January
1927
The Italian mission showed great interest in the Soviet professor. After learning of my intention to go to Asmara in Eritrea, the Italian envoy lent me his servant, an Amharan named Hakim. He could to some extent act as an interpreter, since he knew the Italian language and we could, thus, understand each other. Hakim turned out to be a suitable person who knew several roads, had many acquaintances in different villages and towns and had already visited Eritrea. The exchanges with him in the Italian language allowed me to refresh this language, which was especially important in view of my contemplated expedition to the Italian colony of Eritrea, from where I planned to return to Italy.
The time of waiting for the official papers was not spent in vain but was used for making small expeditions and sending out parties in all directions. The latter method turned out to be particularly convenient and most economical. People trained for executing such expeditions were dispatched in specific directions with bags and parcels to collect, if possible, a set amount of ears or a definite number of seed samples from sites where they had relatives or some other kind of connections. In that manner I succeeded in obtaining material from the least accessible localities where interesting forms and varieties were to be found.
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