| Description | Printed folio volume, without publisher, place or date, consisting of the diaries MS 3064/3/11/2 and MS 3064/11/3 together with a middle section not present in manuscript covering the period 17 December 1899 to 31 January 1900.
After the description of the trip as far as Galamso (see MS 3064/3/11/2), Baird records his trip on to Addis Ababa, including an encounter with Galla tribesmen and a description of their village. On approaching Addis Ababa, the British delegation is met by "all the Europeans in the place who had any pretence of being on friendly terms with us", including Alfred Ilg, the Swiss engineer who was privy counsellor to Emperor Menelik II, and Federico Ciccodicola, the Italian agent in Abyssinia. Baird finds the Ilg's accommodation in Addis Ababa surprisingly sumptuous. Discussions with Ilg and Frau Ilg, and presentation to the Emperor on 26 December. Baird comments on the Emperor's intelligence and remarks that the combination of the Emperor and his Swiss adviser is one to be reckoned with. In the context n of a court presentation to the Emperor and his wife on 27 December, Baird notes the difficulties of riding a horse in full diplomatic uniform. Later, Baird dines with Ciccodicola and compares his accommodation unfavourably with that of the Ilgs; however4 he is favourably impressed by Ciccodicola himself.. The diary goes on to record further conversations with the Emperor and Ethiopian notables, describes a church service in the Emperor's chapel, and gives an account of an Imperial banquet. A hunting party with the Emperor takes place on 9 January, and on 10 January Baird's party leaves Addis Ababa for a hunting trip with Captain Harrison in eastern Ethiopia, lasting till 30 January; descriptions of game and scenery.
There is then a gap in the diary until 24 April, when Baird describes his journey from Addis Ababa to Metemma (see MS 3064/3/11/2).
98 pages, including two pages of general notes, with transcriptions, translations and facsimiles of a pass by the King of Ethiopa and and accompanying letter. |