one realise the loss to the Service and to his friends. It is the record of a very remarkable journey, carried out in , great part through a country ravaged with predatory warfare, and carried out without firing a shot; and among all the records of travel that we remember to have read, it is perhaps the best tempered.

The Abyssinians, an uncivilised people flushed with victory over a European Power, are not naturally attractive to the stranger ; and every traveller who gets off the beaten track - finds only too frequent evidence of the barbarous use to which they have put the superiority afforded them by the introduc- tion of modern weapons into their country. But Captain Wellby seems to have had a talent for liking the people into whose society he was thrown, and he liked the Abyssinians,— though, as he expressly states, he was prejudiced against them at the outset. In regard to their deplorable dealings with the surrounding peoples, he takes what is the sound view,—that a barbarous people finding themselves suddenly

• 'noire Sirdar and Msnelik : an Account of a Year's Expedition from Zsiies to Cairo through Unsnotra Abintsinia. By...the late Captain M. 8. Wellby, 18th Hussars. Illustrated- Loudon: Harper and Brothers. 118161 irresistible will certainly raid and harry their neighbours. But he is very clear that Menelik's rule is drawing the country out of barbarism into the state of peace which necessarily precedes civilisation, and of the King himself he has the highest opinion :— " King John" (Menelik's predecessor) "was a great warrior, and being a man of fine physique and an athlete, was esteemed by the people. His decision, whether rightly or wrongly given, was law, and though anxious to be just—for he loved his country —he would take advice from none. Menelik, on the other hand, has not the physical and athletic powers of Sing John. He is of heavier build and more given to thought and deliberation. Yet he is far in advance of big predecessor, for he takes counsel from those about him, and is always mindful of those below him. It is said that at the time of the pest' (cattle sickness) some ten years ago, when the people were in dire distress by reason of their losses, Menelik formed a big camp, and setting the example to his people with his own hand, and assisted by his soldiers, tilled the soil, and in due time handed over to the sufferers the fruits of their labours, an example that encouraged others to do likewise. I was told that for three years he ate no beef, for he argued. Why should I enjoy plenty while my people are in want P' I doubt if any European ruler would have denied him- self to the same extent for a similar cause."

Captain Wellby met with every assistance from Menelik in his journey southward from Addis Abeba to Lake Rudolf, and northward thence to Nasser on the Sobat, through a country then scarcely travelled by any European. He marched with no European companion, but assisted by a duffadar of the 11th Bengal Lancers (who did the surveying work of the expedition) and a Somali, who, in addition to accompanying English sportsmen in his, own country, had been for some time part of a variety show at the Crystal Palace. Of the rest of his party, the bulk were Abyssinians and Gallas recruited in Addis Abeba, but a desirable variety of element was introduced by the admixture of a few Somalis and five Soudanese trained soldiers, who had come into the country with Bottego's ill-fated expedition. It was a part of the programme to induce Abyssinians if possible to pass the boundary of their own land and be brought up the Nile to have ocular demonstration of the British power, and this was satisfactorily carried through. But the Abyssinian part of the contingent was the chief source of trouble, for their raid- ing propensities could not be wholly repressed, and tended to drive away the natives, who grew more and more shy as the expedition advanced further west into a country where the Abyssinians, and indeed all strangers, were only known as enemies.

There is no space here to dwell upon the many adventures

of the caravan, the worst of which as usual arose from want of water; nor on the sport in the richest game country in the world. One would remark, however, the extraordinary confi- dence bred by modern rifles. Captain Wellby talks with the greatest equanimity of walking into a herd of elephants and shooting right and left. According to him a charging elephant, and still more easily, a charging rhinoceros, can be

evaded by a step aside. It is pleasant to say that he shot with discretion and humanity, and not for a record bag ; though his first encounter with elephants was disastrous, as he fired at the head three times with a rifle or cartridges

deficient in power to penetrate. When he had secured as much ivory as his men could carry without inconvenience, he let the elephants alone and watched instead of shooting them.

It will be surprising if the reading of this book does not tempt many big-game shots to make the journey to the shores of Lake Rudolf. If they go, it is to be hoped that they will bring back more detailed information about the

tribes. For example, the Turkanas are described as a race of giants, but we have no measurements given. And some one else ought really to push further an investigation into the story of the devil-possession in Walamo, where the natives are

said to be capable of imparting a devil or gin into the bodies of strangers who come there, more especially if they are per- mitted to be present while the stranger partakes of food. What happened exactly in Captain Wellby's experience was this. First, one of his Somali followers went mad, and made rushes into the bush with a knife after invisible assailants, and the frenzy was such that it needed five men to hold him. Secondly, to dispel the fear, Captain Wellby decided to prove its absurdity:—

" It was the custom of the natives of Walamo every morning to hring me in supplies, when perhaps over a hundred men would r Aim into camp. So when the entire party had arrived, and out of natural curiosity had all their eyes fixed on me, I put my little table outside my tent and called for breakfast. This consisted of mutton chops, unleavened bread, and honey and tea. I finished my meal much to my own, gratification, but to the great displeasure of my followers. Now comes the strange part of it all. The next day I felt strangely unwell and was altogether off colour' and 'off food.' I felt I was undergoing the tortures of a bad sailor on a rough sea. This too was the only day on which I felt unwell through the whole of my journey, but I took good care to keep my ailings to myself. It has been suggested to me that poison was placed in my food, but this I can emphati- cally deny."

A few days later a Soudanese was seized with the "Walamo devil" and began to run amok. He said a Walamo grass-cutter had seen him eat bread. The Abyssinians were immune.

"Possibly the cause may be put down to the water of these regions, which is undoubtedly impregnated with certain metals. While this might affect the Soudanese or Somalis or myself, it would in no way hurt my Abyssinians, who in addition to having stomachs like ostriches would be perhaps accustomed to water of this description." Captain Wellby depre- cates the notion of any psychological cause in his own case, since he was convinced when he ate his breakfast that the whole story was "well within the region of imagination." The belief in liability to the "evil eye" during food-taking is seemingly common in Abyssinia, as attendants screen the King with their shammas when he is about to drink in public. We may add, however, that the power of the Walamo natives is either disbelieved by some Abyssinians, or believed to exist only in their own country, as a European of our acquaintance dined with Abyssinian officers who were waited on by Walamo slaves,—or (to speak by the card) prisoners of war. Still, the story is very queer, and is worth looking into.

It only remains to say that the production of tire book

does credit in every way to the publishers. Many of the pictures from photographs are extremely interesting, especially one of camels swimming a river. Captain Wellby, it should be added, found camels of great use in marshy ground.