It was on Monday the 5th of October [1896] that I left Macalle, and it was not till Wednesday the 18th of November that I eventually arrived at Adese-Ababa, being 45 days on the road including stoppages.

The head of our escort to Adese-Ababa [Hailou] has the grade of chief candle-bearer to the Ras; an honorary title; he is a great courtier, and supposed to be a brave fighting man.

Two hours before reaching Samre, a large gorge is come to, which is covered with thick mimosa and other scrubs. This gorge is a favourite place for robbers and malcontents against Ras Mangasha's rule.

A RIFLE-SHOT
The escort that is with me consists of 22 men and Hailou; all armed with rifles, swords and shields, here closed up, and two men were sent on as an advance guard. We proceeded into the scrub, when all at once a rifle-shot was fired, and everyone began to shout and give instructions.

As soon as things commenced to quiet down and the escort made inquiries into what had happened, it was found that one of them had let his rifle off by accident. Hailou knocked him about with a stick and told him to be more careful in the future and we resumed our march.

About the last six miles march into Samre is next to the view from Abbi-Addi, the most lovely part of Tigre that I have yet seen, embracing as it does the grand panorama of heights and small mountains of every shape; the flat-topped Amba's being most numerous, and the grey white of the limestone rocks interspersed with the red sandstone.

Just before Samre village is reached, the picture is a red sandstone foreground covered with luxurious vegetation; and a very deep depression with red sides, white quartz seams, and capped with trees in full foliage. The backgound is a height of wood, field and pastureland, down which streams are running and plunging in waterfalls into the gorge below.

SAMRE
The market town of Samre is built on a tableland projection from the mountain, and has steep sides round it, with the exception of the north. At its further extremity are the immense ruins of old Ras Hailou's palace. He was father to the late Ras Hagos of Tembien, and related to all the best blood of Amhara and Tigre.

We encamped among the ruins of Ras Hailou's palace, which with the exception of the late King Johannes' palace at Macalle, is the largest building that I have as yet seen in the country.

What with the mounds of rubbish that are now covered with plant vegetation, and the traces of old ruins that form the foundation of the present dwelling houses; this place may have a history which excavations alone would bring to light.

At dawn we started from the village. After entering the bush, not a vestige of cultivation is met, the country all covered with scrub and mimosa jungle. Elephant, lion, Kudoo and Defassa are then common, having been driven out of the Tacazze valley by the floods. I saw nothing except a few Duiker and Oribi antelopes.

KUlUSHEMAN
We now struck the fertile district of Kulusheman. The whole population were at work in the fields, and many of them left their work to see the strangers - here a white man was not such a curiousity, as they had seen a good many Italian officers and soldiers, prisoners of the different chiefs that had taken this road on the return from Adowa.

We left Kulusheman after a fine night at 7:15 on a beautiful morning; the fields and hedges being lovely, the latter covered with jessamine, dog-roses and white clematis in full bloom.

Nine miles from Kulusheman, the river Mai Luma is reached, which is greatly used for irrigating. Down this gorge are several catchments and lower terraces, along which irrigation channels have been made, so the river is well under control, and is made to serve a very large area of land.

Socota is a fine large town with great possibilities for the future. It is built on three hills rising from a plateau, opening slightly towards the high mountain called Muscollo. My protector Hailou, would not tell me its name en-route, and I did not rely on what the second in command told me.

He [the second in command] has already promised Hadgi-Ali that after Socota he will tell us everything, but if he is too attentive before, he may be sent back to Macalle, and he wants to go to Adese Ababa as some one owes him money, and there is also a young lady that likes him very much.

About an hour after our arrival, the Wag Choum Gangul returned; he had been away superintending some harvest operations. He welcomed me to his town and gave me the choice of a house in town, or camping in the large enclosure some way outside where he kept his stud animals.

Wag Choum Gangul impressed me greatly by his looks; he is a tall man, nearly six feet in height, of athletic build, broad shoulders, and by the way he dismounted his mule, very agile. He was most civil and said that he was very busy and would I call on him the next day when I was rested.

We had just put up our tents when a procession of people bearing a present of food arrived; two immense fat cut goats, 350 flat breads, many being of the best white tef, some excellent tedj, a large jar of white honey weighing perhaps 30 pounds, some chickens and eggs, and six made dishes from his own kitchen, all of them very nice, and a large sack of barley for the mules. Hadgi-Ali had also got some green peas, potatoes, broad beans, bananas, and limes. We all of us had a splendid dinner, feasting well into the night.

THE GUN COLLECTION
The next morning, the Wag-Choum sent down asking Schimper and I to come and see him. The buildings which he occupies cover an immense extent and they and the courtyards are kept very clean and neat.

The floor was covered with Persian and Indian carpets. Silk curtains covered the three doors, and the walls which were nicely plastered were of a light yellow, the usual hooks made out of cow horns were let into the wall, from which hung silver shields of good workmanship, handsome swords with gold and silver decorations, and guns and rifles of many patterns, from the latest breechloader to the old flint lock; one of which I am nearly certain was of ancient Portugese manufacture, and had been converted from the old match lock by having a hammer and striker added by some native armourer.

Wag Choum Gangul was most polite and said that several of his people had seen me at Adowa, when they were there with King Johannes in 1884.

We sat talking for over two hours, the party assembled consisted of the Choum, his brother, a cousin, a priest that had been to Jerusalem, and talked Arabic very well, and another relation who acted as the Choum's secretary, who had also been across the border.

Our coversation was mostly about the different campaigns, commencing with that against the Egyptians; the fight at Metemmah against the Dervishes, and the late Italian campaign. The Choum's troops had been with Menelek's, and had made the attack on the left wing under General Albertone, and they suffered very considerably both in killed and wounded.

The Choum told me that in his archives in the church he could trace his family's descent for over three hundred years, and that the square three-storied house in which he lived, was built about two hundred and fifty years ago by an ancestor, and if I liked at any time to go through the archives, I might.

THE ADVENTUROUS SLAVE WOMAN
In the afternoon after my return from the Choum, visitors of all sorts called on me. One of my visitors was an old slave woman from Darfur [Sudan], who knew Slaten Pasha very well, when he was governer of that province. She was taken prisoner by the Mahdi's followers and brought to Khartoum, from there she left with her master for Gallabat, and followed him into Abyssinia with the force under the Emir Abou Angar, and was present at the battle of Gondar.

She was taken prisoner by the Abyssinians belonging to Ras Areya at the battle of Metemmah where King Johannes was slain, and was present at the small fight when the king's body was taken, and Ras Areya was killed. She then found her way across country to Socota, where she married and was now living, after having undergone such terrible experiences, happily in the town which she hoped never to leave. Her only complaint was that it was very cold, and she had to wear more clothes than in the Soudan.

On the Monday morning, the Wag Choum again sent for me at an early hour to have breakfast, and after the meal was over I said goodbye, thanking him for all his kindness to me and his princely hospitality...