ELEPHANTS. 219 is the most considerable merchant of this neighbourhood, and trades principally with Makada or Habesch ; his tokul, here also called Baid (house), was dark, as all the light it had came in at the door, but was elegantly arranged in its way. Tables and seats were of well-made wicker-work from Abyssinia. Ostrich eggs were hung round, and the whole way round the tokul was a row of wine bottles placed close to each other as ornaments. Here we had again to eat, but we could hardly get a piece down, on which coffee was produced, which, from the perfumes used in its preparation, had a most peculiar though not unpleasant taste. He told us much of their habits and customs ; such as, that the son of the ruling Sheik retained that title even when he was not elected on his father's death by the tribe, and received a third part of the revenue from the newly chosen Sheik ; that the Faki did not accompany the tribe to battle. Here, too, the higher women colour their eyelids with antimony. Sheik Jacob confirmed what Mussa had already told us, that he had twice killed a lion with a lance, while the latter was moving off slowly with a calf in his jaws, and that he did not drop it when Mussa attacked him. The Sheik held that the king of beasts was asliamed of his tlioft, although lie had no fear for himself. We were told that the elephants had twice nearly destroyed the whole village, because tlic Iioles dug in the gohr, which also served them as drinking-places, had been filled up by sand drifted by the wind. One elephant, on the occasion, had eaten too much durra, and drunk copiously of water, and had been left behind dejid. We wandered about the village and came on a house of Mohammed Ehlc's, Avho, though standing at his door, did not invite us in, but only saluted us. II(> was vexed and his prido was offended, because we had not visited him first of all. Some Schaigies, who stood near, joked Moliammed Ehle on it, blaming him for not showing us the usual civilities. As neither Mussa nor Jacob had placed any merissa before us, for, being Faki, they neither drink it nor smoke tobacco, though they snuff it, we asiicd the former where this il'thiopian drink was to be procured. On this he led us to a concealed hut in a distant corner, and here we found a merry party, !Melek Mahniud presiding. The fat Mohammed el Cliamuss (Buffalo), wlio owes the epithet to his corpulence.