Russian Envoy Bulatovich Reveals the Cruel, Colonial Nature of the Criminal Pseudo-state Ethiopia

Continuing the series of articles on the insightful documentation provided by the Russian Military Officer, Explorer, and Orthodox Monk in his books about his deeds and excursions, observations and explorations in Abyssinia (undertaken over three years 1896 – 1899), I herewith republish a seventh part from his second book titled "With the Armies of Menelik II"; this excerpt offers an in-depth presentation of the itinerary between Kolu and Lake Rudolf. As Bulatovich´s narratives about various indigenous nations and tribes were not due to first hand information but Amhara filters of translation and misinterpretation, every part of the text that pertains to analysis should be dealt with extreme caution. The itinerary part is however impressive.

In forthcoming articles, I will publish all the other parts of Bulatovich´s second book, and in addition, I will extensively comment on parts of his first book (notably History, Religion, Conclusion). Herewith, I make first available a recapitulation of the earlier twenty five (25) articles of this series, and then republish the excursion narrative.

All the Oromos, Ogadenis, Afars, Sidamas and others, who fight for their independence, and all the neighboring countries, not only Egypt and Sudan but also Somalia and Eritrea, which are threatened because of the evil, eschatological dreams of Greater Ethiopia, must study, understand and diffuse the insightful documentation available in the two books, which were published by the Russian explorer before 110 years; in and by itself, this documentation constitutes good reason for the world to be preoccupied with the source of every regional trouble and instability: the Amhara and Tigray (Tewahedo) Monophysitic Abyssinians who rule tyrannically over the lands they invaded and the nations they subjugated.

Recapitulation

Earlier articles of the present series can be found here:

1st Article

The Oromo Genocide Solemnly Confessed by Official Russian Explorer in Abyssinia (Fake Ethiopia)

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/the-oromo-genocide-solemnly-confessed-by-official-russian-explorer-in-abyssinia-fake-ethiopia.html

Selected and highlighted excerpts from a book – report published by a Russian explorer, military officer and monk, Alexander Bulatovich, who spent three years in Abyssinia, during the last decade of the 19th century. These excerpts undeniably testify to the Oromo genocide perpetrated by the invading Amhara and Tigray Abyssinian armies, and have therefore to be brought to the surface of political debate by the Oromo political and intellectual leaders at the local, regional and international levels.

2nd Article

Russia, the Oromos, Egypt, Sudan, Abyssinia (Fake Ethiopia), Somalia, Islam & Orthodox Christianity

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/russia-the-oromos-egypt-sudan-abyssinia-fake-ethiopia-somalia-islam-orthodox-christianity.html

Republishing further excerpts from Bulatovich´s book, I focused on the possible reasons for Russia´s failure as colonial power in the region. As reasons I identified an inherent Russian quantitative approach to the colonial process and an overall misperception of the past and the present of Asia and Africa, which is due to the Russian academic, intellectual and ideological acceptance of the Anglo-French Orientalism, a bunch of disciplines elaborated by the French and the English academia in order to mainly promote and diffuse an interpretation of data that would suit the interests of the Anglo-French Freemasonry, namely the driving force of the Paris and London regimes.

3rd Article

Abyssinian Colonization of Oromia, Sidama and Kaffa in Bogus Ethiopia. An Early Witness from Russia

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/abyssinian-colonization-of-oromia-sidama-and-kaffa-in-bogus-ethiopia-an-early-witness-from-russia.html

Another, longer, excerpt from Bulatovich´s ´From Entotto to the River Baro´ which bears witness to the evil Amhara and Tigray plans of illegal occupation of the annexed lands and of tyrannical consolidation of the Abyssinian colonialism by means of settlements peremptorily implemented among the subjugated nations.

4th Article

Ethiopia (Oromo) vs. Abyssinia (Amhara). Unbridgeable Ethnic, Cultural Gap Revealed by Bulatovich

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/ethiopia-oromo-vs-abyssinia-amhara-unbridgeable-ethnic-cultural-gap-revealed-by-bulatovich.html

Two more excerpts that focus on the Oromo society, namely ´Galla Clothing´ and ´Galla Family Life´.

5th Article

Oromo National Identity Diametrically Opposed to Amhara Manner, Russian Officer Bulatovich Reveals

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/oromo-national-identity-diametrically-opposed-to-amhara-manner-russian-officer-bulatovich-reveals.html

Three chapters dealing with Oromo national identity, religion and language; all the preconceived concepts of the colonial era are herewith present, thus leading Bulatovich to erroneous interpretations. Certainly, the Russian explorer was not a linguist, historian or historian of religions; more importantly, academic exploration was not the primary interest of his travel which was kind of diplomatic reconnaissance. However, the chapter on the Oromo national character is greatly interesting because it demolishes the Ethiopianist myth of a supposed Ethiopian nation.

6th Article

Revelation of the Amhara Fornication: Light on the Anti-Christian Blasphemy of Fake Ethiopia

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/revelation-of-the-amhara-fornication-light-on-the-anti-christian-blasphemy-of-fake-ethiopia.html

Further excerpts from the same volume of Bulatovich, providing with his description of the Abyssinians. Reporting accurately and truthfully, Bulatovich offered the Orthodox tsarist Russia´s top authorities a trustful portrait of the unclean and incestuous character of the pseudo-Christian Abyssinian society.

With no family, there is no Christian society. As a matter of fact, Abyssinian eschatology is a corrupt system at the very antipodes of Christianity.

7th Article

Outrageous Falsehood on Abyssinia (Fake Ethiopia) Rejected: Solomonic Dynasty, Kingdom Do Not Exist

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/outrageous-falsehood-on-abyssinia-fake-ethiopia-rejected-solomonic-dynasty-kingdom-do-not-exist.html

Further excerpts from the same volume of Bulatovich, providing with his description of the Abyssinians. Reporting accurately and truthfully, Bulatovich offered the Orthodox tsarist Russia´s top authorities a convincing presentation and analysis of how and why Abyssinian nobility does not exist – which consists in a formidable blow against the falsehood of the so-called Solomonic dynasty of Abyssinia, and their connection to the Ancient Hebrews. In fact, there has never been any post-Agaw Abyssinian ´Kingdom´. The entire history of post-Agaw Abyssinia is a succession of uncivilized gangsters of incestuous origin, who were peremptorily called ´noble men´, ´kings´ or ´emperors´; they were imposed as such to all the peoples and nations that, with Anglo-French permission and support, the Abyssinians invaded and subjugated.

8th Article

Russian Officer Bulatovich Relates on Colonial Raids of Abyssinia (Fake Ethiopia) in Kaffa Land I

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/invasion-of-kaffa-by-armies-of-abyssinia-fake-ethiopia-narrated-by-bulatovich-envoy-of-russia-i.html

The entire text of Bulatovich´s first excursion from Entotto to the River Baro,

9th Article

Russian Officer Bulatovich Relates on Colonial Raids of Abyssinia (Fake Ethiopia) in Kaffa Land II

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/invasion-of-kaffa-by-armies-of-abyssinia-fake-ethiopia-narrated-by-bulatovich-envoy-of-russia-ii.html

The entire text of Bulatovich´s second excursion from Entotto to the River Baro,

10th Article

The Evil, Colonial State of Abyssinia (fake Ethiopia) Exposed by Bulatovich, the Envoy of Russia

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/the-criminal-state-of-abyssinia-fake-ethiopia-exposed-by-bulatovich-the-envoy-of-russia.html

Chapters on the Ethiopian System of Government, the State Government and the Distribution of Land, the Police, the Judicial System and Procedure, the Law and Custom, the Crimes and Punishments, and the Economic Condition of the State – the Treasury.

11th Article

War Criminals of Abyssinia (fake Ethiopia), Their Atrocities Exposed by Bulatovich, Envoy of Russia

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/war-criminals-of-abyssinia-fake-ethiopia-their-atrocities-exposed-by-bulatovich-envoy-of-russia.html

Chapter on the Abyssinian army; this part of Bulatovich´s text is also very critical because it highlights (see the section: ´Conduct of War´) the inhuman practices of environmental disaster spread by the criminal robbers and inhuman soldiers of the Abyssinian state, which supported by England and France, perpetrated the worst atrocities ever attested on African soil and the world´s most appalling and multifaceted genocide.

12th article

The Nile, Egypt, Sudan Menaced by Evil Prophecy, Secret Expansion Plan of Abyssinia (Fake Ethiopia)

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/the-nile-egypt-sudan-menaced-by-evil-prophecy-secret-expansion-plan-of-abyssinia-fake-ethiopia.html

Chapter on Menelik´s family, the ´family of the emperor´. This chapter is of great importance for the diplomatic and national security services of Egypt and the Sudan, because it reveals what the heinous and rancorous Amhara and Tigray Monophysitic (Tewahedo) Abyssinians try to hide; namely that the regime, the elites and the upper classes of these incestuous and barbarous tribes act based on a secret program (that they call "prophecy" because of their sick, abnormal and perverse minds) to destroy Egypt and Sudan, and expand their cannibalistic tyranny throughout East Africa.

13th article

Amhara Pseudo-History of Abyssinia (fake Ethiopia), False Assumptions of Bulatovich, Envoy of Russia

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/amhara-pseudo-history-of-abyssinia-fake-ethiopia-false-assumptions-of-bulatovich-envoy-of-russia.html

Chapter on the Sidamas and the African peoples. This part is full of inaccuracies, inconsistencies and wrong terms; it is clearly the topic Bulatovich explored less and had a most vague idea about. The reason is simple; he did not have the time for direct contact with any of them, being thus the victim of the customary and idiotic Amhara lies.

14th article

Heretic Christianity in Abyssinia (Fake Ethiopia): Russian Errors, Benefits for England and France

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/heretic-christianity-in-abyssinia-fake-ethiopia-russian-errors-benefits-for-england-and-france.html

Chapter on the Abyssinian church and faith that Bulatovich erroneously names ´Ethiopian´; the attribution of the national name of Ancient Kush (Sudan) to Abyssinia relates to the Axumite King Ezana´s partly invasion of Ethiopia and destruction of its capital, Meroe, ca. 360 – 365 CE. That event had however a partly and momentary character that does not justify any further use from any Abyssinian ruler because that country was always located out of the historical borders of real Ethiopia. This is the reason the modern state is called Fake Ethiopia; its right name is just Abyssinia.

15th article

England, France, Italy, Russia, Bulatovich and the Bogus Historical Dogma of Fake Ethiopia

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/england-france-italy-russia-bulatovich-and-the-bogus-historical-dogma-of-fake-ethiopia.html

Chapter on the History of Abyssinia that Bulatovich knowingly calls ´Ethiopia´ erroneously. The lengthy text (5133 words) is a complete collection of Western academic mistakes and misperceptions based mainly, and very often exclusively, on Abyssinian unsubstantiated claims, racist fallacies, and paranoid lies.

