This was a considerable torrent, which is
tributary to the Royan; at this spot it had cut through a white
sandstone cliff, about eighty feet perpendicular: thus upon
either side it was walled in. The word Gubba is Abyssinian for
the nabbuk, therefore the torrent was the Nabbuk River: this
flowed past the village of Mai Gubba, which is the head-quarters
of Mek Nimmur, from which we were not twenty-five miles distant.
We camped in a forest of the largest trees that we had as yet
seen in Africa, and as we had observed the fresh tracks of
horses, on the sand, some of my Arabs went in search of the
aggageers of Taher Sheriff's party, whom they had expected to
meet at this point. While they were gone, I took a few men to
beat the low jungle within the forest for francolin partridge,
numbers of which I had seen running through the covert. I went up
the dry bed of the river at the junction of the Hor Gubba, while
they drove towards me, and I was compelled to fire as fast as I
could load, as these beautiful birds flew across the ravine. I
shot five brace almost immediately. There is no better game bird
than the francolin: the flesh is white, and of a most delicate
and rich flavour.
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