Manuscript travel diary, 1913-23.

An exciting and detailed diary recording the exploits of an unknown employee at the Bank of Abyssinia and his travel companion Stephenson Robert Clarke, a noted ornithologist, as the pair explore Ethiopia at the turn of the century. On their expedition from Gore-Gambela to Maggi-Kaffa the duo run into slave traders, warring local chiefs and itinerant Islamic preachers. The author's light humour shines in his observations of local customs and 'samples of the German's conversation' — noting for instance the persistent habit of Clarke's mules to give up on life 'He has lost nearly 20 now – He thinks his camp may have got evil eye from his cook's boy (Somali) who squints with both eyes'.

Beyond mere light-heartedness, the diary grants the reader an invaluable insight into the inner workings of colonial enterprise during the Scramble for Africa. Following Ethiopia's unthinkable victory at Adwa only a decade before, the diary an interesting and uncertain time for white travellers brought up on the notion of European military supremacy — prompting the author to remark that the 'Gallas [are] all very polite, a contrast to the Abyssinians – However Abyssinians before they beat the Italians were just as polite, so I have heard from old Usidat at Adis'.


In addition to entries of political interest, the diary will prove fascinating to those intrigued by big game hunting in an era where lions still roamed the grasslands of North Africa, as the author and Clarke hunt Soemmering's Gazelle, Bushbuck Antelope and the ever elusive Buffalo.