16th article

Bulatovich´s Conclusions Support Egypt and Sudan: the Blue Nile Does Not Belong to Fake Ethiopia

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/bulatovich-conclusions-support-egypt-and-sudan-the-blue-nile-does-not-belong-to-fake-ethiopia.html

Conclusion of Bulatovich´s first book; this is a text of the utmost importance for today´s diplomatic services of Sudan and Egypt, as well for the liberation fronts of the subjugated nations of Abyssinia, and more importantly the Oromos, the Bertas, and the Agaws who are the only inhabitants of the areas crossed by the Blue Nile in the monstrous tyranny of Abyssinia (fake Ethiopia) that must cease to exist.

The excerpt clearly demonstrates that the criminal, racist Amhara and Tigray Tewahedo (Monophysitic) Abyssinians never had any right to the Blue Nile waters prior to their illegal, criminal, colonial expansion and invasion of the annexed lands of the Oromos, the Bertas and Gumuz (Benishangul), and the Agaws.

17th article

Bulatovich´s Appendices: Economic Profit as Reason of Support of Fake Ethiopia by England, France

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/bulatovich-appendices-economic-profit-as-reason-of-support-of-fake-ethiopia-by-england-france.html

Most of the appendices of Bulatovich´s first book

18th article

Jewish Soviet Scholar Katsnelson´s Study on Bulatovich Underscores Russian Failure in Fake Ethiopia

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/jewish-soviet-scholar-katsnelsons-study-on-bulatovich-underscores-russian-failure-in-fake-ethiopia.html

Excerpts from a remarkable and insightful treatise elaborated by the Russian Jewish Communist Historian and Philologist Isidor Saavich Katsnelson (A.X. Bulatovich – Hussar, Explorer, Monk); Katsnelson was a leading Egyptologist and Africanist who also contributed to the then nascent Meroitic Studies, the academic research about the last period of pre-Christian History of Ethiopia, i.e. Sudan, when Meroe (today´s Bagrawiyah, nearby Ad-Damer and Atbarah in Sudan).

Katznelson´s contributions hit the final nail on the coffin of the fallacious use of the great historical name of Ethiopia by the barbarous Abyssinian tribes who proved to be the worst pestilence in Africa´s History of Tyranny, Persecution, Racism, False Eschatology, Anti-human Conspiracy, and Genocide.

19th article

Failed Russian Orthodox Plans for Monasticism in Abyssinia (Fake Ethiopia), Bulatovich and Menelik

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/failed-russian-orthodox-plans-for-monasticism-in-abyssinia-fake-ethiopia-bulatovich-and-menelik.html

A confidential letter sent by B. Chermerzin, charge d' affaires of the Russian Embassy in Abyssinia to A. A. Neratov, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, on December 15, 1911. This text offers an insightful about Bulatovich´s later travel to Abyssinia whereby he had the ambition to establish a monastic order.

Despite the fact that the Russian Orthodox explorer, military officer and monk was accepted by the Abyssinian gangster and ruler Sahle Mariam (pseudo-royal nickname: Menelik) to heal him through use of Russian holy icons, the hidden conclave of the Amhara heretic, pseudo-Christian Satanists who rule the cursed country of tyranny and genocide, prevented Bulatovich from achieving his pious target, thus clearly demonstrating their alliance with the Anglo-French Freemasons and their hatred of Christianity.

20th article

Russian Witness Bulatovich Shows the Need for Liberation of Oromia, Deportation of Gurage to Tigray

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/russian-witness-bulatovich-shows-the-need-for-liberation-of-oromia-deportation-of-gurage-to-tigray.html

A first part from Bulatovich´s second book titled "With the Armies of Menelik II" with focus on the Russian envoy's excursion "From Addis Ababa to Jimma". Throughout Bulatovich´s text is reflected the Abyssinian tyranny imposed on the Oromos little time before the Russian explorer´s travel. At the same time, Bulatovich makes clear that the treacherous and viciously anti-Oromo tribes of Gurage arrived to the South only following invasions and occupied their territory by right of conquest. The Amhara interlocutors of the tsarist envoy were naïve and idiotic enough to confess to Bulatovich their insightful about the Gurage´s original land in Tigray – something critical to bear in mind at the moment of Oromia´s liberation. The Gurage have no place in a free Oromia.

21st article

Bulatovich Shows that Oromos Need Aba Jefar's Mysticism and Piety, not an Alliance with Evil Amhara

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/175438

The second part ("Jimma") from his second book titled "With the Armies of Menelik II". This excerpt offers a paradisiacal picture of the Oromo Kingdom of Jimma, and a magnificent portrait of the sublime mystic, the Oromo Moti (King) Aba Jefar. In striking contrast with all other words and sentences of his own text, Bulatovich insists on calling the noble king "half-savage". This shows the extent and the depth of the European colonial evilness, Anti-African prejudice and zero-degree tolerance for any non Christian. Without knowing it, Bulatovich proves that European colonialism was the World History's most terrorist, most antihuman, and most iniquitous political deed.

22nd article

Bulatovich: Noble Kaffas, Oromos, Sidamas vs. Evil Amhara, and the Forthcoming End of Abyssinia

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/175810

The third part from his second book titled "With the Armies of Menelik II"; the part covers the Kingdom of "Kaffa". In this unit, there are many mistakes and misperceptions in non descriptive parts of Bulatovich´s text; the Kaffa are not Semitic and they never amalgamated with any Semitic tribes and peoples, who never inhabited Africa – with the exception of the Abyssinians. But the times of Bulatovich were characterized by a Pan-Semitic delusion of many Orientalists who acted not as free scholars dedicated to the search of Truth, but under full Freemasonic and Zionist guidance in order to deceive the global academic community and promote the political interests of the Freemasonic, Zionist, colonial powers, namely England and France.

23rd article

Russian Envoy Bulatovich, Oromos, Sidamas and the Revelation of Amhara Barbarism in Fake Ethiopia

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/176140

Fourth part from his second book titled "With the Armies of Menelik II"; this excerpt offers an in-depth presentation of Andrachi, the Kaffa capital, and a narration of Bulatovich´s sojourn there (January 8-22).

Despite many inaccuracies pertaining to the Sidamas and the Kaffas, this chapter reveals the barbarous nature of the criminal Amhara armies, their bellicose attitude, and their cruel behavior. This is revealed in the following excerpt that describes a scene of entertainment after a dinner:

"Having dined and drunk their portion of mead, they sat around the campfire and struck up songs. For the most part, these were military improvisations, and their contents amounted to praise of themselves and of their master. Liban sang in his clear, beautiful voice, and the chorus joined in the monotonous refrain, "Gedau! Berekhanyau!" ("Killer, killer, tramp of the desert!"). One of the ashkers, in a form of accompaniment, beat in time with his palms on an empty water tin. Women's voices joined in the chorus".

One has indeed to be as barbarous as an Amhara to praise (instead of denouncing and ridiculing) a "killer" and a "tramp of the desert".

Such barbarism has never been attested anytime anywhere, even among the Nazi soldiers of Hitler´s Germany.

If the "killer" is to be praised collectively by the armed representatives of a society, one can quasi-automatically understand that this society is a barbarous entity that has to be isolated, deprived of any control over other nations, and put under international mandate in order to be re-educated and re-organized from scratch – with forceful imposition of civil and civilized nations´ manners and customs.

This is exactly what I demanded for the troublesome case of the barbarous rulers of Abyssinia and their incestuous society two years ago in an earlier article of mine that was published under the title "Nunca Mas: Two Spanish Words for Noble Somalis and Barbaric Abyssinians" (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/nunca-mas-spanish-words-for-noble-somalis-and-barbaric-abyssinians.html).

24th article

Bulatovich Gives Lessons to Oromos, Somalis: the Good Abyssinian is the Beaten, Crushed Abyssinian

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/176459

Fifth part from his second book titled "With the Armies of Menelik II"; this excerpt offers an in-depth presentation of the itinerary between Kaffa and Gimiro to the Abyssinian border.

The excerpt offers also a wonderful advice to the idiotic and delusory fellows who imagine possible to achieve the libration of Oromia, Sidama Land, Ogaden, Afar Land, Kaffa, Berta, Agaw and other occupied lands through peaceful means, negotiations, pacifist approach, honest agreement, and common understanding.

The only way to liberate a subjugated land and a tyrannized nation is the most thunderous violence and the most decisive hit, the will to exterminate the criminal Abyssinian gangster and illegal occupier, and the unrestrained and forceful materialization of this rightful will.

The only way to destroy and irreversibly bury the terrorist colonial state of Abyssinia (fake Ethiopia) is to apply the utmost force on all the Amhara and the Tigray settlers, occupiers and all the individuals who do not respect the right of the Oromos and all the other subjugated nations of Abyssinia to Liberation, Freedom, Secession and Self-determination.

The language of force is the only that the incestuous Amhara and Tigray understand, so the Oromos and all the rest have no other way than to imitate Bulatovich in what he did to a filthy Tigray subordinate. The excerpt is most instructive:

"I had a confrontation with one of my elfin ashkers, Ambyrbyr, a young hot-tempered Tigrean. He got into an argument with Haile; and despite the fact that Haile invoked Bulatovich by his God -- "Ba Bulata Amlak" -- to leave him alone, Ambyrbyr started a fight with Haile. All this took place right in front of my eyes, and consequently it was an encroachment on the authority of my name. In view of this, I had to intervene personally in this matter. In spite of my command, Ambyrbyr did not stop. Then I struck him, but he got even more enraged from this and was ready to throw himself on me. I had to act decisively. I pushed him in the chest, and he fell down unconscious. After several minutes, he came to. With this, the incident ended. On the day after this unruly conduct, I dismissed Ambyrbyr from the elfin ashkers and replaced him with Aregau".

25th article

Bulatovich Reveals Losses of African Culture Due to Invasions, Genocide Carried out by Fake Ethiopia

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/176681

Sixth part from his second book titled "With the Armies of Menelik II"; this excerpt offers an in-depth presentation of the itinerary between the borders of Abyssinia to the Lake Rudolf. As Bulatovich´s narratives about various indigenous nations and tribes were not due to first hand information but Amhara filters of translation and misinterpretation, every part of the text that pertains to analysis should be dealt with extreme caution. The itinerary part is however impressive.

Ethiopia through Russian Eyes

An eye-witness account of the end of an era, 1896-98 consisting of two books by Alexander Bulatovich:

From Entotto to the River Baro (1897)

With the Armies of Menelik II (1900)

Translated by Richard Seltzer, seltzer@samizdat.com, www.samizdat.com

Copyright 1993 by Richard Seltzer

With the Armies of Menelik II

http://www.samizdat.com/armies.html

Journal of an expedition from Ethiopia to Lake Rudolf

By Alexander K. Bulatovich

With four diagrams, three maps, and 78 photographs by the author and Lieutenant Davydov; Saint Petersburg, "Artistic Press" Publishing House, 28 Angliyskiy St., 1900, 271 pages

Published with permission of the Military Science Committee of the Chief of Staff

Reissued in 1971 as part of the volume With the Armies of Menelik II, edited by I. S. Katsnelson of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R. "Science" Publishing House Chief Editorial Staff of Oriental Literature Moscow 1971.

