seen a watered valley. The exchange to this fertile land, from plains of salt and lava, varied only by balsatic cones or rude wild caverns, was most delightful to them. Soon they came amid trees of the gum-acacia, and fruit trees of various kinds; a naturalist of the party versed in botany, begged them to wait for the gratification of tasting fruit, until the light of a new day should dawn, for by this time the stars and I held rule in the sky, and under our faint beams, he declared he could not tell what might be safe, and what poisonous. The botanist's admonition might have been insufficient, so much did the traversers of the desert desire to refresh their palates with the ripe cool fruit, but the chief of the expedition issued his command, that none should be eaten till the man of science should have pronounced it safe, and by that well-timed order, he probably saved some lives.

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Guinea-fowl startled from their roosts, rose into the air, uttering their peculiar cry; I saw the men load; as they fired, many victims fell, and the travellers made an excellent supper à la belle étoile

on the birds themselves, which they roasted, and on their eggs, which they found in abundance. For the first time for very many days, they had an unlimited supply of fresh water; they bathed in it, as well as drank it, and handed it about from one to another, wishing to each other as they swallowed it, health, and toasting also the prosperity of the mission. Then they spoke of their distant homes in Britain or in India, and sang God save the Queen,' with truly enthusiastic loyalty.

"At length the tents were arranged for the night, and they sank to rest, if not to sleep; but as I peered in I saw that many men were not sleeping. The howling, and roaring, and snorting of wild beasts kept them awake; they had, as a necessary precaution, fires burning near. The prowling animals, just kept at bay by the fires, were searching all around for prey; a donkey which had died in the evening, tempted them, and in the morning the entire carcase had disappeared; I had seen many wild beasts share the booty together. It was an unquiet night on the banks of the Hawash;

not very often were the Guinea-fowl roused from their roosts, or the wild beasts regaled upon a donkey's carcase.

"The morning dawned upon the party; they were early stirring, for numbers of native women, who had seen or heard of their arrival on the preceding evening, presented themselves betimes with donkeys laden with produce of the country, which they offered for sale. I was still out, and I witnessed a curious sight. A large hippopotamus had been shot over night; the monster had dived into the water, and it was not known whether the shot had been fatal; now it was no longer doubtful, for the huge sides and back of the creature, pink and freckled, were seen floating upon the surface; the tidings of the British fire-arms had already been spread among the natives, and many of them remained all night near the tents, partly perhaps, in hope of some opportunity for theft, (for the Bedouins are terrible thieves,) and partly for a bit of the prey if the hippopotamus should prove a capture. The creature was towed ashore amid cries of joy,

both from the caravan and the natives.

It was

given to the expectant people; they immediately fell upon it, quickly stripped from it the thick hide, and cut away huge lumps or flaps of flesh; the night had been the time of feasting for beasts of prey; the morning provided its feast for the native human population; women, children, and donkeys left the camp, bearing with them the raw flesh of the hippopotamus of the Hawash, which the British mission had shot.

CHAPTER XII.

CONTINUATION OF THE MOON'S REPORTS OF MAJOR HARRIS AND HIS PARTY, WITH SOME INFORMATION CONCERNING ETHIOPIA.

"I WAS compelled to leave you last night," said the Moon, "before I had told you half what I have to tell concerning Major Harris and his party; but I

must move along in my path, and your globe must make its daily revolution; thus we often separate before I have said all that I have to say. You will, however, like to know more of the enterprizing travellers whom you have seen in places so strange, and in distress so terrible.

"It was when they had loaded their beasts of burden for the thirty-fifth time, that they at length arrived on the 16th of July, at the frontier town of the Abyssinian kingdom of Efat. That city is named Furri; the caravan entered Furri, escorted by their strong body of armed men; whose heads