TELEGRAMS RETURNED UNOPENED, time on friendly terms with the Dembelas chiefs, and would be, very likely, able and willing to help us. After hearing this, however, we made up our minds to expect no aid from that quarter. The Tigrean Abyssinians had also, during the last two months, stolen some thousands of cattle between Sanheit and Massawa.

The Bombashi telegraphed to Sanheit, asking if they would send to Ras Aloula (who is the commander of the Abyssinian army, and the chief person in the country, after the king), demanding the restitution of the rifles. A reply came back very quickly, saying that they would do so. We felt sure, however, that they would never attempt such a thing. The governor of Sanheit also said, in his telegram, that he had telegraphed the news to the minister of the interior at Cairo. I, accordingly, telegraphed to Cairo, asking that a telegram might be sent to England, to say that we were all safe, as I feared an exaggerated account of the affair might get into the English papers. Unfortunately, as it turned out, I might have saved myself this trouble and expense.

Before leaving Cairo, I had arranged that if I telegraphed there saying, Send such and such a message to England," it should be transmitted to a friend in London, who had promised to send it on to the friends of each member of the party. By a mistake on the part of the jDcople at Shepherd's Hotel, the message, instead of being sent to this friend in London, was sent to "James," at my London address; my housekeeper forwarded it with my other letters, and it reached me unopened at Massawa. It is, of course, impossible to forward messages direct to England from the Soudan, as they have to be sent in Arabic. I thought the telegram would be sure to go safely, as I had left written instructions at Cairo. A second one I sent to England, on our return to Amedeb, shared the same fate,