Translated by Richard Seltzer

VII. From Kolu to Lake Rudolf

March 4.

At 5:30 in the morning, the select detachment of 5,664 men under the command of Ras Wolda Giyorgis left the fortress at Kolu. I accompanied him.

Since we were travelling light, I only took 11 ashkers and several pack mules. Of course, Zelepukin came with me.

Before I set out, the sick and wounded who were staying in Kolu asked me to give them medicine in reserve. A heavily wounded man, with a puncture through his chest was desperate, saying that now he would be helpless and most likely he would die...

Finally, we got started.

All four interpreters were led in front of the Ras. The old man, Muruta Babus, rode, wearing the red cloak he had been given. His legs, which were too long, dangled helplessly since he could not rest them in the short stirrups. Jufa boldly ran ahead and led the detachment. Along a steep slope strewn with rocks, we went down to the Kori River and headed west, following its course. At four o'clock in the afternoon, after a ten-hour march without a break, we reached the inhabited and cultivated territory of Lessi and set up camp here. The natives ran away when we got close. Nonetheless, soldiers succeeded in capturing several women who were from the same tribe as Jufa and who were just as ugly as those we took prisoner in the land of Balis.

It turned out that they too know Guchumba -- Europeans. They said that Europeans crossed their lands last year and that their prince brought the Europeans gifts of grain, hens, and rams. From here the Guchumba went north. The natives really didn't know about the existence of a lake. But they said that nearby there is "a place where water lies."

The stream on the banks of which we set up our camp abounded in fish. On our arrival, the commander-in-chief set off with a fishing rod to go fishing. I went along to watch. The officers sat on the shore of a little pond surrounded by steep cliffs.

The air was stifling, so I began to climb up one of the cliffs, hoping that up above it would be cooler and also hoping to take photographs from up there of this unique group -- the commander-in-chief fishing, surrounded by his whole staff. My undertaking nearly cost me dearly. At a height of two sagenes [4.26 meters] above the water, the rock on which I stepped broke away and after it toppled a boulder, several arm widths in girth, which must have rested on the small lower one. I, too, slid down the cliff. Seeing this, the Ras and his officers cried out in horror. The boulder slid down at the same time over me, and it seemed like it was unavoidable that it would crush me. But I somehow luckily jumped aside; and having flown past right beside me, it fell into the water with an uproar and raised a whole column of spray. In general, this day was rich in adventures for me. 1) On jumping across the rocky channel of a stream, my mule stumbled and fell on its head, carrying me along with it. 2) While climbing a very steep mountain, overgrown with thick bushes, when striking against a thorny branch, I leaned back, a twig caught my pistol cord, and before I could succeed in unhooking it or catching by the reins the mule which was quickly clambering up, I was pulled off the saddle and fell on my back, with my head down, under the feet of another mule which was immediately following me. Luckily, both times I got away with just bruises.

March 5.

We passed the settlement of Lessi and went into the low-lying uninhabited valley of the Kori River, which is a wide rocky plain, at an elevation of only 700 meters above sea level, with scanty grass and mimosa and acacia trees. The air here is remarkably dry and motionless; and as a result, the heat was extremely strong. In the shade it was 29-30o Reaumur [97 to 99o F].89

On arrival at camp, we set out to the river to go fishing, and our soldiers accidentally dragged out a little crocodile.

At the camp itself, we caught two Idenich natives. They knew about Europeans who had passed through last year (Bottego), and one of them had even brought them a ram for sale. They denied the existence of a lake nearby. The land of Menu was two days' journey from here.

The old man Jufa continued to affirm that the lake was near.

The women who had been taken prisoner yesterday said today more confidently than the day before that in one days' journey there is water of a river that "lies." We decided to go down the river a bit further in order to make sure of whether there actually is a lake there.

March 6.

We found the place where the water "lies." It was the confluence of the Meru and Kori Rivers and, actually, the current here was very still -- not more than four versts [two and a half miles] per hour. The width of the river is 40 to 60 paces.

We set up camp a bit below the confluence of the Meru and the Kori; and I set out, accompanied by my gun bearers, to a small rocky summit, which was visible about seven versts [four and a half miles] from camp. Exhausted by the difficult climb in the scorching heat, bathed in sweat, I clambered up it.

I was rewarded for my work by the marvelous view and distant horizon which opened up from here. In the northeast arose the mountain ridge which we had just left. It had the shape of an enormous row which disappeared in the haze of the horizon. In the north, as far as the eye could see, there stretched the low-lying valley of the Kori River, and lines of mountain spurs, to the right and left of it, marked the tributaries which flow into it. On one of these spurs arose Mount Jasha, at the foot of which we had set up camp February 10-12; and beyond it was seen the valley of the Sebelimu River, which flows into the Kori.

Here, evidently, all the streams which flow down the western slopes of the mountain range we had passed through must unite and form the high water level Sobat or Jubu which serves as the western boundary with Abyssinian domains. The mountain range to the east constitutes the watershed of the Omo and Sobat Rivers, which undoubtedly demolishes the former assumption which found many proponents among people interested in this question. Those who were of that opinion included the Emperor Menelik and the Europeans who were close to him. Count Teleiki and Hohnel, who discovered Lake Rudolf, found at its north end the mouth of a large river and first expressed the thought that this was the River Omo. Their assertion was for the time being unsubstantiated and was soon refuted by Donaldson Smith, who went a few dozen versts up the river. However, he mistook one of the tributaries for the main river, and in view of how little water it contained, confirmed the hypothesis which d'Abaddie had first put forward. Bottego attested by his journey that the Omo flows into Lake Rudolf, but at the time of my journey, the work of his expedition was still not elaborated and was unknown to me.

Setting out on the present journey, I, along with the majority, held the opinion that the River Omo skirts the Kaffa Mountains on the south and is nothing other than the beginning of the Sobat River, which flows into the Nile. On January 28, when from Mount Boka, I saw the mountain range which stretches from Kaffa far to the south, a mountain range which up to then was not marked on any map, I had my first doubt of the truth of that assumption. Now it was definitively refuted. The mountain range discovered by me separates the basins of the Omo and the Sobat and drives off the waters of its western slopes from what seems to be its natural basin -- Lake Rudolf -- to the distant Nile and the Mediterranean Sea. This mountain range is named, with the permission of the Tsar and with agreement of the Emperor Menelik, the "Nikolas II Mountain Range."90

But where could the lake I had heard about from three completely different sources have disappeared? Even in the town of Andrachi, Benesho natives had told me that to the southwest of them there is some Lake Bosho into which their main rivers flow.

The guide Belemus said that in the west there was some lake with hot water, on the shores of which her fellow-tribesmen extract salt. And finally, the Idenich Jufa pointed to the northwest and definitely said that there is Lake Kiy, on the banks of which wander savage hunters who are armed with bows and arrows.

If the lake really exists, then it must be found in this low-lying, fog-covered valley of a river. The elevation of the river above sea level -- attaining 700 meters -- convinced me of this, in addition to the indications of natives. With very little fall and the very slow flow, the river had a huge area ahead of it before it could unite with the Nile.

The main goal of our campaign was to the south, and therefore I, unfortunately, could not verify whether my assumptions were correct.

Returning to camp, I saw a crowd of people surrounding my tent. They were waiting for my return. It seemed that they had brought a soldier who had just been bitten by a crocodile. The wounded man was so frightened that his face looked greenish. He had been swimming with comrades, and the crocodile grasped him in its mouth across his whole body, and began to drag him under the water. At the sight of this, the soldiers cried out and the crocodile let his victim go. On the soldier's shoulders and chest, there were 12 deep wounds, as if made by the sharp teeth of a saw. The wounded man complained that his heart hurts, and he thought that the bite of the crocodile was poisonous. I sewed up his wounds with 32 stitches. (After several days, he recovered). At this point on the river, there were quite a few crocodiles. One of our soldiers was killed while swimming; and after that, we decided not to go swimming any more.

March 7.

The detachment moved southwest in the direction of Menu. Two Idenich, who we had taken prison on March 5, led us. The steppe where we were going abounded in wildlife. Sometimes, wild goats shot out from under foot, as if insane, and galloped along our whole column. I killed one large gazelle. It was comparable in size to a small ox, but it galloped with the ease of a chamois, with the long wide stride of a thoroughbred race hose. Its hair was light yellow. Its snout was like that of an ox, as was its tail. Its horns were spiral and rather straight. I chopped off one of the back legs of the gazelle with my saber, and one of my weapons bearers lifted it on his shoulders and set out to catch up with the detachment, which had gone far ahead while I was hunting.

At about 11 o'clock in the morning, we found water in the channel of a dried up river, digging a little hole in the sand.

From here the terrain begins to rise. We crossed several mountain spurs and finally, at about three o'clock in the afternoon, entered the first settlement of Menu. Houses here are arranged in groups, and each farmstead is surrounded by a low fence. The intervals are sown with mashella and corn. In the valleys, herds of goats and rams grazed. The inhabitants fled as we approached. Soldiers scattered through the farmsteads looking for meal and grain, replenishing the supplies of provisions which we had used up over those days. Several natives were captured, and were taken to the Ras for interrogation. They belonged to the Idenich tribe, the same as in Jufa, and differed from them neither in type nor in language; only the women weren't as disfigured and their lower lip, although pierced, was not cut widely, as with women in the land of Beneman.

The prince of this territory -- Besela -- was among the prisoners taken. He was a large decrepit old man, dressed in an oxhide thrown across his shoulder and with heavy iron bracelets on his arms. The surrounding territory was completely unknown to him, and he had never heard about a lake to the northwest or to the southeast. Farther to the south, the terrain was, by his words, completely deserted; people didn't live there. When we asked him if he had ever seem Europeans -- Guchumba -- he, to our great surprise, answered they are quite close to us on the southern boundaries of his land. The women prisoners had also seen them, and one of them just yesterday met one there, bartering meal for strings of beads. To the question of how many of them are white men, they answered that they are all white men, probably because they are all dressed in white clothes. And to the question of whether there are many of them, they pointed at the bivouac of one of our regiments.

This news was so important that the commander-in-chief called his unit leaders in order to tell them. It was unknown who these Europeans were. Perhaps it was Major MacDonald's detachment of the English army, which from Uganda was supposed to go north to meet Kitchener, (at this time we still did not know about the failure of that expedition), or some scientific expedition. In any case Ras Wolda Giyorgis had been given quite definite instructions by Emperor Menelik about how to act in case he ever met with any Europeans. Therefore, it was decided to go the next day to the place where the Europeans had been seen. Today it was already too late, and the army was too exhausted from a non-stop ten-hour march and from requisitioning provisions after that, for them to undertake further reconnaissance right away; and it seemed too risky to rely on a captive at night in completely unknown territory.

Besela agreed to recognize the authority of Menelik and together with all the other prisoners was set free. He designated one of his subjects to stay with us as a guide.

March 8.

