Komayle to take up biscuits, I rested for some
time.

At Senafé I was better cared for than at any
time before, except when with the artillery. I was
very regularly watered and fed, and had plenty
of fresh grass, cut in the  neighbourhood. I
attributed the improvement in my  condition,
not to any increased affection on the part of
my driver, but to his being watched by other
Hindostani headmen, who were in turn kept in
check by four or five whites. I also got in
succession two new kinds of saddle; the first was
called a Bombay pad, and consisted simply of
two canvas cushions joined together at the
part which rested over the ridge of my back
and with some bamboos fastened to them, round
which ropes could be passed to tie on the loads.
It is not bad, weighs about fifty pounds, and
cannot easily be put out of order by a careless
muleteer; the parcels put on it are, if small,
often wrapped in a rough  matting called a
seleita, which can then be thrown across the
saddle. The second was called the Otago. My
own impression was that it was comfortable,
and it never  seemed to break; the loads, too,
were put on quickly.

I attribute my having got safely through the
arduous campaign to the good health and
condition in which I found myself at my start
from Senafé, thanks partly to watchful supervision
and the care and rest which I had at
Zoola with the artillery.

At the close of January I started from Senafé
bearing a Bombay pad-saddle and two small
barrels of rum, one slung on either side. Our
party consisted of two hundred soldiers and
about as many mules. Our march led, the first
day, through a well cultivated country, dotted
with numerous villages.

My first day's travel passed without incident.
On the second, I was one of a couple
of hundred mules who were guarded by twenty
white soldiers, armed with long muskets. One of
these men picked up a sharp stone, and while
he held it in his hand, looked at the fore feet
of several of my companions, none of which
seemed to meet with his approbation, until he
surveyed mine, when he seemed satisfied, and
said to another soldier, " Smith, how would you
like some of that rum?" " Tibbett," was the
answer, " I'd give a finger for a pint of that
'ere licker; but it's no go." " Stay with me,"
said Tibbett, "and you'll see."

Tibbett lifted up my off fore foot and inserted
a stone in the hollow of my hoof, in such a
position that it bore on the frog, and in five
minutes I was walking lame. Tibbett then
called the attention of his superior to the fact,
adding that he and Smith had better detach
this mule from the string, and wait till he could
see a spare animal to whom to transfer the
load. The sergeant approved; Tibbet let
the other animals pass, and, looking round to see
that there was no officer within view, led me
into some bushes, and bored a hole in one cask,
from which he drew off about two quarts of the
rum. Smith meanwhile kept watch, and when
the barrel was again plugged up, received his
share. Then Tibbett took the stone out of my
foot, rejoined the string of mules on the road,
and overtook (still leading me) the sergeant, to
whom he reported that I had suddenly become
well. Tibbett walked quietly with me into
camp; but Smith was dragged in drunk, and
in disgrace.

I remained six days at Addigerat, fed chiefly
on grain of the country, which, though not
so good as that brought in ships, I may venture
to call very tolerable. When I set out again,
I was one of the advanced brigade, which
consisted of eight hundred soldiers and two thousand
mules. On the morning on which the
advanced brigade started, I was, with two
companions, conducted to a tent, where, after
waiting a couple of hours, we were loaded
with a variety of articles, including the tent
itself. We then took our place in a long line
of animals, and marched along, our Hindostan
driver holding the first of our string of three
by his halter rope.

As our string passed in front of a large
group of mounted officers, I heard a voice say,
" Fall out, the lot with the bright chesnut!"
and our driver turned us off the road. We
were then unloaded, and several remarks passed
upon the collection we bore. One officer,
whose eyes seemed to pierce everything on
which they turned, said, " Look! what are on
these three animals for the comfort of a single
member of the force. There is a tent for the
sahib, and a small tent for the servants, there is
bedding, a bedstead, a table, a chair, and a gun
case; there are enough cooking utensils to
prepare food for half a score, a sponge bath,
and a case holding a dozen of Henessey's
brandy. That deal box I know holds pounds
upon pounds of preserved meat, and those two
bullock trunks will contain clothes enough to
last for a couple of years. Then there is a lot
of horse clothing, and of course the servants
have followed suit, and instead of carrying
their own kits have stowed as much upon the
animals as ought to suffice for a captain. All
this must be changed when we start from
Antalo. The native servants must be sent
back, and each officer rigidly confined to
seventy-five pounds of luggage. Indeed, if a
rapid push is required, all must be left behind,
and nothing except a little bedding taken on,
for any one, no matter what his rank."

I will pass over my adventures of the following
months, in which nothing occurred worth
record. Enough to say that I bore a variety
of saddles and lived upon a short allowance of
every species of grain grown in Abyssinia.
The history would be imperfect, however, if I
did not say candidly that there usually was
plenty.

The favourite manoeuvre of the drivers was
to slip off the line of march, make a hole in
the ground, put into it lighted tobacco, and
cover it up, leaving open only a small hole
through which they would insert a pipe-stem,
which was passed from mouth to mouth, each