128 THE ABYSSINIAN FRONTIER bank, to the spot they were quietly making for.

I crawled through the grass, and rested still as a mouse, with my sights fixed on an excellent buck now well within range ; my finger was pressing the trigger, and a thousandth part of a second remained, when, with a startling change of movement destructive of aim, they whisked round with a flash and galloped away.

Turning round now, the cause was apparent. The two boys, whom I had sternly commanded to wait behind under cover, had longed to be in at the kill, and appeared on the bank, utterly wrecking my chances. My feelings baffle description ; I took Bachit by the arm and showed him the kurbash (hippo - hide whip). KnoAving his fault and deserts, he readily responded, " Haddir, EfFendi" ("All right," "ready," or "certainly," " sir "), and prepared for a thrashing without the sign of a murmur and as a matter of course. Gebel Magnun as a name always sobered him after.

The backs of these boys and of many of the men of different tribes are seamed and scarred by the kurbash in a terrible way ; when asked what the marks are, they are intensely amused, and their cause seems considered an experience of fun and enjoyment, a recollection inspiring happiness and laughter. They are said to be due to ebullitions of playfulness after a diluka, or dance-feast.