At dawn the signal horn of the commander-in-chief awoke us.

Scouts were sent ahead. The detachment was constituted as a reserve column. All the regiments had a full complement of files and detached only the most essential men and transport. The regiment of Fitaurari Atyrsye went in front of all. Behind it, at a distance of 25 paces, the regiment of Fitaurari Gebra Maryam went in file. Then at the same distance, went the regiment of Fitaurari Chabude. At 100 paces behind it, surrounded by two regiments of Azzaj (marshal of the court) Gebra followed the commander-in-chief, directly protected by men of his own guard.

Up front, inside a ring formed by them, they carried the banner of the Ras. They carried his tent and drums, and led his war horses. His weapons bearers brought his guns. Behind the regiments of Azzaj Gebra went the regiment of Fitaurari Ubye.

To the right of the Ras, at an interval of 200-300 paces, went the regiments of Fitaurari Imam and Kanyazmatch Alemnekh. To the left, at the same distance, went the regiment of Fitaurari Dubye and Fitaurari Damti. Behind the reserve column followed the transport, and after it went the rear guard, consisting of the next regiment. Each regiment was constituted as a front in several files. In each regiment, the foot soldiers went in front in 6-10 files. Then at a distance of 15 paces went mounted soldiers (in 204 files). In the interval between foot and mounted soldiers rode the commander of the regiment. The depth of the front of each regiment was about 40-60 paces. Its width was 50-70 paces.

I admired their balance, order, and ability to adapt themselves to the terrain.

The units passed through a ravine with remarkable skillfulness: the front units ran through it at some distance and formed up again. They did this so adroitly and quickly that the middle of the column went almost without delay.

At about 9 o'clock in the morning, we climbed to the summit of the ridge, at the foot of which, according to our guide, the camp of the Europeans should be. But when we reached the summit, we only saw the abattis which surrounded their camp. The smoke of their extinguished campfire bore witness to their recent presence.

We stopped on the ridge. Below, on the edge of a grove, on the banks of a stream, the natives who had fled from us crowded.

Through an interpreter, we began peaceful negotiations at a distance of 500 paces. We called out to them to go back to their houses calmly and that they shouldn't fear us since we would not do them harm and that their king Besela had become our friend the day before. For a long time our assurances were unsuccessful, and only after a rather extended period of time did several bold spirits dare to approach to within 200-300 paces of us, hiding behind trees. In their hands they carried twigs -- symbols of peace. We also took branches and leaves; and by this act we definitely convinced them of our peaceableness, and they began direct negotiations.

These completely naked natives belonged to the Idenich race, but the features of their faces were much more regular, with a much more intelligent expression than that of their fellow tribesmen. Being a settled people, they evidently surpassed the nomads in culture. Their spears and shields seemed excellently made. On their arms they displayed numerous iron bracelets. They decorated their heads with ostrich feathers.

Our envoys reported that the Guchumba left today at night and that their camp was very noisy. By the light of torches made of dry grass, they loaded their animals and hurriedly went east -- to Belu or Balis -- to the place from which they had come seven days before.

I rode into their camp, which was arranged very well, on the boundary of a settlement, near a shady stream. A round area about 60 paces in diameter with two gates was enclosed by a rather high abattis made of trees which had been cut down and piled up one on the other. Inside there were places for two tents, a place for a kitchen strewn with hen feathers, a place for storing provisions (raised a foot above ground on a stone area), 13 small cabins where servants probably lived, and 11 little pens. Judging by the manure, five of the pens were for mules and donkeys, and six were for cattle. The broken fence testified to the haste of their departure. Probably, it seemed too slow to drive the cattle through the gates; so to speed up the procedure, they broke the fence. Many of the cattle were left along the road, and, in general, the exodus resembled a panicky flight. The Ras was amazed by the fear the fugitives displayed.

Judging by the size of the detachment, they constituted a scientific expedition which had nothing to fear from us. With this in mind, the Ras sent a letter after them, expressing bewilderment about the cause of their flight.

Objects found in the abandoned camp led to the conclusion that the expedition consisted of Englishmen.

Our detachment set up camp a bit below the camp of the English expedition, on the banks of the same stream. I climbed one of the nearest hills in order to orient myself. The ridge of the height, covered with dense forest, shut off the horizon in the south. Farther in this direction there were no more people. The natives said that only elephants and other wild animals are found there.

From Menu the Ras had to make a rather difficult choice of route. It seemed impossible to go farther to the southwest.

According to the natives, there were no inhabited lands; the time was already late; and the rainy season should be coming soon. Therefore, the Ras decided to postpone farther movement to the southwest to the following year and to take possession now of the mouth of the Omo River, the most important strategic point in these regions; and then return to Kaffa to finally conquer all the tribes found on the route which we had followed, and to station garrisons in their lands.

I very much wanted to investigate to what degree the territory to the southwest of Menu actually is uninhabited and impassable. I thought about separating from the Ras, with my own little detachment; but yielding to the request of the Ras, I gave up this intention and decided to go together with him to find the famous Lake Rudolf.

March 10.

We rested... Since the natives did not know where to find Lake Rudolf, our natural guide was now the compass.

I determined the geographical position of Menu approximately, and showed the Ras the direction in which the northern section of Lake Rudolf should lie. He decided to lead his detachment straight to there. I did not fully approve that decision.

After reconnaissance on Feb. 20 and 21, I doubted the possibility of a large detachment going across a rocky plateau with little water, straight to the lake. Besides, it seemed to me it would be necessary to thoroughly reconnoiter the territory lying to the southeast and southwest before leaving Menu.

Ras Wolda Giyorgis understood the morale and strength of his soldiers better than I did. He considered it useless to undertake reconnaissance now with units of the detachment, since he was already convinced that they would yield no results. It was necessary to move ahead, not losing time and to use that inertia of strength which the army still had, rather than risk it by delay. As an experienced warrior, the Ras knew the laws which apply to human masses. He felt the degree of intensity of energy of his detachment and foresaw that stopping threatened much greater danger for them than the uncertainty of the desert.

March 11.

At dawn, the signal horn woke us as always. We left the settlement and set out to the southwest into the desert. Near the settlements, we came upon cattle left behind by the English expedition which had passed through here two days before. And at several hours journey from Menu in one ravine, which caught our attention because many predatory birds were flying over it, we found fresh bones and the innards of rams. The English expedition must have here rested during the day, after their night march of March 8 to 9.

At 11:30 we found water and set up camp. I conducted solar observations and marked our approximate astronomical position on the map.91 Because he was extremely interested in the results of these observations, the Ras sent his elfin ashker (page) with the usual question: did I "screw up" the sun? How many numbers (i.e., minutes or degrees) had we gone? And he asked me to show him on the map the place where we were going.

I sent him the map. I wasn't in any condition to go myself.

I lay on my bed in complete exhaustion. I was beginning to get a fever. To this was added severe diarrhea from disgusting food.

The wheat meal had run out several days before. My ashkers had used a small stone bar to threshed meal from some grain they had obtained. This was, strictly speaking, not meal but rather shattered grain. From it we baked unleavened and unfermented flat cakes in iron pans, and that constituted the basis of our food. We only ate meat on days of successful hunts or in inhabited lands if we succeeded in catching a goat or ram. I no longer had any salt.92 Because of this we could only cook meat on coals, pouring some bile over it for taste. Cooked unsalted meat and the soup made from it were too disgusting. Instead of flat cakes, we sometimes ate mashella grain cooked in a pan.

This is a remarkably fine dish. Each grain is split into several pieces, fastened at the base, and resembles a snow white miniature rose. It is tasty but bad for the stomach, since the skin irritates it.

For a long time, I had neither tinned goods nor wine nor coffee. There remained several little boxes of broth (Magi), in case of illness, which I now ate, and a little bottle of essence of cognac, several drops of which I added to boiling water, which, together with saccharine, I drank instead of tea. In camp, Zelepukin and I drank several saucepans of this beverage, avoiding unboiled water. We restrained ourselves from drinking on the march.

In general, it is unpleasant to be sick; but on the march it is immeasurably worse, especially in such circumstances. The long marches then seem endless, each step of the mule seems a torture, but arrival at camp is no easier. You have no beds, and you can't get grass nearby. You lie on a tarpaulin spread out directly on the rocky ground, accommodating yourself to rocks that stick out under it. The sun shines through the poor quality material of the small soldier's tent. The temperature is 28-29o Reaumur [95-97o F] in the shade. The stuffy heat is terrible. You pour with sweat and wait and wait for evening. Finally the sun sets. Camp fires blaze. They are our light and heating.

The camp grows quiet. It becomes colder and there is a new misery. A violent storm swoops down and brings down the tent; and under a downpour of rain, you are soaked to the bones...

That day we made a seven-hour march and set up camp at the foot of Mount Bume, which I had noted from the cliffs on February 21.

March 12.

We set out at dawn and the Ras sent ahead reconnaissance to find water. The terrain we were going through was very rocky. Here and there among the stones there was some scanty grass, scorched in places, and low little mimosa and acacia trees. About twelve o'clock noon, we took prisoner several women of the Tirma tribe who live in the mountains which rise in the east. They were gathering beans here from a tree which is similar to the acacia and which the Abyssinians call komora or rok. The fruit of the komora looks like pods, inside which there are paired seeds with a meaty covering. These fruits are used in the preparation of a fermented drink; and the women, having gathered them here, take them to Menu where they barter these fruits for grain.

The prisoners had heard about Guchumba (Europeans) who passed through their lands 8-10 days before. The Europeans had bought bread from their tribe for beads and had taken a guide to Menu.

They did not know of the existence of a lake to the south.

The land of Murle, about which our guide Jufa had spoken, was also unknown to them. According to them, there was no water nearby. Fortunately, we found some puddles with water, which had collected in the channel of a dried up river after the night's cloud burst. Our mounted patrols returned late in the evening and by campfires told the bivouac that they had found only desert.

The temperature during the day was 28o Reaumur [95o F] in the shade and at night was 18o Reaumur [72o F].

After a completely calm and clear day, a violent rain storm arose at night.

I felt better and recovered somewhat from my illness.

March 13.

The commander-in-chief continued to persist in his intention to go straight to Lake Rudolf, despite the absence of water.

We left the Tirma mountains in the northeast (where the prisoners had come from) and began to go down a little along the gently sloping inclines of the plateau, moving along the channel of a stream on the banks of which we had stayed the day before.

The countryside here is just as threatening as it is beautiful. In places there rise cliffs arranged like decorations. Their outline is in the highest degree distinctive.

In the southeast there stood out a high rocky mountain, similar to a truncated pyramid, which looked like it had another pyramid of smaller dimensions placed on its upper surface. I had first seen this mountain on February 20 and now beginning on March 8 it rose all the time on the horizon in front of us, serving as our beacon. Then I saw it March 24-30 from the valley of the River Omo, and finally in the month of April from Mount Kastit. Its local name remained unknown to me. Very often I had to plot it on my plane-table and when during the long tedious hours of lengthy non-stop marches, suffering from intense heat and thirst, I was carried away in thought to my distant homeland, this mountain reminded me of the Tsar's Cylinder at Krasnoye Selo. This plateau seemed to me like a huge military exercise field, and it was as if we were maneuvering our detachment over it, and ahead was the Tsar's Cylinder with a tent pitched on it as on parade days...

