ascended what remained of the mountain of Yeeha; came to the plain upon its top; and, at a quarter before four, passed the village of that name, leaving it to the S. E. and began the most rugged and dangerous descent we had met with since Taranta.

At half past five in the evening we pitched our tent at the foot of the hill, close by a small, but rapid and clear stream, which is called Ribieraini. This name was given it by the banditti of the villages before mentioned, because from this you see two roads; one leading from Gondar, that is, from the westward; the other from the Red Sea to the eastward. One of the gang that used to be upon the outlook from this station, as soon as any caravan came in sight, cried,

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Ribieraini," which, in Tigre, signifies, they are coming this way; upon which notice, every one took his lance and shield, and stationed himself properly to fall with advantage upon the unwary merchant; and it was a current report, which his present greatness could not stifle, that, in his younger days, Ras Michael himself frequently was on these expeditions at this place. On our right was the high, steep, and rugged mountain of Samayat, which the same Michael, being in rebellion, chose for his place of strength, and was there besieged, and taken prisoner, by the late king, Yasous.

The rivulet of Ribieraini is the source of the fertility of the country adjoining, as it is made to overflow every part of this plain, and furnishes a perpetual store of grass, which is the reason of the caravans chusing to stop here. Two or three harvests are also obtained by means of this river; for, provided there is water, they sow in Abyssinia in all seasons. perceived that we were now approaching some considerable town, by the great care with which every small piece of ground, and even the steep sides of the moun

We

tains, were cultivated, though they had ever so little soil.

On Wednesday, the 6th of December, at eight o'clock in the morning, we set out from Ribieraini; and, in about three hours travelling on a very pleasant road, over easy hills and through hedge-rows of jessamin, honey-suckle, and many kinds of flowering shrubs, we arrived at Adowa, where once resided Michael Suhul, governor of Tigre. It was this day we saw, for the first time, the small, long-tailed green paroquet, from the hill of Shillodee, where, as I have already mentioned, we first came in sight of the mountains of Adowa.

CHAP. V.

Arrive at Adowa-Reception there-Visit Fremona and the ruins of Axum-Arrive at Sire:

ADOWA is situated on the declivity of a hill, on the west side of a small plain surrounded everywhere by mountains. Its situation accounts for its name, which signifies pass, or passage, being placed on the flat ground immediately below Ribieraini; the pass through which every body must go in their way from Gondar to the Red Sea.

This plain is watered by three rivulets, which are never dry in the midst of summer; the Assa, which we cross just below the town, when coming from the eastward; the Mai Gogua, which runs below the hill, whereon stands the village of the same name formerly, though now it is called Fremona, from the monastery of the Jesuits built there; and the Ribieraini, which, joining with the other two, falls into the river Mareb, about 22 miles below Adowa. There are fish in these three streams, but none of them remarkable for their size, quantity, or goodness. The best are those of Mai Gogua, a clear and pleasant rivulet, running very violently, and with great noise. This circumstance, and ignorance of the language, has mis

led the reverend father Jerome, who says, that the water of Mai Gogua is called so from the noise that it makes, which, in common language, is called guggling. This is a mistake, for Mai Gogua signifies the river of owls.

There are many agreeable spots to the south-east of the convent, on the banks of this river, which are thick-shaded with wood and bushes. Adowa consists of about 300 houses, and occupies a much larger space than would be thought necessary for these to stand on, by reason that each house has an inclosure round it of hedges and trees; the last chiefly the wanzey. The number of these trees, so planted in all the towns, screen them so, that, at a distance, they appear so many woods. Adowa was not formerly the capital of Tigre, but has accidentally become so upon the accession of this governor, whose property, or paternal estate, lay in and about it. His mansionhouse is not distinguished from any of the others in the town unless by its size; it is situated upon the top of the hill. The person, who is Michael's deputy, in his absence lives in it. It resembles a prison rather than a palace; for there are, in and about it, above three hundred persons in irons, some of whom have been there for twenty years, mostly with a view to extort money from them; and, what is the most unhappy, even when they have paid the sum of money which he asks, do not get their deliverance from his merciless hands; most of them are kept in cages like wild beasts, and treated every way in the same man

ner.

But what deservedly interested us most was, the appearance of our kind and hospitable landlord, Janni. He had sent servants to conduct us from the passage of the river, and met us himself at the outer-door of his house. I do not remember to have seen a

more respectable figure. He had his own short white hair, covered with a thin muslin turban, a thick wellshaped beard, as white as snow, down to his waist. He was clothed in the Abyssinian dress, all of white cotton, only he had a red silk sash, embroidered with gold, about his waist, and sandals on his feet; his upper garment reached down to his ancles. He had a number of servants and slaves about him of both sexes; and, when I approached him, seemed disposed to receive me with marks of humility and inferiority, which mortified me much, considering the obligations I was under to him, the trouble I had given, and was unavoidably still to give him. I embraced him with great acknowledgments of kindness and gratitude, calling him father; a title I always used in speaking either to him or of him afterwards, when I was in higher fortune, which he constantly remembered with great pleasure.

He conducted us through a court yard planted with jessamin, to a very neat, and, at the same time, large room, furnished with a silk sofa; the floor was covered with Persian carpets and cushions. All round, flowers and green leaves were strewed upon the outer yard; and the windows and sides of the room stuck full of evergreens, in commemoration of the Christmas festival that was at hand. I stopt at the entrance of this room; my feet were both dirty and bloody; and it is not good-breeding to show or speak of your feet in Abyssinia, especially if any thing ails them, and at all times they are covered. He immediately perceiv ed the wounds that were upon mine. But our cloaths and flesh were torn to pieces at Taranta, and several other places; but he thought we had come on mules furnished us by the Naybe. For the young man I had sent to him from Kella, following the genius of his countrymen, though telling truth was just as pro