I took my place among the crowd, not by preference—for the Habash resembles Gargonius more than Rufillus[74]—but that I might use my camera effectively. Some of the young girls had one-half of the head shaved, and this, I learned, was a sign that they had not yet “come out.” It corresponded to short frocks and hair down the back among us. Marriageable maidens had a tonsure—an odd contrast to our employment of the same sign, more especially as it further denotes that the damsel wishes to be mated. As far as I could discern the dances are arranged by the older women with the object of letting the girls be seen to advantage, and I noticed that the tonsures had all been neatly renewed for the occasion. The hair grows naturally in stiff ringlets, and these, springing up vigorously around the shaven circle, make it a very striking feature. The married women wear their hair plaited in rolls, which are saturated with grease.[75] The gathering broke up about eleven o’clock in the morning and the “congregation” left the bank of the stream. The “recessional” was the tinkling of a bell carried by a miserable-looking little boy, who was dressed in a red gown. He headed the party; then came the priest, bearing a cross, and behind him the laity. It was a quaint and interesting sight.
INTERESTED IN THE PHOTOGRAPHIC CAMERA.
See [p. 102.]
WOMEN DANCING AT THE FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY.
See [p. 110.]
When the camp was quiet again I turned my attention to entomology and went out with a butterfly-net and a tin box to hold captures. Behind me was a boy carrying my gun—a sort of Friday to my Robinson Crusoe. We walked down the stream, and I saw many green swallow-tail butterflies, but they were much too quick to be caught by my pursuit. Presently I noticed that they were attracted by a certain red mossy growth in the water, so I waited near a patch of this. A butterfly hovered over it, and I made a dash for the specimen, and got it, but damaged it in the process. Then I laid it, in as life-like an attitude as I could give it, on the moss, and by this means secured four fine specimens which came to see what my decoy had found.
In the afternoon I wandered up stream and saw one snipe, which I shot as part of the menu for dinner. Then I left the course of the river, and walked towards some trees which seemed to form a detached clump. But as I drew nearer and fresh ground became visible, I found that they were part of a fine wood. When I was close to the edge of it, four quail rose at my feet. I tried to hit one, but was not sharp enough. At the noise of the discharge a large bush-buck sprang up in alarm and scampered off among the shrubs. The trees were chiefly of the cypress family, and, following a footpath, I discovered the explanation of this; for I came to an old ruinous church, and the whole grove had spread gradually from its enclosure. Beyond the church there was open ground, and a village lay at a little distance. The scene was sunny, pleasant, and almost idyllic. I retraced my steps and completed my bill of fare by adding a pigeon to the snipe.
The next day (January 20) I was medical officer to the country-side again until half-past ten. One man had a half-inch splinter of wood buried in his leg. He, like my former patient in a similar plight, was very plucky and let me cut down on it and take it out. When I had dressed the wound, he showed the zeal of his gratitude by throwing himself upon the ground and trying to kiss my boots. Several of my “cases” sent me offerings of eggs. About two dozen came in altogether, a couple from one, three from another, and so on. I was gratified, because these voluntary gifts, though they were small, were tokens of good-will. Ordinarily the escort-officer[76] whom Ras Gouksha, according to the custom of the country, had told off to attend us, and whom we called “the tout,” extorted provisions for us from the villagers—bread, milk, eggs, honey, grain, and the like, we being entitled to levy this tribute as the official guests of the Ras. The “tout” had gone with my companions to Debra Tabor, and it was pleasant to find that, in his absence, I received “benevolences” of another kind. This man professed to be our guide for the journey round the lake, but we found that he knew nothing at all about the roads and tracks. I may add that the eggs spontaneously given were all new-laid, while those exacted most emphatically were not.