Therefore I named this mountain "Tsar's Cylinder" both in my journal and on my map.

About noon, after long searches, we found a puddle of water in one of the dry channels. The territory where we had come is a realm of animals, in the full sense of the word. The flat steppe, at an altitude of 1,000 meters above sea level, is covered with short unscorched white grass and rare trees. The whole animal population crowded near water. Herds of zebras roamed alternately with antelope and wild goats, and looked with astonishment on humans who unexpectedly appeared. They did not rush to go away from us. In the sand of the channel were seen the deeply pressed tracks of rhinoceroses and elephants.

Around the camp, uninterrupted gunfire resounded: the soldiers, the majority of whom had exhausted their supply of provisions, were hunting to get themselves food.

Our soldiers had left Menu with a very small quantity of provisions, hoping that a new land abundant in bread grain was no farther from Menu than Menu was from Kolu; and for those who had to carry all their supplies on their heads, it had all run out already. These soldiers, who usually observed fast strictly and were squeamish about eating the meat of wild animals, now killed whatever kind of game came their way and were not squeamish about any kind of meat; and those who did not go hunting bought meat for themselves from their more fortunate comrades. For example, two soldiers came to me during dinner and, bowing low, entreated me to sell them, in exchange for cartridges, a piece of an antelope I had killed... The old man guide Muruta-Babus said that in two marches to the north there is Kira a land rich in bread grain. The women prisoners taken the day before likewise confirmed this and on the following day the Ras decided to once again climb the mountains.

It was quiet and joyless in our camp. Neither songs nor laughter nor jokes, nor the humorous sayings which Abyssinian soldiers so much enjoy.

This goal of wandering in uninhabited desert with little water and suffering deprivation was incomprehensible to them.

Fantastic rumors spread among them. Of course, they blamed the foreigner -- me -- for all their troubles and gave my ashkers an extremely hard time.

"Where are we going?" they asked. "Are we soon going to be able to go home? Your frenj wants to destroy all of us! To him this is child's play. He's enchanted. He can go without eating and drinking and doesn't get tired..."

Sometimes fights even broke out between soldiers and my ashkers. However, in relationship to me, both the officers and the soldiers were courteous.

Incidents of people making insulting statements about me no longer occurred (as they had in the first days of my acquaintance with them), and although their feelings toward me were hostile, at the same time the soldiers respected me. Malice toward me grew in recent days and began to reach such proportions that some of my friends felt it was their duty to warn me so I would be careful...

March 14.

We turned north and began to climb the mountain. I hunted antelope and zebra, killed several but, unfortunately, could take neither the hide nor the horns of the antelope and only loaded on my saddle one leg of a dead zebra for dinner. From an altitude of 1,000 meters above sea level, we climbed the mountain range to a height of 1,500 meters and by a difficult, steep descent, clearing a road in dense thickets of thorny bushes, went down to the Demu River at an altitude of 600 meters above sea level.

There was very little water in the river. It sufficed only for the men. The animals were prohibited from drinking. To maintain order, a guard was posted at the water. We had gone non-stop for eleven hours that day, at a temperature of 26o Reaumur [91o F] in the shade; and during the entire march we had only found water once, at nine o'clock in the morning, in a small hole at the top of the mountain range.

In the territory where we found ourselves, nomad Idenich of the Tilay tribe wandered with their herds. The soldiers captured one of their herds and drove it to our camp. This was a lucky find for our hungry soldiers. With a cry, forgetting their weariness, they chased oxen, goats, and rams, taking them from one another.

One Tilay fell captive to us. He was two arshins and 12 vershoks tall [6 foot 5 inches], armed with two spears. A seventeen-year-old soldier caught him.

The prisoner knew the territory to the north and that to the west, including Menu. He had see Guchumba (Europeans) when they crossed through his lands, and he had sold them a goat.

Regarding the existence of Lake Rudolf, he had not heard. He only knew that the Kibish River, into which the Denu River flows, flows in turn into the large War River, which was east of us about seven days' journey.

Of the tribes living to the south, he mentioned the Bumbi, who came from far to take their livestock.

March 15.

We crossed to the Kibish River by a valley thickly overgrown with bushes, and set up camp on its banks. The Kibish River goes down the southeast slopes of the mountain range and flows into the Omo. Its sandy channel was widely eroded as a result of the abrupt variations of the level of its water. Its current near our camp was about 6 versts [four miles] per hour. Its width was about 30 paces. Its depth was no more than an archin [28 inches]. Its altitude above sea level was 900 meters.

Near the bivouac itself, our soldiers found fresh traces of the presence of Europeans: on the banks of the river several campfires smoldered, near which lay pieces of meat, thrown away during a hasty exit, clothing of servants, and some articles such as knives with English brand names.

Apparently, they still hadn't gotten over their panicky fear of the Abyssinians and, taken unawares, had hurriedly fled. It would not be difficult for the Ras to pursue them now, if there were any need to do so; but, of course, there was no need for any kind of aggressive action, and the Ras let the Europeans go away peacefully.93

In the low-lying valley, closed in by mountains, it was even hotter. At noon it was 31o Reaumur [102o F] in the shade. I, as usual, "twisted the sun" and determined the astronomical position of our bivouac.

The afternoon weather was calm, but at sunset there were gusts of strong northwest wind which reminded me of the violent storms in Kolu.

March 16.

We entered the land called Kira and set up our bivouac among dense settlements at a height of 1,400 meters above sea level.

Near Kibisha, we stumbled upon a female rhinoceros with her young and killed them. Entering a populated land, the soldiers spread out to get provisions for themselves. The inhabitants retreated before the Abyssinians, attacking only when they got the most excited. Individual fights, which broke out rarely, cost us several men killed and wounded. Among those killed was one officer, whom the soldiers carried into the bivouac and loudly mourned.

My ashkers also went to get spoils and brought several skins full of grain, several pounds of coffee and a ram with a large fatty tail. I was delighted to get the coffee. We melted down fat from the fat ram's tail. From its "white fat"94 we made candles, which for two days served as my substitute for what up until then had been my only light -- the flame of the campfire.

Several prisoners were taken who belong to the same nationality as the mountain dwellers of Beru, Kasi, Dami, etc.

March 17.

On the occasion of a holiday in honor of the Mother of God, the detachment was given a day of rest. Foraging was prohibited.

March 18.

We went east, following along the summit of a densely populated mountain spur which stretched in this direction. In the north, arose the rocky peak of Muy, and from both sides of the mountain ridge, streams, flowing in deep valleys, fell into the Kibish.

The natives left their dwellings and, sitting on cliffs several thousand paces from us, looked at our marching column, and sometimes pointing at the road with their spears expressed their wish that we quickly go away. The settlements were just as dense, the houses as well built, and the fields as well cultivated as in Beru. On the hill were seen the farmsteads of the tribal leaders, and near them were holy groves.

Going up to the mountain spur, we went down by a steep difficult cliff to the Karka River and set up a bivouac on its banks.

We left the populated territories behind, and ahead of us again stretched low-lying hot, and almost uninhabited space with little water.

Our march was of short duration. We had only gone for 12 days up until now, from the time when we left the fort at Kolu. We hadn't gone very many versts over that time, wandering in unknown places. But, in spite of that, our soldiers were exhausted and our animals were worn out. In such circumstances, however, it is not the distance nor the time which determines the expenditure of strength of the detachment, but rather the obstacles of the march.

Not finding water very often from bivouac to bivouac, we moved without stopping, sometimes going for ten or eleven hours under scorching intense heat, without a road, breaking a path along rocky desert strewn with sharp stones or among dense thickets of thorny bushes, which turned our clothes into rags. How much these marches made the men lame and crippled the animals, and how little time the soldiers had for rest in these conditions!... No sooner did the detachment arrive at bivouac than some soldiers went to tear out grass for mules (but there was very little of that on the rocky plateau), to fetch firewood, to fetch water, to grind meal on field millstones for flat-cakes for dinner, and others were assigned to details and guard duty. Only in the night did the detachment quiet down, and even then people who had lost their mules during the day roamed about calling out in monotonous cries "in the name of Abo" (Abyssinian saint), "return it or show me where it is."

There were also a good number of sick people in the detachment.

Now new difficulties lay ahead of us. Soldiers were ordered to supply themselves with provisions enough for not less than ten days. The Ras explained to his officers that we would go to the lake which is located ten days' journey away, and on the shores of which we would find provisions. But who in the detachment was confident that this lake actually exists and that the Ras's words were justified? Up until this time, prisoners had talked very indefinitely about some river to the east -- Shorum or War -- a very large river in which, judging by the chuckles which they made when saying this, hippopotamuses swim. The water of this river becomes very great farther on and then "lies." But where the river "lies" and who inhabits its banks remained unclear; and relative to anything regarding this lake in general, the testimony was extremely contradictory. The only one who knew for certain about the existence and location of the lake was I, and the commander-in-chief had complete faith in me. The officers were very unsympathetic toward the new march. When the Ras explained his decision to them at a military council, many of the leaders protested, pointing out the condition of the detachment.

The commander-in-chief was unshakeable; and in refutation, he answered with the following words: "Let cowards and old women perish or clear out! I will not return without having reached the shore of the lake. And if you all leave me, I will go there with Iskyndyr Bulatovich and with the men of my guard."

I do not know if another leader could have succeeded in moving his immense weary army, who felt immediately ahead of them the horror of hunger, in a new unknown and seemingly endless desert.

But Wolda Giyorgis, in the highest degree, had the gift of a military leader to control the will of his subjects and to carry them along behind him.

March 19.

We left the bivouac at the Karka River and went southwest. There had been a rain storm at night, which made our route very difficult. We crossed several mountain spurs of Mount Say and, finally at three o'clock in the afternoon, set up camp on the lower reaches of the Karka River. For the first time our guides were two young natives of the tribe which inhabits the western slopes of Mount Say. They had arrived the day before and had brought as a gift to the Ras two rhinoceros horns. These natives had heard that there is a lake to the south. They called it "Boru." Near our very bivouac was found the stopping place of the English from a month before. According to the natives, the Europeans stayed here a rather long time and then went west.

These two mountain dwellers were remarkably good looking women. They had a bold open expression on their faces, and regular features, large expressive eyes, and straight noses. They led us to the southwest until we had gone a significant distance from their lands. Then when we went into a dense thicket, they quickly hid in it and ran away.

Our bivouac was at an elevation of 920 meters above sea level. The temperature was 32o Reaumur in the shade [104o F].95 I was beginning to feel very sick. Feeling an attack of fever coming on, I swallowed strong doses of quinine.

March 20.

