[Footnote 86: See p. 151.] [Footnote 87: Hormuzd Rassam, “British Mission to King Theodore,” vol. i. p. 315.] [Footnote 88: Father Lobo reached Abyssinia in 1624.] [Footnote 89: Father Lobo, who landed on the east coast of Africa, had never heard of the White Nile—this is made evident by his discourse upon the Abai—and believed the head-waters of the Blue Nile to be the origin of the whole river.] [Footnote 90: In the map reproduced in this volume, the course of the Abai through Lake Tsana is marked by arrows. Its current can be quite plainly distinguished, as Father Lobo says, from the surrounding water. The circumstance was remarked by Dr. Stecker.] [Footnote 91: See p. 256.] [Footnote 92: Stern mentions “a solid stone bridge of seven arches—one of the few monuments left by the Portuguese,” which in his time spanned the Reb. He called the stream Erib (“Wanderings among the Falashas,” p. 169). Both he and Dufton crossed that river by this bridge. In all probability it was constructed by the artificers who built the arch over the Abai. I do not know whether the Reb bridge is still standing. We forded the stream, as has been said, and were not aware at the time that it had ever been bridged.] [Footnote 93: The bulbous roots here mentioned are probably those of the “red-hot poker” plant, which grows abundantly in damp places in the higher regions of Abyssinia.] [Footnote 94: “Travels to discover the Sources of the Nile in the years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, and 1773,” by James Bruce of Kinnaird, Esq., F.R.S.] [Footnote 95: “Life of Bruce,” by Major F. P. Head, pp. 276-278.] [Footnote 96: Whips made of thongs of hippopotamus hide, which serves both for lash and handle.] [Footnote 97: This is a military title, and means “Commander of Advance Guard.” (A. Wylde, “Modern Abyssinia,” p. 495).] [Footnote 98: We saw few bananas and none of these pigs in 1903.] [Footnote 99: “Mittheilungen der Afrikanischen Gesellschaft in Deutschland,” 1881, vol. iii. pp. 30, 31.] [Footnote 100: “Wanderings among the Falashas,” p. 13.] [Footnote 101: “The Anatomy of Vertebrated Animals,” p. 367. This little animal is the coney of the Scriptures.] [Footnote 102: Since we were by the lakeside a decree has been issued that the hippos, for their misdeeds in destroying crops and overturning _tankoas_, are to be treated as _vermin_, and shot whenever opportunity arises; so I fear that these ancient “riparian owners” will soon disappear from their pleasant and immemorial haunts.] [Footnote 103: We found these shells and oysters in all the rivers to which our journey brought us. They are especially abundant in the shallow pools of the Atbara.] [Footnote 104: I have already said that the island of Dek seems to me to have been chiefly formed by siltage.]