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This essay is an account of my travel to the lower Sherma valley of southwestern Ethiopia in August, 2003. The purpose of my travel was to confirm the existence of the Koegu community along the River of Sherma, so that we will know the geographical distribution of the Surma language group to which the Koegus belong and the route of historical migration of the people in the southwestern Ethiopia. In conclusion, I did not find the Koegu community along the Sherma, however, I obtained the reliable information that they live near the junction of the Omo and the Sherma where I could not reach in this trip. On August 19th, Ren'ya SATO (Kyushu University), Isao MURAHASHI (Kyoto University), and I departed from Addis Ababa in a four-wheel drive car of the Addis Ababa University. We arrived in Bonga, the capital town of Kaffa Zone, and 430km apart from A.A. On 20th, we got to Chiri, the capital of Decha Wereda, after 30 minutes drive from Bonga. Cars could not continue past this point so the main form of transportation was horse or mule. We took the shortest route from Chiri to the Sherma, which possibly took us to the destination in two days. On 2lst, we arrived at Marugawa after 7 hours walk from Chiri. Marugawa was one of the villages established by the resettlement plan of the socialist ex-government of Ethiopia in 1985. Some villagers said that most of them were forced to move from the Amhara region of the northern Ethiopia, and that they had had a hard time building a stable life till now. But we could not get information about the people living along the Sherma. According to them, the path to the river from Marugawa disappeared during the August rainy season, and no people stayed near the river. So we decided to go back to Chiri and advance further south to Angala, then aim for the Sherma. On 24th, we started from Chiri to Dishi on five horses and mules in the rain. It was cold on the ridges at morning and night in particular because of the altitude (more than 2, 000m above sea level). We found that the rainy season was not good for such a field trip in this area. On 25th, we went by horse from Dishi to Shashibera in five hours, and then found a guide who knew the route and the language of the lowland area. After two hours walk we got to the place called Upta at an altitude of 1, 800m and camped out in one man's compound. This is not the Kaffa but Menit (Me'en) area where the people speak the Surmic language to which the Koegu also belongs. On 26th, determining the position by GPS, we went down southwestward and arrived at one Menit man's compound called Jongaja after six hours walk. According to the map (1/50, 000 scale made by Ethiopian Mapping Agency), the distance between Jongaja and the Sherma was about 2.5km, but a man living here told us that it was difficult to find the direct path to the riverside in this season. We stayed here for three days and collected much information about the Koegu who were called "Idinit" in Menit. One Kaffa porter told us that he guided a Dutch man through this area and traveled to Hana town in the lower Omo 60km south. On the way to Hana, they had to pass through the places called Garamuji, Bosho, Dabashinto, Gorainkabur, then to the junction of the Omo and the Sherma. The Menit man here and the porter said that they knew the "Idinit" living near the junction. We also talked with three young Menit merchants coming from Bachuma town on the mountain over the Sherma. They said that they crossed the river by holding on to some trees and there were no "Idinit" homesteads at the crossing point. We could not continue beyond Jongaja because of the schedule this time, so we gave up searching for the Koegu along the Sherma any more. Consequently, we found that no Koegu stayed in the middle and upper Sherma, but that they probably lived in the lowest area near the junction to the Omo. Moreover, I knew that it was better to approach the area from Hana town in the lower Omo area. It is regrettable that I could not see the Koegu ; however, the trip was fruitful in that I saw the Amhara resettlement village and got to know the various modes of life of the Me'en people and some hints concerning their expansion.
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