We went across low-lying, black-earth steppe, which was boggy from rain that had poured at night, to the Kibish River, and set up camp on its banks. Here a mass of wild game appeared. There roamed herds of wild goats, antelope, and zebra; and I shot at them without leaving the trail. Hunting the wild goats was the most fun. Frightened, they rushed at a gallop back along our whole marching column, sometimes, like crazy, bursting into our ranks. The men raised a cry, shot at the goats, threw spears, chopped with sabres and then ceremoniously divided the booty. I killed one he-goat with horns nine inches long. In the thick forest which stretches along the banks of the river, a rhinoceros attacked us. Unexpectedly, it threw itself from the bushes on the very middle of our marching column and having killed one mule (the Abyssinian who was sitting on it saved himself by some miracle), it hid in the bushes on the other side. This happened so quickly that no one even managed to shoot at it. It was remarkably hot that day, even though the thermometer only registered 28o Reaumur [95o F] in the shade. It was really a steam bath.

When I arrived at bivouac, I lay in total exhaustion under my tent, having raised its side, having taken off absolutely all my clothes, and having drunk weak warm coffee. At noon I still had enough strength to conduct solar observations.

In the east, according to our guides, a large river should be found at a distance of one or two days' march. (In all probability, that would be the River Omo). But what the natives understood by one or two days' journey and whether there would be water along the way, remained unclear. It was necessary to conduct reconnaissance, but who could you rely on now? The commander-in-chief decided to do it himself. Not far away there rose the height of a mountain ridge from which one could see the river valley well. The Ras and I climbed one of the peaks, and in front of us in the east opened the low-lying valley. About 30 versts [20 miles] from us, at the foot of the mountain ridge which stretched out on that side of the valley, was seen a dark ribbon of trees and here, evidently, must be the water surface.

The Kibish River turned to the northeast. We did not notice any other tributaries of the supposed river to the east. And the commander-in-chief took the bold decision to go straight to the east. The way along the Kibish River would take a lot of time, but, evidently, we could cover in about seven hours, without much trouble, the 30 versts [20 miles] separating us from the other river to which the Kibish aimed its path.

Not far from the hill from which we were examining the countryside arose a higher mountain which promised me a more sizable horizon. I separated from the Ras and headed to it, accompanied by one of my gun bearers. However, the mountain turned out to be much farther than I had guessed, and was at least 10 versts [7 miles] from the bivouac. At an altitude of more than 1,000 meters above sea level, the crest was overgrown with low grass and rare trees. On the summit, I saw several holes with water collected after the rain. Near them the ground was completely trampled by the hooves of zebras and antelope.

Here went fresh trails laid by elephants, along which they, probably, crossed the mountains, wandering from the River Omo to the Kibish River. Despite such an abundance of signs of wild animals, I only chanced to see one antelope. The sun had already set when I reached the summit. I was mistaken in my expectations: nothing new could be seen from this mountain, and having taken from here azimuths on the surrounding mountains, I rushed back to the bivouac. Only at nine o'clock in the evening did I return, delayed by complete darkness and by the difficult descent.

The locale where we were now was remarkable from a minerological perspective. The bed of the stream was strewn with fragments of every possible kind of granite and gneiss. In the mountains, you encounter micaceous shale, veins of quartz, and rock crystal. Here the natives, as we later learned, mine iron and copper ore.96

March 21.

This day was one of the most memorable of the whole expedition.

At four o'clock in the morning, by the light of campfires, we loaded our mules and went beyond the Kibish River, to the southwest, toward where we presumed the River Omo lay. Having passed dense bushes along the banks of the Kibish, and having left behind us the mountain ridge on which we had climbed the day before, we entered a wide smooth steppe. Here the soil, having reverted to a swamp in the rainy period, now was strongly cracked, and in fact, our mules stumbled. The road became still more difficult thanks to the sticky mud of a night shower.

Our detachment went spread out along the steppe in a wide front.

At ten o'clock in the morning, the terrain began to change its character, and we came upon rare bushes in clumps which stood along the steppe. Here there was a lot of wildlife, but we didn't disturb it because we had such a long crossing ahead of us. Only for a giraffe was an exception made. The commander-in-chief very much wanted to kill this animal -- the only one which he, up until this time, still hadn't killed. The advance guard was even ordered to quickly report as soon as giraffes were spotted.

At 10:30 in the morning, a soldier from the advance guard galloped back with the report that a herd of giraffes was near.

The Ras jumped on his horse, and all of us who were riding mules or horses galloped in the indicated direction. We quickly overtook the herd. The fleeing giraffes made a very humorous sight. They held their long necks high (so that their snouts rose above the bushes which grew around). The short hind legs hopped as if in a gallop, and their long front legs, not bending, ran ahead of us in some sort of Spanish trot. Our horses and mules seemed faster. On my marvelous little mule, I soon caught up with one large giraffe and galloped beside him. I very much wanted to chop with a saber along its long thin neck, but the damned mule did not by any means want to get near to such a strange animal, which it had never seen before. I finally laid low the giraffe with several shots from a Mauser revolver and, having chopped off its tail as a trophy, hastened to return to the detachment, which had already gone off rather far to the side.

Passing occasional bushes, we went into dense thickets of thorny trees which the Abyssinians call "kontyr". This is a low little tree almost devoid of leaves, with branches covered with long (about a vershok [1-3/4 inches]) thorns, turned to the base.

There were occasions when these thorns literally took you prisoner. One soldier caught by the shoulder and wanting to free himself, caught himself by the sleeve. With his other arm he tried to free the first, but it did not escape the same fate. The soldier tried to free it with his teeth, but the thorns caught his lips in several places, and the poor fellow began to yell with foul language.

Salt marsh replaced the black-earth steppe. Our column stopped. With sabers, we hacked a narrow trail in the bushes and slowly entered it. The heat became intolerable. The sun was almost at its zenith and scorched us with its perpendicular rays.

Air in the thickets was completely motionless and was made even more stifling by the multitude of people crowded together. After a fast walk by a difficult muddy road, an intolerable thirst tormented all of us, and especially pained those of us who had gone hunting giraffes and had taken part in the 20-minute gallop after them. But we still didn't come across water, and all the water that we had had with us had already been drunk.

All our thoughts and striving concentrated on the expected river, but almost each step brought us new disappointments. Here the terrain begins to drop steeply. You strain your sight to see through the trees the water you are wishing for; but, alas, this is just a dry riverbed. Beyond that follows a second and a third... Time passes, and the torment becomes even more unbearable. Many Abyssinians -- people who, it would seem, are accustomed to the heat -- began to collapse, to fall from sun stroke or exhausted by heat and thirst.

It was already four o'clock in the afternoon. More than three hours, which seemed to us an eternity, had passed since we found ourselves in such completely agonizing uncertainty. Dry river beds followed one after the other. There wasn't even a sign of the presence of a river nearby. These were painful minutes...

The thought oppressed us that we could be mistaken in supposing that there is a river in these thickets. Perhaps it really doesn't exist. Perhaps it's still several dozen versts away from us. Perhaps it is even located on the far side of the ridge ahead of us, and along here go only dry riverbeds of its tributaries... Perhaps, finally, I had made a significant mistake in determining the longitude of our bivouac, and we were actually much farther west than I thought? If this was in fact true, the detachment was threatened by certain destruction. My head became floggy from these thoughts. A moment seemed like an eternity.

You count each step of the mule. You continually look at your watch, but the hands haven't moved. It's as it your watch had stopped.

Suddenly, up ahead, a cry resounded: "Water!" It was 4:30 in the afternoon. Under our feet, there began to glitter a wide band of water on the surface of which, here and there, shone the black drowsy forms of crocodiles, stretching the full length of their enormous bodies.

The commander-in-chief ordered that horns be blown -- the signal to stop and camp. Along the whole commune, like electrical current, went the news that water had been found. The forest resounded with joyous cries. What a feeling! What incomparable joy we experienced at this minute! Water was found! The detachment was saved!

We rushed to the river and endlessly drank its warm water. I scooped with my helmet, and the more I drank the more thirsty I became. My body, which up until then had been completely dry, was soon completely covered with sweat. One of the officers wanted to drink so much that, having arrived at the water, he felt very dizzy and fell into the river.

Only at seven o'clock in the evening did the rearguard arrive, having buried on the way four soldiers who had died from sun stroke. In all, on this day, more than ten men died, and in addition, several dozen lost their way and were missing.

Near the river itself, an Idenich woman fell captive. In the forest, she had been gathering some kind of grass which they use for food. Kelemis was the name of our prisoner. She called this valley "Kelese," and the river "War." Kelemis belonged to a tribe of savages who roamed these woods and lived by fishing and hunting. The only place which was abundant in bread grain which she had heard of was a land, according to her, about five or six days' journey away. She also knew Europeans -- Guchumba. By the testimony of Kelemis, they had gone through here four days ago and had crossed the river at some distance south from our bivouac.

The river is 657 meters above sea level. Its banks are sandy and steep, rising about 30 meters above the water. The width is 200 to 300 meters. The current is about eight versts per hour.

We kept Kelemis as a guide.

March 23.

As usual, we set out at dawn and went south, following, at some distance, the riverbed of the War.

At about 10 o'clock in the morning, we set up camp. I used the early stopover and hurried to one of the nearest hills to conduct noontime solar observations.

In his descriptions of his journeys, Donaldson Smith or Hohnel (I do not now remember which of them) said that those who think that travel is just a pleasant way to pass the time are very mistaken. And, actually, if the traveler only wants to get some favorable results, he would make a mess of the work. I am thoroughly convinced of the truth of that. Apart from a whole series of trouble, apart from the constant strain of attention, of cares, and long wearisome marches, how much time it takes to put together maps of the route, and make every kind of observation, and to choose the route, etc. On arrival at camp, instead the wished for rest, new work awaits us: we have to mark the route on the map, write in a journal, conduct astronomical observations and calculate them approximately, take photographs, etc. If you take all this into account and also the fact that there was almost never a day's rest in recent time, and that we were on the road every day for not less than six hours, and that our transport arrived only two to three hours after arrival at the bivouac of the head of the column, then actually my whole day was filled with work. The hardest task for me was conducting solar observations at noon, especially in the low-lying valley of the River Omo. As soon as we arrived at camp, if it was before noon, I rushed with my instruments to some high hill, from which I could observe the territory. Out of breath, bathed in sweat in the 60o Reaumur [167o F] heat, I tried to get to the desired summit. Noon was already approaching. There was no time to rest. You rush to set up the instrument but somehow, out of spite, the level doesn't want to stay still for long. From the heat and the rapid walk, my heart beats quickly, my fingers refuse to handle the micrometrical screws with the necessary care. My gun bearers spread out around the little hill where I am conducting observations, protecting me in case of unexpected attack from natives lying somewhere in ambush. It is difficult to sit motionless in the full heat of the sun. The sun burns mercilessly. Sweat pours in a torrent from my forehead, onto my eyelashes, and prevents me from looking in the eye-piece of the instrument. My temples throb. My head spins... But I had to observe with my full attention. With effort, you observe the moment when the sun touches "the edge of the hairline." You must not make a mistake regarding the second on the chronometer and regarding the vernier97 in the "vertical circle." What torture all this is and how much patience it takes!

Making use of the fact that in these latitudes the sun is almost at the first vertical, simultaneously with observations of the least zenith distances, I conducted observations of the moment of greatest height of the sun by corresponding altitudes.

At the same time, I observed the place of the meridian and, with the universal instrument, took true azimuths on salient mountains.

On this day, several Idenich women fell captive to us. They were extremely ugly and gave the impression that they were complete imbeciles.

After sunset, a violent storm flew down from the northwest, bringing rain.

March 23.

The detachment continued to follow along the course of the river, just as the day before, blazing a road in the dense thickets with sabers. The river turned west, and its salt-marsh banks were eroded by rain storms in a rather large space, forming an intricate miniature mountain system. We went zig-zag, following the turns of the river and thereby, to no purpose, lost strength and time. It would have been much better to follow at a greater distance from the river, straight to the chosen bivouac site on its banks.

The Ras stopped and began to personally interrogate Kelemisa about the location of Murle98 and the closest way to get there, avoiding the bushes which were holding us back. But Kelemisa, who only two days before had said she knew Murle and the road there, now flatly renounced her words and announced that she had not heard anything about Murle. Probably the other captive interpreters, wanting the detachment to quickly turn back, got her to say that. This evident lie produced an enormous impression of the soldiers who were crowding around the Ras and who were attentively listening to the interrogation. And because of the speed with which this news spread among the Abyssinians, it could have had dire consequences for us. They all at this point believed the Ras's words that the land of Murle, abundant in bread-grain, was just a few days' journey away. Now, suddenly, the promised place had not been found, and our guide even denied its very existence. Fortunately, I was with the Ras at that moment and hurried to intervene.

"You lie," I told her through a translator. "Here, for this lie, I am now going to give you a medicine from which you will quickly die as soon as you tell another lie."

I ordered soldiers to open Kelmisa's mouth, and staring fixedly at her eyes, I squeezed a dose of quinine in between her teeth. Kelemisa looked at me with horror.

"Where is Murle?" I asked her after that.

She pointed south with her finger.

"Liba ie unto? Is there bread there or not?" (In the Idenich language.)

"Ie. There is," she answered.

The Ras and I triumphed: we had avoided a major calamity. After this, we went further, and toward noon came to water.

Kelemis now obediently carried out our orders.

At about 11 o'clock we set up camp. On the opposite bank of the river, native farmsteads were seen close together, surrounded by fields of mashella. On our bank, the fields were also cultivated in some places, but there were no settlements. The natives probably crossed to this side in dug-out canoes for field labor. Two men and several women fell captive to us. By outward appearance and dress, they differed from the Idenich. And they didn't understand the Idenich language. They were much better looking than the Idenich. The lower lip was pierced and into it was placed a small stick, several centimeters long, decorated with copper plates. The edge of the ears, from top to bottom, was threaded with several copper rings with red beads on them.

The men were completely naked, and the women on their hips wore a short apron, embroidered with little shells, and had an oxhide thrown across their shoulders. Their hair was cut short and let grow only on the crown, in curled locks.

I "twisted the sun" and then dispensed medicine and made bandages for the sick and wounded who had come to me. The medical condition of our detachment became worse each day. Many soldiers had cut their legs on rocks or gotten splinters from thorns, and the hot tropical climate was very injurious to even the smallest wounds, subjecting them to virulent putrefaction.

In addition, many suffered from abscesses. Many were sick with diarrhea and fevers. There were some who were wounded during recent foraging. These men were amazingly patient. I had never seen such powers of endurance.

I spent the time after dinner with the commander-in-chief on the bank of the river, in the shade of an enormous tree. We watched the inhabitants on the other bank through a telescope and shot at crocodiles and hippopotamuses when they appeared on the surface of the water. The crocodiles were amazingly bold and did not fear men at all.

March 24.

The river turned east. The detachment followed its flow and about 12:30 the head of the column set up camp on the shores of a small lake, formed by flooding of the River Omo. The low-lying part of the bank was overgrown with dense forest, in which the trees attained gigantic dimensions. I "twisted the sun" and since we had gone first to the southwest and then to the southeast, and were almost not getting any closer to the celebrated Lake Rudolf, Wolda Giyorgis despaired when I showed him the location of today's bivouac on the map. He had begun to doubt that we would ever reach the lake, and today he expressed his thoughts to me in private. Evidently, the strength and energy both of the detachment and of the commander-in-chief had fallen. A characteristic indicator of this was the extent to which the marching column had stretched out: the head of the column arrived at the bivouac at 12:30 and the rear guard only at about 7 o'clock in the evening. Mules withstood the heat very badly and, going daily with packs, from seven to thirteen hours a day, with each day they became weaker and weaker. The men also were terribly exhausted -- especially those who because they didn't have pack animals carried their provisions on their heads.

I acknowledged the justice of the Ras's misgivings, but the lake should be quite close. And we should find provisions there!

"We mustn't lose spirit," I told the Ras. "You know that no great deed is easily done; yes, even a woman, when she gives birth, suffers."

The commander-in-chief liked these words. Laughing, he replied, "God grant that we soon give birth to your lake."

At eight o'clock in the evening there was a violent storm, but a weaker one than the day before.

March 25.

The day of the Annunciation was very lucky for us. Going through hilly salt marshes, we came to a level steppe overgrown with succulent grass and bushes. At eight o'clock in the morning, we sighted the farms of natives, ripening fields of mashella and corn and numerous herds of cattle and donkeys. How gratifying this picture was for our hearts after the barren salt-marsh hills and impassable thickets of thorny bushes! Soldiers forgot their weariness and, with a whoop, scattered over the plain. They took cattle and went into houses, looking for milk and bread. The inhabitants fled and only rarely did shots resound, bearing witness to individual skirmishes. At nine o'clock in the morning the detachment set up camp in the very center of the settlement.

I climbed one of the hills which rose not far from camp and from there conducted solar observations. Several paces from me lay an Abyssinian officer, face downwards, having buried his face in the ground and having put matab to his lips (a silk cord with an amulet sewed onto it, for which the Abyssinians have now substituted a cross). He had just been killed. On his back and on his neck gaped enormous wounds caused by a spear...

Having returned to camp, Zelepukin and I dined marvelously on ram cooked in butter, and drank a pitcher of milk... Soldiers returned to camp weighed down with grain and drove before them livestock and prisoners. The prisoners were interrogated, and they indicated that the lake was just two days' journey away.

For the whole detachment this day was a great holiday. For the first time in three days of marching we could go to sleep without heavy worries about the following day.

The camp didn't settle down for a long while this night.

After dinner, the joyful beat of drums which rang out -- gybyr! gybyr! -- as the Abyssinians called it, was drowned out by the bleating of sheep, the moaning of cows, and the he-haws of donkeys newly captured by soldiers. Somewhere people were singing. Joyful laughing was heard, along with lively stories about today's battle episodes. And among all these noises resounded the usual long drawn-out cries of soldiers searching for their lost mules. Near each tent was a campfire; and by its light, soldiers busied themselves with their just-acquired donkeys, training them to carry packs. The donkeys break loose and fight, but finally submit.

March 26.

At five o'clock in the morning, the signal horn resounds, and we set out. A captive who was taken yesterday leads us straight along the smooth steppe which is covered with grass and rare trees. The Murdu settlements99 were left behind. Near the banks in some places are seen fields of mashella, but houses are not noticeable. About eight o'clock in the morning, the surface of the lake shows in the distance. Here, finally, is the cherished goal of our expedition! Soldiers greet the long-awaited lake with joyous cries. Our marching column is again just as noisy, impetuous and joyful as it had been before. With laughs, the soldiers repeat sayings they have made up during the march, expressing in a humorous vein the hardships they have undergone.100

We set up camp on the shore of a small lake, among small settlements of the Masai tribe101 and took several inhabitants prisoner. The majority of the prisoners were lame as a result of damaged tendons under the knee. I didn't succeed in determining the cause of this circumstance. Did they go lame in a fight with comrades, armed with bracelet-shaped knives, or was it a punishment for vagrancy, and a way to attach them strongly to the land?...

Footnotes to Armies

B: = Bulatovich, author

K: = Katsnelson, editor of Russian reprint

S: = Seltzer, translator

87 B: Gebeta is a very widespread game in Abyssinia. Each player is given a little hole which is either carved in a board of simply dug in the ground. (There are 12 holes in all). At first four little round balls or stones are placed in each hole. The first player takes all the balls from his holes and distributes them one at a time, in order, to the right and to the left, to the following holes. From the hole in which the last ball was placed, he takes out all the balls lying there and continues in the same manner until the last sphere arrives either at an empty hole or at one where there are three balls. In the latter case, in other words when the ball is added to three already found in the hole, all four balls are taken out of the game and become the property of the player who took them away. When all the spheres have been taken away, they begin the game again.

This time each player fills only as many holes as he has enough balls to fill with four balls per hole. The game keeps going until someone no longer has a single ball. I was very surprised that people in Kassa had the board which is necessary for this game.

88 B: The Battle at Embabo took place in 1886 during the war of Menelik against the Gojjam Negus.

89 B: Do not look skeptically at this number, my compatriots, asserting that people in Kharkov, Kiev, and other provinces easily endure such heat. If their thermometer shows this temperature in the shade, let them try tying the thermometer to the end of a rope and twirling it around for five minutes. Only then will they find out the actual temperature of the air. In the sun, my Reaumur thermometer indicated 50o, and sometimes even more. But besides, by the general assertion of the majority of those with whom I happened to be in Africa, it was noticed that there is a striking lack of correspondence between the indications of a thermometer and the sensation of heat. I do not know what to attribute this to: the closeness to the Equator, the brightness of the sun, or properties of the air and soil.

90 B: In number 195 of "The Russian Invalid" for 1899 the following is published:

"Staff-Rotmister of the Life-Guard Hussar Regiment Bulatovich, who travelled in Africa, thanks to his participation at the beginning of 1898 in one of the Abyssinian expeditions to the southern regions of Central Africa, managed to cross through lands which had previously been completely unknown to Europeans and to discover a large mountain range which rises along the western bank of the River Omo and extends for several hundred versts from north to south.

"Up to this time, the existence of this mountain range was unknown to science. It was assumed that there was a mountain height to the west of the River Omo, but this was still unconfirmed. Previous explorers (Chiarini, Cheki, and Monseigneur Massaya) only passed through and investigated the northern spurs of this mountain range. Travelers who discovered Lake Rudolf (Count Teleki, Hohnel, Donaldson Smith, the 1896 expedition of Bottego, and the 1897 expedition of Cavendish) shed much light on a part of Central Africa the geography of which was still unknown. Nonetheless, a significant space found between 7o north latitude and Lake Rudolf and between the Omo and Nile Rivers remained still completely unexplored. The first European who passed through part of these regions and who discovered here an enormous mountain range was Staff-Rotmister Bulatovich. First, he crossed the northern spurs of the mountain range in 1896. The detailed investigation of the whole mountain range, in all its extent, was carried out in the period of time from January 24 to April 23, 1898. For the whole time of his journey, Staff-Rotmister Bulatovich used every opportunity to conduct accurate astronomical observations, and along with these made a detailed map of the route. In all, he calculated the astronomical position of 13 points and composed a detailed map of the journey...

"The Emperor Nicholas II Mountain Range is located between 8o 30' north latitude and 36o 30' east longitude, and 6o north latitude and 36o 30' east longitude. In the north, it separates into several mountain ridges, which constitute the watersheds of the Rivers Gibye, Giye Enarza, Gibya Kake, Didessa, Dobana, Gaba, and Baro.

"The main mountain range, which stretches along the River Omo, constitutes the watershed of two enormous basins: the Omo and Lake Rudolf on the one side, and the Juba and Sobat Rivers, consequently the White Nile and the Mediterranean Sea on the other. In the middle part, the mountain range rises above the River Omo 1,000 to 1,500 meters at a distance of only 30-40 versts from its course. And the waters of its western slopes, being so close to what would seem to be its natural basin, are driven off by it for 10,000 versts [6,700 miles] to the distant Mediterranean Sea.

"The average height of the mountain range above sea level is 2000 meters. Its northern part is the highest, where separate summits -- Tulu Jiren, Jimayangech, Bacha-aki-Kela, and Gida -- attain altitudes of higher than 3,000 meters. The summits of Gonga-Beka, Boka, Yta, Shashi, Say, Kastit and Jasha attain heights of 2,500 meters above sea level.

"Unlike most of the mountains of the Ethiopian highlands, the mountain range of Emperor Nicholas II shows no signs of volcanic origin. It is a system of uniform, even bulges with rare hill-like summits.

"The rocks found there include sandstone, granite, and gneiss. The only metals the natives mine are iron and copper. The veins of quartz often found give reason to think that thorough geological exploration might uncover other metals.

"The water which flows down from this mountain range forms the following rivers: from the eastern slopes the water goes down into the Gibye River which arises in the Guderu Mountains, as well as the rivers Gibye Enarza and Gibye Kake. At the confluence of these rivers, it is called the 'Omo.' Farther to the south, the Gojeb and Gumi flow into it, and at the confluence with the Gumi it is called 'Shorum.' Still farther, the Kibish River flows into it, and from here the river is called 'War.' The mouth of this many-named river at the point where it flow into Lake Rudolf is called 'Nyanya.'

"From the western slopes of the mountain range flow the rivers Baro, Menu, Bako, Kilu, Shebelimu, Chomu, and Kori, which unite to form the Sobat and flow into the Nile.

"The structure of this mountain range is different in the eastern than in the western part. The eastern slopes are very steep and precipitous, and the rivulets which flow down them are for the most part fast mountain streams. The western slopes are gently sloping and go down very gradually, and the rivers on these slopes flow much more slowly.

"This mountain range has great climatic significance. Located close to the Equator, in the region of two trade winds, significantly high above the rest of the territory, it attracts a great quantity of rain clouds, and hence the greatest part of the rain falls on its eastern slopes. With regard to climate, the mountain range is divided into three zones. The middle section of the mountain range in which Kaffa is located is extremely humid; and, at the same time, it has the highest elevation. Thanks to the abundance of water and the regularity of the temperature, the soil of Kaffa is distinguished by its fertility. A large part of the area of Kaffa is covered with dense Forests in which the trees attain gigantic dimensions. Coffee trees, which grow wild in this part of Abyssinia, are found in great abundance. There are two rainy seasons: one in February to March and the other in June, July and August.

"Although the northern part of the mountain range is also distinguished by a humid climate, it has only one rainy period in June, July, and August; it doesn't have the spring period as in Kaffa.

"The southern part of the mountain range is distinguished by a drier climate. Here rain falls both in the spring and in the summer periods, but in much smaller quantities.

"The climate on the plateau to the south of the mountain range is very dry. Rain falls very rarely here, and the rivers are dry stony channels in which water is held only in rare holes.

"The vegetation here is very meager. The soil is rocky and strewn with fragments of mountain rocks.

"The tribes who inhabit this mountain range belong to seven separate ethnographic groups and speak different languages.

"The northern end is inhabited by Galla (Oromo). They are divided into several independent states: Guma, Gomo, Gera, and Jimma, which at the present time have been conquered by the Abyssinians. Only Jimma preserved its conditional independence.

"Kaffa, which occupies the middle part of the mountain range, is populated by a tribe of Semitic extraction. In the distant past, Kaffa was a strong, rich, and vast southern Ethiopian empire. In 1897 it was subdued and annexed to Abyssinia.

"The eastern slopes of the mountain range which border on Kaffa are populated by Sidamo tribes and constitute the states of Kulo and Kontu, which at the present time have been subdued by the Abyssinians.

"To the south of Kaffa live Gimiro tribes, divided into small states which are dependent on Kaffa: Sharo, Shevo, Benesho, Yayna, Duka, and Kaba. This tribe is probably a mix of Sidamo and Kaffa with Negroes.

"To the south of the Gimiro are found the Negro Shuro tribes, which probably are related to Nilotic Shilluks.

"The southwestern end of the mountain range is populated by a tribe which by type, language, and way of life differs completely from Negroes and resembles the Sidamo tribes. There are some grounds for supposing that these tribes are a remnant of the original inhabitants of the Ethiopian plateau which remained intact and which, mixed with Semites, formed the tribes which now inhabit Ethiopia.

"The plateau to the south of the mountain range is inhabited by Idenich nomads, who are probably related to Shuro Negroes but are in a more savage state.

"These tribes are at extremely different stages of cultural development. The most developed are the Kaffa. They constitute a separate state, have already experienced centuries of political life, and are divided into classes. The least developed are the Idenich tribes. In translation the name "Idenich" means "sons of non-humans," and this name is given to them by their colleagues, by savages.

"The different names which they use for God testify to the diversity of these ethnographic groups. The Galla (Oromo) call God 'Wak'; the Kaffa 'Ier'; the Sidamo 'Tosa'; the Gimiro 'Kiy': the Shuro and Idenich 'Tuma'; and the original inhabitants of the Ethiopian plateau call God 'Dadu.'

"The mountain range, being inhabited in its whole extent by diverse tribes, divided into many small independent states, does not have a special name which belongs to it. Each of these states carries the name of the territory they inhabit, but there is no name for the whole mountain range.

"From now on it's name will be the Emperor Nicholas II Mountain Range."

91 B: I calculated the latitude by the least of the observed zenith distances, correcting it to a half diameter of thesun, taken from the ephemerides. The longitude was determined graphically at the intersection of the latitude with the azimuth, taken at one of the earlier determined mountains in the north or northeast.

92 B: The supply of salt which I had with me had run out the day we crossed the border. Abyssinians do not carry pure salt with them on the march. Rather, they make due with crushed red pepper with only a small addition of salt. This mixture is called dylykh.

93 B: However, the Europeans' fear is completely understandable after the unworthy and distorted descriptions of Donaldson Smith.

Donaldson Smith spent some time at the residence of General Wolda Gabriel, waiting there for permission from the Emperor Menelik for a trip across Abyssinia to Lake Walamo or Abasi. Menelik had to refuse him in view of the fact that the Walamo tribe had still not submitted to him, and he himself was just getting ready to go against them.

The Abyssinian general gave Donaldson Smith the most cordial welcome and assigned him a place to stay in his very own house. Wolda Gabriel provided him and his whole caravan with provisions and, on parting, gave Donaldson Smith what was extremely necessary for him -- several excellent camels and, in general, conducted himself as a true gentleman and perhaps even with excessive generosity toward this white man who obviously had a hostile attitude toward the Abyssinian nation.

The American took all the gifts of the Abyssinian, gave him nothing in return, and in his books even reproached Wolda Gabriel for begging, only because one of the general's retainers told Donalson Smith that his master very much liked his gun. Moreover, Donalson Smith described in ridiculous form both General Wolda, who had shown him such kindness, and his family as well.

94 S: There is no simple English equivalent of the Russian word "sal'nik." Found in the abdomen of a sheep, "white fat" is a paraffin-like substance which is basically like fat, but with a higher melting point. It looks like rounded aggregates of white spheres. (Thanks to Alexander Chaihorsky for this information. He became familiar with "sal'nik" as an explorer in Northern Mongolia.)

95 B: When it is 30o Reaumur [99o F] in the shade, in the sun the temperature is greater than 60o Reaumur [167o F].

96 B: I collected rocks as best I could; but to my deep distress, a large part of the collection, including all the granite, was lost. They were usually carried in a sack placed in a pack. The ashker to whom the collection was entrusted, figuring that it only aggravated the mule, which was worn out anyway, and that the stones had no value in and of themselves (he says, "you can find as many rocks as you want everywhere") threw them away.

97 S: The vernier or "nonius" is a small ruler on some measurement devices which helps to measure fractions and make fine adjustments.

98 K: Murle is a nationality which lives in the east of the Republic of Sudan and in Ethiopia on its southwest borders.

The Murle-Pibor (from the Pibor River) are distinguished from the Murle-Buma (from the Buma Plateau) by their place of settlement. A.K. Bulatovich is talking about the Murle who live in the lower reaches of the River Omo, of whom there are considerably fewer. The Murle language is related to the group of the languages of Central and Eastern Sudan.)

99 K: Murdu or Murzu is a nationality which is close to the Murle and which lives in the lower reaches of the River Omo, farther north than its bend. The Murdu language belongs to the group of languages of Central and Eastern Sudan.

100 B: Here, for example, is one of these dialogues:

Et Tekhedalekh? (Where are you going?)

Bandera tekela. (To set up flags.)

Myn tybelalekh. (What do you eat?)

Komora. (Sour fruit.)

Myn tytelalekh? (What do you drink?)

Aguara. (Heat).

Myn tyshekamalekh? (What do you carry?)

Fujigra. (Gun.)

Yamanny ashker? (Whose servant are you?)

Eras makara. (Servant of "Ras of troubles," a nickname of Ras Wolda Giyorgis).

Or here, for example is another saying: "Be frenjo hid no auajyu. ("With the foreigner there is only one order -- go forward!") "Be Bayu emmaymmechyn gud ayu." ("With Bayu [Ato Bayu] we saw impossible things.") "Be Melke etafan ba kork." ("With Melke [secretary of the Ras] we defiled ourselves during Lent with meat of antelope"). "Te shiambel gadel ishalal." ("Better the masses than the colonels.") And so on, including the most unflattering image of the majority of the leaders.

101 K: The Masai is a nationality which lives in Kenya and Tanganyika. In the nineteenth century, the region of their settlement extended as far as Lake Rudolf. Their language belongs to the southeastern group of Nilotic languages.

Note

Picture: African Serfs of the Abyssinian barbarism

From: http://www.samizdat.com/bulatovichphotos/illustrations/serfs.jpg